Allegorical Figure with Arms of Alexander VIII (Ottoboni) and Arms of Papacy n.d.

Francesco Mancini’s Allegorical Figure with Arms of Alexander VIII and Arms of Papacy is a sepia wash over black chalk on laid paper. It depicts a woman sitting amongst elaborate ornamentation. During Mancini’s time, the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the visual arts were often used to convey messages about power and status. The allegory here uses a female figure as a stand-in for abstract concepts like virtue or justice, common in art commissioned by wealthy patrons. But this wasn't just about aesthetics, it was a strategic use of imagery to reinforce power structures. The female figure, while seemingly idealized, exists within the confines of patriarchal expectations. Here, the symbols of the papacy and the Ottoboni family are placed in a composition with a woman. Allegorical representations were a complex visual language reflecting a society grappling with evolving notions of identity.