Hymettia: Supplements to The Vatican Library Review1- Maffeo Barberini / Urban VIII and His Family

This volume collects nine essays on Maffeo Barberini – as prelate, cardinal, and pope – and some of his closest relatives, who benefited from his prominent role in the management of Church power. A shared feature of the research carried out by the leading scholars involved in this work is the use of numerous unpublished archival documents. The results not only shed new light on the personality of Maffeo Barberini, and the most influential men of his family and circle, both in politics and in the rhetorical efficacy of the arts they sponsored, but also make it possible to reformulate our historical view of several aspects of this enormously important papacy. With contributions by Chiara Cambrai, Giovan Battista Fidanza, Irene Fosi, Massimo Carlo Giannini, Christine Maria Grafinger, Margaret Murata, Sergio Pagano, Aldo Roma and Valeria Vanesio.