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| Giovanni Battista Gaulli Pope Alexander VIII (1610-1691) c. 1689-91 Morgan Library |
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| Gian Lorenzo Bernini Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1576-1633) drawing for bust in the Villa Borghese 1632 Morgan Library |
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| Luigi Baccio del Bianco Cardinal Fleeing on Mule from Violent Attack 1643 Morgan Library |
Continuing the series of 17th century Italian drawings, and starting with ecclesiastical figures. Moderns often write as if the rich and powerful Roman Catholic Church maintained a tight grip of power on the whole of Italy unbroken for many centuries. Yet even during the most robust periods of the Church's political influence, surviving evidence often tells a different story. In the illustration above from the middle of the 17th century, citizens with basins as shields and rocks as weapons pursue a cardinal-prelate and his terrified mule, driving them out of their city.
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| Giovanni Balducci Angels Appearing to Abraham 17th century Morgan Library |
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| Valerio Castello Salomon's Sacrifice to the Idylls 17th century Morgan Library |
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| Giovanni Biliverti Joseph & Potiphar's Wife 17th century Morgan Library |
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| Guido Reni Study for the Figure of Holofernes c. 1625-40 Metropolitan Museum |
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| Marcantonio Bassetti The Flagellation 17th century Morgan Library |
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| Giovanni Andrea Ansaldo The Crucifixion 17th century Morgan Library |
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| Gioacchino Assereto The Lamentation 17th century Morgan Library |
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| Gregorio de Ferrari Vision of St. Teresa of Avila 17th century Morgan Library |
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| Filippo Napoletano San Gennaro Saving Naples from an Eruption of Vesuvius 17th century Morgan Library |
In the final drawing, angels carry gargantuan buckets of water through the sky to quench volcanic violence under the direction of a cloud-borne Bishop-Saint.
Drawings are from collections at the Metropolitan Museum and at the Morgan Library.