Papacy and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Rome: Pius VI and the Arts

This book explores how Pius VI, the last great papal patron of the arts in the Renaissance and Baroque tradition, used the arts as a means of countering growing hostility to the old order and the supremacy of the papacy. Pius' initiatives, included the grand sacristy for St. Peter's, the new Vatican Museum of ancient art, and the re-erection of Egyptian obelisks. These projects, along with Pius' use of prints, paintings, and performances, created his public persona, and helped to anchor Rome's position as the cultural capital of Europe.