People – those who created the city

Dictators and leaders

Aetius (390–454) – the tragic end of „the last Roman”

Popes and their associates

Agostino Chigi (1466–1520) – a financial genius, an enthusiast of lavish lifestyle and art

The wayward, hostile and sinful

Alaric (370–411) – revenge of an underestimated ally, meaning a strike at the very heart of the Empire

Dictators and leaders

Alberic II (909? – 954) – an annihilator of his own mother and a prince of Rome

Sculptors

Alessandro Algardi (1598–1654) – unappreciated master of the Baroque art

Painters

Andrea Pozzo (1642–1709) – a master of painting illusion

Sculptors

Andrea Sansovino (approx. 1467–1529) – the one who was able to bring the dead back to life

Courageous and politically incorrect women

Painters

Annibale Carracci (1560–1609) – a straightforward recluse in the world of Roman splendor

Roman emperors and their associates

Antinous (approx. 110–130 A.D.) – a youth, for whom the emperor lost his mind

Painters

Antiveduto Grammatica (1571–1626) – an expert on heads with an extraordinary name

Painters

Antoniazzo Romano (1430? – 1512?) – an outstanding imitator of great masters

Popes and their associates

Antonio Barberini (1607–1671) – one of the three “musketeers” of Urban VIII

Sculptors

Antonio Canova (1757–1822) – praised by his contemporaries, disregarded by later generations

Sculptors

Antonio Raggi (1624–1686) – a second pair of hands for master Bernini

Architects

Armando Brasini (1879–1965) – creator of a bombastically draped architecture

Painters

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1653) – an unwomanly painter, humiliated and forgotten for centuries

The wayward, hostile and sinful

Attila (approx. 400–453) – divine whip and the nemesis of Rome, a figure between myth and reality

Painters

Baciccio (1639–1709) – the creator of heaven and hell on Earth

Significant Roman families

Barberini – a recipe for immortality

Sculptors

Bartolomeo Ammannati (1511–1592) – the beginnings of an outstanding career of a great Italian Mannerist

Courageous and politically incorrect women

Beatrice Cenci (1577–1599) – a patricide absolved by Romans, commemorated by the city

Dictators and leaders

Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) – successor of emperors; a charismatic and adored leader

Painters

Bronzino (1503–1572) – subtle, refined, and mysterious

Popes and their associates

Camillo Francesco Maria Pamphilj (1622–1666) – an arthritis-filled expiation of the papal nephew

Sculptors

Camillo Rusconi (1658–1728) – a little known genius of the turn of the centuries

Painters

Caravaggio (1571–1610) - a subtle interpreter of the Bible and a common criminal

Architects

Carlo Maderno (1556–1629) – a sought-after, hard-working and talented architect

Painters

Carlo Maratti (Maratta) (1625–1713) – an outstanding portraitist and a father of an equally outstanding daughter

Architects

Carlo Rainaldi (1611–1691) – an architect with a love for music

Painters

Carlo Saraceni (1579–1620) – an artist somewhere between verismo and idealism

Dictators and leaders

Cesare Borgia (1476–1507) – papal offspring whom the whole world feared

Roman emperors and their associates

Emperor Antoninus Pius (86–161) – a god-fearing, reasonable and just host

Roman emperors and their associates

Emperor Domitian (51–96) - a great constructor and a despot hated by the Senate

Roman emperors and their associates

Emperor Hadrian (76–138) – a traveler and an admirer of Greek culture

Roman emperors and their associates

Emperor Honorius (384–423) – the one, who allowed Rome to be plundered

Roman emperors and their associates

Emperor Caracalla (188–217) – a brutal madman or a victim of propaganda?

Roman emperors and their associates

Emperor Commodus (161–192) – an unfortunate son of a great father

Emperors, leaders and dictators

Cesarz Konstantyn Wielki – wybitny strateg i pierwszy chrześcijański władca

Roman emperors and their associates

Emperor Maxentius (278–312) – an oppressor or a victim of a black legend?

Roman emperors and their associates

Emperor Marcus Aurelius (121–180)– a philosopher on the imperial throne

Roman emperors and their associates

Emperor Nerva (30–98) – a reasonable, gentle and wise emperor

Roman emperors and their associates

Emperor Romulus Augustulus (approx. 463–ok. 536) – the last emperor of the Western Empire and….nothing more

Roman emperors and their associates

Emperor Septimius Severus (145–211) – the one, who made the army into a leading force in the empire

Roman emperors and their associates

Emperor Theodosius the Great (347–395) – the one, who turned imperium Romanum into imperium Christianum

Roman emperors and their associates

Emperor Trajan (53–117) – the ideal Roman ruler – courageous, generous and on good terms with the Senate

