Forging an Image for the Spanish Monarchy in Seventeenth-Century Rome. Habsburg Religiosity and Visual Propaganda

Abstract

The militant Catholicism of the Spanish Habsburgs and their need for the support of the Holy See gave rise to the creation of a solid model of representation in seventeenth-century Rome in order to gain papal approval. This model encountered problems when it came to promoting traditional signs of the nation, such as the simulacra of the dynasty, as the city lay outside the domains of the crown. However, the author proposes that in seventeenth-century Rome the Spanish Monarchy successfully applied a model of representation based on the national religiosity and articulated around three core elements: art, festival culture, and printing.