Biographies - Patrons
Election to the papacy ensured power and wealth. A newly elected pope would establish his dynasty, selecting a blood relative as Cardinal Nephew to help govern the Church, as well as another male relative to marry and produce heirs. The enriched members of the new dynasty joined the older noble families and cardinals as patrons of the arts, building a family palace, villa, and burial chapel, collecting antiquities, and commissioning art. Their patronage was essential for sculptors: major works were commissioned, not made on speculation. Artists hoped to find a supportive and generous patron among the city’s elite.
Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1576-1633)
Scipione Caffarelli (called Scipione Borghese) was cardinal nephew to his maternal uncle Paul V Borghese. With his immense wealth and passion for collecting, Scipione was Bernini’s most important early patron. Mythological or religious subjects were traditionally more prestigious than portraiture, and by commissioning works such as Apollo and Daphne and David, he gave the young Bernini the chance to make his reputation. His patronage of Bernini, however, was short-lived, ending soon after the election of Pope Urban VIII, who monopolized the sculptor’s talents.
Maffeo Barberini, Pope Urban VIII (1568-1644)
Rome drew in ambitious men from across Italy. The Barberini came from Tuscany and after two generations in service to the popes, reached the papacy itself. In 1623 Maffeo Barberini was elected pope as Urban VIII. His long reign of twenty-one years was marked by the ambition and scale of the commissions he gave to Bernini, a trusted friend. Urban encouraged Bernini to practice architecture and design and to produce monumental sculptural works, setting the stage for Bernini’s future development. Together pope and artist transformed the art of their time. Portraiture was a small, but important part of this, and Bernini crafted Urban’s public image.
Fabio Chigi, Pope Alexander VII (1599-1667)
A descendant of the fabulously rich banker Agostino Chigi, a patron of Raphael, Fabio Chigi was elected pope in 1655. An obsessive builder, the pope sought to embellish and restore the city and its monuments. His election marks Bernini’s return to power after the reign of Innocent X Pamphilj, who was hostile to the Barberini and therefore also to Bernini, the artist most closely associated with the family. Alexander VII commissioned vast works of architecture and sculpture from Bernini, transforming St. Peter’s basilica and the Vatican palace.
Popes of Bernini’s Lifetime
Clement VIII Aldobrandini, ruled 1592-1605
Leo XI Medici, March-April 1605
Paul V Borghese, 1605 -1621
Gregory XV Ludovisi, 1621-1623
Urban VIII Barberini, 1623-1644
Innocent X Pamphilj, 1644-1655
Alexander VII Chigi, 1655-1667
Clement IX Rospigliosi, 1667-1669
Clement X Altieri, 1670-1676
Innocent XI Odescalchi, 1676-1689