Roman emperors and their associates

Emperor Titus (39–81) – the conqueror of Jerusalem and lover of Berenice

Roman emperors and their associates

Emperor Velentinian III (419–455) – the pathetic mutiny of a marginalized ruler

Roman emperors and their associates

Empress Domitia Longina (53?–128?) – respected and condemned, the fate of the wife of the last Flavian

Roman emperors and their associates

Helena – from an innkeeper to a saint, meaning how legends are made

Roman emperors and their associates

Empress Julia Domna (150/160? – 217) – an ambitious ruler and an unhappy mother

Significant Roman families

Chigi – the ups and downs of a powerful family

Sculptors

Cosimo Fancelli (1618–1688), a great, but second-tier master of the Roman Baroque

Painters

Daniele da Volterra (1509–1566) – sentenced to many years of ridicule

Painters

Dirck van Baburen (approx. 1592/93–1624) – a short, intense life of a Caravaggionist from the North

Painters

Domenichino (1581–1641), the Roman rise and Neapolitan fall of little Dominic

Architects

Domenico Fontana (1543–1607) – an exceptional architect of an entrepreneurial pope

Sculptors

Domenico Guidi (1625–1701) – meaning Bernini in the French style

Architects

Donato Bramante (1444 –1514) – a famous wrecker, who changed the face of Rome

Significant Roman families

The Theodosian dynasty (379–455) – thoroughly Christian, yet marginalized and weak

Sculptors

Ercole Ferrata (1610–1686) – an imitator of extraordinary talent

Significant Roman families

Farnese - the triumph of nepotism

Popes and their associates

Ferdinando I de’ Medici (1549–1609) – a lover of antiquity, who avoided papal disfavor

Courageous and politically incorrect women

Fillide Melandroni (1581–1618) – niejednoznaczny portret znanej rzymskiej kurtyzany

Popes and their associates

Francesco Barberini (1597–1679) – papal nepot, admirer of books and art, defender of Galileo

Architects

Francesco Borromini (1599–1667) – a distrustful melancholic and an extravagant architect

Sculptors

Francesco Cavallini (1640–1703) – a sculptor of garlands and swaying saints

Popes and their associates

Francesco Maria del Monte (1549–1626) – a cardinal full of passion for alchemy, music and painting

Sculptors

Francesco Mochi (1580–1654) – ousted, forgotten, disconsolate

The wayward, hostile and sinful

Galileo (1564–1642) – the one who dared to ridicule the pope

Roman emperors and their associates

Galla Placidia (390–450) – an exceptional woman, worth as much as several tons of grain

The wayward, hostile and sinful

Genseric (approx. 390–477) – a Vandal, who brought Rome to its knees

Painters

Gerrit (Gerard) van Honthorst (1590–1656) – a restrained nocturnal painter

Architects

Giacomo della Porta (1533–1602), an author of Roman fountains and the most famous façade in the history of art

Sculptors

Giovanni (Gian) Lorenzo Bernini (1599–1680) – Impulsive, arrogant and ingenious favorite of the popes

The wayward, hostile and sinful

Giordano Bruno (1548–1600) – a long life after death of the martyr of defiant thought

Sculptors

Giovanni Battista Maini (1690–1752) – elegance of late Baroque

Painters

Giovanni Lanfranco (1582–1647) – painter of the Church triumphant

Courageous and politically incorrect women

Giulia Farnese Orsini – black-eyed ad black-haired papal mistress

Sculptors

Giuliano Finelli (1602–1653) – a sculptor of lace, leaves and collars, but also more

Painters

Giuseppe Cesari (1568–1640) – in the past popular, today a forgotten favorite of the popes

Painters

Guercino (1591–1666) – short career of the Pope’s chosen one in Rome

Painters

Guido Reni (1575–1642) – a gambler with subtle manners

Popes and their associates

Gwardia Szwajcarska – najstarsza i najmniejsza armia świata

Roman emperors and their associates

Honoria (418–455?) – an emancipator or a tool of political calculations?

Courageous and politically incorrect women

Imperia Cognati - the most famous courtesan of Renaissance Rome

Sculptors

Jacopo Sansovino (1486–1570) – unappreciated in Rome, famous in Venice

Popes and their associates

Cardinal Bernardino Spada (1594–1661) – a dream about the grandeur of his own family

Popes and their associates

Cardinal Bessarion (1403?–1473) – the one who wanted to save Constantinople

Popes and their associates

Cardinal Flavio Chigi (1631–1693) – a true dandy and a Roman trendsetter

Popes and their associates

Cardinal Innocenzo Ciocchi del Monte (1532–1577) – the pope’s favorite with criminal inclinations

Popes and their associates

Cardinal Paolo Camillo Sfondrati (1560–1618) – chasing sainthood

Popes and their associates

Charles Borromeo (1538–1584) – an extraordinary nepot, critic and saint of the Church

