Pope Alexander VII
Pope of the Catholic Church from 1655 to 1667 · Italy · Religious Figures · Lived 1599 to 1667 · aged 68
Pope Alexander VII is read about 328 times a day, in 74 languages.
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Something wrong?A 17th-century pope who started his reign refusing family favors, then let his relatives run the show anyway. He filled Rome with Baroque monuments while arguing about whether the Earth moved and feuding with the French.
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Photos 8
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Portrait of Pope Alexander VII Chigi (by Giovanni Battista Gaulli - Baciccio)
Breve papal Sacrosanctii apostalatus oficcii
Busto di Alessandro VII, marmo di Giuseppe Mazzuoli, pal Chigi Ariccia
Busto di Alessandro VII, terracotta di Melchiorre Cafà, pal Chigi Ariccia
Collegium Romanum, Rome; with the extended piazza a key to t Wellcome V0014422
Manifatura toscana, tabernacolo in ebano, pietre dure e metallo donato da Alessandro VII Chigi, 1690 ca
Philomati Musae juveniles
S. spirito, terzo chiostro, lapide alessandro vii, 1658Family
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Fabio Chigi climbed through papal diplomacy, took holy orders in 1634, and moved between southern Italian bishoprics before Innocent X brought him to Rome as secretary of state in 1651 and made him cardinal the next year. Elected pope in April 1655, Alexander VII opened with austerity and a hard line against nepotism - a posture that didn't last. His relatives soon crowded into his administration and steered it. He backed the Jesuits and tangled with French diplomats, straining relations with France. Between the friction he poured energy into Rome itself: architecture, urban projects, church decoration, and the artists who executed them. He also wrote poetry and theology, wrestling with heliocentrism and the Immaculate Conception on paper until his death in May 1667.
Religious Figures from Italy 6
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