UCLA

This thesis explores the engraving known as The Allegory of Alexander the Great and Pope Alexander VII (1666). The image was designed by the Italian artist Pietro da Cortona (1596-1669) and engraved by François Spierre (1639-1681), a printmaker from Lorraine. It was commissioned by the Spanish theologian, Cristoforo Lozano, for his thesis defenses at the Sapienza in Rome. Using the classical story of Mount Athos, the artists elaborated a panegyrical allegory in honor of Pope Alexander VII Chigi (1599-1667) and his building projects in Rome. Easily mass-produced and distributed, print facilitated the circulation of images publicly at the event and privately as a souvenir. The academic context of Lozano’s thesis defense and the subject matter, which was intended to promote the Chigi family, prompts questions about papal and familial power. The image of Mount Athos produced for the defense, and following it, has been tied to the heraldic monti and the star of the Chigi family in past scholarship; this thesis argues that the engraving is a reproducible image that can be appropriated by various figures of power.