Portret van kardinaal Francesco Maria Mancini 1625 - 1669

This engraving portrays Cardinal Francesco Maria Mancini, and was created by Giovanni Battista Bonacina in Rome, sometime around 1660. Look closely and you’ll notice the visual codes associated with high ecclesiastical office, such as his formal robes and biretta. The coat of arms that flank the portrait refer to his status and family. This image would have circulated among a limited, elite audience of the Roman Catholic Church and Italian nobility. The print was made at a time when the Vatican was trying to represent itself as an unshakable force, a representation belied by constant internal and external conflicts. The formal nature of the portrait, then, may well reflect an attempt by the sitter and the institution to project an image of power. As historians, we can use sources like personal letters and Vatican archives to better understand the Cardinal's activities and motivations and to connect them to this and similar images. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.