Roman emperors and their associates

Constantina – an imperial daughter and an enigmatic saint

Courageous and politically incorrect women

Christina of Sweden (1626–1689) – a significant, yet cumbersome papal guest

The wayward, hostile and sinful

Liutprand of Cremona (920? – 972?) – a vicious, biased and partial chronicler

Popes and their associates

Ludovico Ludovisi (1595–1632) – lover of Antiquity and an extremely bright papal nepot

Architects

Luigi Moretti (1907–1973) – a rationalist, Fascist and postmodern architect

Courageous and politically incorrect women

Marcella (approx. 325–410) – a curious erudite from Aventine Hill

Architects

Marcello Piacentini (1881–1960) – praised and criticized creator of Fascist Rome

Popes and their associates

Maria Clementina Sobieska (1701–1735) between reality and a dream

Courageous and politically incorrect women

Marozia (892? – 936?) – „beautiful as a goddess and fiery as a wench”

Painters

Melozzo da Forlì (1438–1494) – the one who introduced the delicate touch of Renaissance to Rome

Sculptors

Michelangelo (1475–1564), a painter by force – divine, yet miserable

People – those who created the city

Monophysitism – meaning the disintegration of Christian unity

Dictators and leaders

Odoacer (433–493) – the fall of the empire, meaning how an intelligent illiterate became a Roman king

Popes and their associates

Olimpia Maidalchini (1591–1657) – a very entrepreneurial papal sister-in-law

Architects

Onorio Longhi (1568–1619) – a vagabond architect

Painters

Orazio Borgianni (1574–1616) – a melancholic with intellectual ambitions and an explosive character

Painters

Orazio Gentileschi (1563–1639) – an intimate realist prone to rowdiness

Significant Roman families

Popes and their associates

Pope Alexander I (? – 116?) – a holy shepherd of the holy water

Popes and their associates

Pope Alexander VI (1431–1503) – an ambitious strategist with a great heart for women

Popes and their associates

Pope Alexander VII (1599–1667) – a great constructor with a lead coffin in his bedroom

Popes and their associates

Pope Alexander VIII (1610–1691), Pietro Vito Ottoboni – a profligate enthusiast of old books

Popes and their associates

Pope Benedict XIV (1675–1758) – modernizer, reformer, a fierce enemy of Jews and Freemasons

Popes and their associates

Pope Boniface VIII (1235?–1303), Benedetto Caetani – pope from the eighth circle of hell

Popes and their associates

Pope Celestine I (?–432) – philosopher striving for the divinity of the mother of Jesus

Popes and their associates

Papież Celestyn V (1210? – 1296) – pontyfikat w cieniu abdykacji

Popes and their associates

Pope Damasus I (approx. 305–384) – the one who changed the face of the Roman Church forever

Popes and their associates

Pope Felix III (Felix II) (?–492) – a saintly, uncompromising and strict pope

Popes and their associates

Pope Formosus (?816–896) – meaning, how to posthumously become a martyr

Popes and their associates

Pope Gelasius I (?–496) – meaning Christ’s first Vicar on Earth

Popes and their associates

Pope Gregory I the Great (approx. 540–604) – a monk by conviction, who changed the face of the Church for centuries

Popes and their associates

Pope Gregory XIII (1502–1585) – a tireless counter-reformer and an efficient reformer of the calendar

Popes and their associates

Pope Gregory XIV (1535–1591) – pious, modest, and lacking in will

Popes and their associates

Pope Gregory XV (1554–1623) – a sickly and phlegmatic protector of the Jesuits

Popes and their associates

Pope Hilarius (?–468) – a generous donor and a defender of orthodoxy

Popes and their associates

Pope Hippolytus (approx. 170–235) – an overzealous saintly rigorist

Popes and their associates

Pope Honorius I (?–638), a fallible pontifex maximus, in addition to being a heretic

Popes and their associates

Pope Honorius III (1150–1227) – a significant Church strategist and an uncompromising ruler

Popes and their associates

Pope Innocent I (? – 417) – a charismatic leader of the Church in times of chaos and uncertainty

Popes and their associates

Pope Innocent III (1160–1216) – the first Vicar of Christ on Earth

Popes and their associates

Pope Innocent VIII (1432–1492) – sickly, yet resourceful protector of his own children

People – those who created the city

Pope Innocent X (1574–1655) – a modest brother-in-law of a greedy popess

Popes and their associates

Pope Innocent XI (1611–1689) – a strict reformer, moralist and subduer of art

Popes and their associates

Pope Innocent XII (1615–1700) – an exemplary shepherd and a protector of castrates

Popes and their associates

Pope John XII (?937–964) – meaning the one who was mortally wounded by the devil in the bed of a married woman

Popes and their associates

Pope Julius II (1443–1513) – a valiant ruler, courageous politician and a great protector of art

