St Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel are among the most well-known and visited sites in the world—and it is no accident that the stunning art that fills them found a home within the confines of the Vatican walls. Artistic patronage was an important lever in a Renaissance pope’s toolbox, employed both to display power and to communicate and persuade.
Art historian Liz Lev looks at the fruitful connection between popes and art from the halcyon days of Popes Sixtus IV and Julius II to the careful curation of the Enlightenment era, examining masterworks such as the Laocoön statue, frescoes by Botticelli, and The Parnassus by Raphael, as well as the devastating losses that took place along the way. She also considers the innovative methods by which, despite vastly depleted financial resources, the papacy has continued to sponsor and support the arts.
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