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Allegory of the Papacy of Clement XI
(Baroque Europe )
In this allegory, various symbolic motifs are brought together to express Clement XI's papacy (r. 1700-1721) as an abstract concept. The standing woman at center wearing the papal tiara is holding her cape in a protective manner over a little temple supported by angels. She may by an allegory of Religion protecting the Roman Church. To the base, on which she stands like a column, are chained different agonized figures symbolizing vices, an allusion to Protestants and Muslims. Above, Fame blows her horn while pointing to a portrait of the pontiff. The allegory as a whole is a portrait or a mirror of the pope and his virtues.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [1881 catalogue: no. 96, as Tiepolo; 1897 catalogue: no. 355, as Sebastiano Ricci]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Geographies
Italy, Naples (Place of Origin)
Measurements
Painted surface H: 27 11/16 x W: 20 9/16 in. (70.4 x 52.2 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902
Location in Museum
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.1897