Popes and their associates

Pope Julius III (1487–1555) – a dream about the power of ...a family

Popes and their associates

Pope Callixtus III (1378–1458) – a disliked aesthetic from the Pyrenean Peninsula

Popes and their associates

Pope Clement IX (1600–1669) – a librettist and humanist devoted to God

Popes and their associates

Pope Clement VII (1478–1534) – a powerless politician and a firm protector of artists

Popes and their associates

Pope Clement VIII (1536–1605) – an enemy of nudity, a pious and kind despot

Popes and their associates

Pope Clement X (1590–1676) – a humble pope with an ambitious nepot

Popes and their associates

Pope Leo I the Great (400?–461) – defender of Rome and the man behind the power of the Church

Popes and their associates

Pope Leo X (1475–1521) – a generous patron of art and an enthusiast of parties and feasts

Popes and their associates

Papież Mikołaj IV (1227–1292) – papież średniowiecznych misji

Popes and their associates

Pope Nicholas V (1397–1455) – the one, who made art into a foundation of faith

Popes and their associates

Pope Paschal I (?–824) – a collector of relics and a self-admirer

Popes and their associates

Pope Paul II (1417–1471) – an enthusiast of carnival parties

Popes and their associates

Pope Paul III (1468–1549) – an uncompromising patron of artists and his own family

Popes and their associates

Pope Paul V (1552–1621) – a generous funder and a foresighted city manager

Popes and their associates

Pope Pelagius II (?–590) – a protector of the needy and of Gregory the Great

Popes and their associates

Pope Pius II (1405–1464) – a complete humanist on St. Peter’s throne

Popes and their associates

Pope Pius XII (1876–1958) – a silent pontifex maximus

Popes and their associates

Pope Sergius III (approx. 870–911) – meaning „ the slave of every vice”

Popes and their associates

Pope Stephen VI (? – 897) – a story of the battle between the pope and a cadaver

Popes and their associates

Pope Sixtus III (390–440) – a great constructor of Christian Rome

Popes and their associates

Pope Sixtus IV (1414–1484) – a man of Renaissance and the creator of a new Rome

Popes and their associates

Pope Sixtus V (1521–1590) – the bane of bandits and womanizers

Popes and their associates

Pope Sylvester (? -335) – a marginal figure, yet a saint

Popes and their associates

Pope Symmachus (? – 514) – a controversial but unrelenting shepherd

Popes and their associates

Pope Simplicius (? – 483) – a bishop of Rome on the border of two eras

Popes and their associates

Pope Theodore I (?–649) – a pope who brought the dead to Rome

Popes and their associates

Pope Urban I (? – 230) – the beginning of the historical policy of the Church

Popes and their associates

Pope Urban VIII (1568–1644) – pontifex maximus of the Baroque art

Courageous and politically incorrect women

Courageous and politically incorrect women

Paula of Rome (347–404) – an example of womanly virtues

Courageous and politically incorrect women

Pauline Borghese (1780–1825) – a French provocateur in the papal chapel

Sculptors

Pierre Le Gros (1666–1719) – the dramatically halted magnificent Roman career

The wayward, hostile and sinful

Pietro Aretino (1492–1556) – the father of yellow journalism and literary pornography

Sculptors

Pietro Bracci (1700–1773) – a master of elegance and theatrical gestures

Painters

Pietro da Cortona (1596–1669) – a virtuoso of glories, triumphs and apotheoses of all kinds

Painters

Pinturicchio (1454–1513) – a creator of a simple, filled with grace storylines

Popes and their associates

Platina (Bartolomeo Sacchi) (1421–1481) – humanist, rebel, courtier

Painters

Raphael (1483–1520) – the prematurely deceased genius of the Renaissance

Significant Roman families

Rospigliosi – a shadow of its former glory

Popes and their associates

Scipione Caffarelli Borghese (1577–1633) – cardinal and papal nepot with truly earthly passions

Courageous and politically incorrect women

Silvia Ruffini (approx. 1475–1561) – a lonely, quiet widow, with a group of a cardinal’s children

Painters

Simon Vouet (1590–1649) – the panache, flair, and richness of the Baroque

Sculptors

Stefano Maderno (c. 1570–1636) – an artist famous for just one statue

Courageous and politically incorrect women

Theodora the Elder (? – 928?) – a prostitute or a woman of „truly manly strength”?

Dictators and leaders

Theodoric the Great (441–526) – a barbarian, for whom Romans erected monuments

Painters

Trophime Bigot (1597–1650) – a mysterious master of candlelight

Courageous and politically incorrect women

Tullia d’Aragona (1508? – 1556) – the queen of literary salons

Courageous and politically incorrect women

Vanozza Cattanei (1442–1518) – the unofficial wife of the pope and the official mother of his children

Significant Roman families

House of Savoy and contemporary leaders

Victor Emanuel III (1869–1947) – a king rejected and unwanted