New Book ‘The Possessions of a Cardinal Politics, Piety, and Art, 1450–1700′

March 26, 2021
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The Possessions of a Cardinal: Politics, Piety, and Art, 1450–1700

Edited by Mary Hollingsworth and Carol M. Richardson

Cardinals occupied a unique place in the world of early modern Europe, their distinctive red hats the visible signs not only of impressive careers at the highest rank the pope could bestow, but also of their high social status and political influence on an international scale. Appointed for life, these princes of the Church played a key role in the dramatic events during a period in which both the power and the authority of the papacy were challenged.

Cardinals crossed the ambiguous boundaries then existing between religious and secular power. Granted unparalleled access to Church and private property, they spent considerable time, money, and effort on making the best collections of art and antiquities. Some commissioned artworks in churches that advertised their monastic or national connections, while others took Rome and the papacy abroad to enrich their own cities and countries. But theirs was a precarious dignity: while cardinals could thrive during one papacy, they could suddenly fall from power during the next. The new research represented by the sixteen case studies in The Possessions of a Cardinal reveals how cardinals used their vulnerable position and spent their often substantial wealth on personal and religious interests. As a result, the tensions inherent in their position between the spiritual and the worldly are underscored.

Contents (Including several Melbourne Art Historians).

Introduction
Mary Hollingsworth and Carol M. Richardson

The Renaissance Cardinalate: From Paolo Cortesi’s De cardinalatu to the Present
David S. Chambers

Guillaume d’Estouteville’s Italian Journey
Meredith J. Gill

Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini (1439–1503), Sant’Eustachio, and the Consorteria Piccolomini
Carol M. Richardson

Gabriele Rangone (†1486): The First Observant Franciscan Cardinal and His Chapel in Santa Maria in Aracoeli, Rome
Roberto Cobianchi

Cardinal of Naples and Cardinal in Rome: The Patronage of Oliviero Carafa
Diana Norman

Cardinal Bernardo Dovizi da Bibbiena (1470–1520): A Palatine Cardinal
Angelica Pediconi

“Per havere tutte le opere . . . da monsignor reverendissimo”: Artists Seeking the Favor of Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici
Sheryl Reiss

A Taste for Conspicuous Consumption: Cardinal Ippolito d’Este and His Wardrobe, 1555–1566
Mary Hollingsworth

Lost in Antiquities: Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici (1543–1562)
Andrea Gáldy

The Court of Humility: Carlo Borromeo and the Ritual of Reform
Pamela M. Jones

Contrasting Priorities: Ferdinando I de’ Medici, Cardinal and Grand Duke
Suzanne B. Butters

Cardinal Virtues: Odoardo Farnese in His ‘Camerino’
Opher Mansour

Representing an Alternative Empire at the Court of Cardinal Federico Borromeo in Habsburg Milan
Lucy C. Cutler

Cardinal Antonio Barberini (1608–1671) and the Politics of Art in Baroque Rome
Karin Wolfe

John Casimir Wasa (1609–1672), Cardinal and Prince of Poland: Problems of Precedence and Primogeniture for Innocent X
Susan Russell

“É cortesi, erudito, e disinvolto al pari di qualunque altro buon corteggiano”: Cardinal Camillo Massimo (1620–1677) at the Court of Pope Clement X
Lisa Beaven

A Cardinal and His Family: The Case of Cardinal Patrizi
David R. Marshall

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