Entrepreneurial, foresighted and ambitious – that is the image of Olimpia which emerges out of the cards of history. It was confirmed by her marble bust created around 1651 by Alessandro Algardi, showing perhaps not a beautiful but clearly a ruling visage of the then “popess”. In 1651 Abbot Giambattista Rinalducci wrote in a rather sexist tone that Olimpia “has all the vices of woman and none of her virtues. She is greedy, insatiable, conceited, critical, unforgiving, arrogant, violent, sensual and quenches her thirst with the pope’s riches, which she herself consumes”.

Her ambitions found an adequate setting, when as just a twenty-one-year old widow she married, albeit 32 years her senior, but a very prosperous aristocrat, Pamphilio Pamphilj. When after ten years of marriage, her husband died, Olimpia married for a third time, this time a Genoa aristocrat – Andrea Giustiniani. When shortly afterwards, in 1644 the papal tiara was given to the brother of her second husband, Giovanni Battista Pamphilj, from that moment on she consequently accompanied him and set the stage for his pontificate despite temporary quarrels and misunderstandings.

Her figure became an object of numerous anonymous, spiteful and even insulting satires, which in the form of poems were hung as if on a notice board on the statue of Pasquino (preserved until today) neighboring Piazza Navona. She was ridiculed by being called a “papessa” (popess), or in writing “Olim pia, nunc impia”, meaning “in the past pious, now impious”, which was a reference to her monastic upbringing and an insinuation of earthly pleasures, which she was to partake in. Many of these lampoons were written during the times of crisis in the years 1648-1649, when Olimpia’s grain speculations were given as the reason for the famine prevalent in Rome. Some of these were created at the initiative of her daughter-in-law, who hated her vehemently – the princess of Rossano, who practically organized competitions for the best texts of this type.

It is generally believed that thanks to Olimpia Maidalchini, prostitution was legalized. In reality she merely provided protection for the then prostitutes, i.e. her name protected them, while her coat of arms visible on the doors of their houses, or doors of their carriages, confirmed that the area is under her guardianship, and they can safely pursue their profession. Of course she did not do this without profit, as the practice of prostitution in a city, which was for the most part occupied by men was profitable indeed.

At the same time Olimpia was one of the more significant patrons of art, whom Rome can thank for more than it would like to admit. The pope, who showed little interest in matters of art, also turned to his trusted sister-in-law when it came to issues connected with foundations and construction initiatives. And so, she was the initiator of the reconstruction of Piazza Navona. Most likely she was the one who recommended Gian Lorenzo Bernini, as the designer of the Fountain of the Four Rivers (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi) found in the center of the square. She co-created the architectural and decorative concepts of the Pamphilj family palace, in which she resided (Palazzo Pamphilj). She was, most likely, the person behind the start, in 1644, of the construction and decoration of the suburban villa (Casino di Villa Doria Pamphilj), which was set in a specially arranged park. It was to serve as a representative residence of the family and be a clear testimony to the artistic interests of Olimpia’s son, Camillo Pamphilj, who became a cardinal at the age of 22, and was a promising papal nepot, until the moment when, to the chagrin of his mother and uncle, he decided to give up the robes of a cardinal and marry the beautiful and wealthy Olimpia, Princess of Rossano.

When Innocent X died in 1655, the funeral celebrations were more than modest, while the behavior of the pope’s family raised the ire of Romans. Neither his sister-in-law, nor his nephew wanted to pay for the cost of coffins for the deceased, which were customarily funded by the closest relatives of the bishop of Rome. The Pamphilj family could not count upon the support of cardinals on the following conclave. The newly elected pope was Alexander VII from the Chigi family, and one of his first resolutions was to put Olimpia in front of a court for the embezzlement of papal funds. Olimpia immediately left Rome and went to her Duchy of San Martino al Cimino near Viterbo, where she had previously built a palace for herself and created an interesting architectural concept relating to Piazza Navona, entrusting it to two artists who were her favorites – Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini.

She died from the plague in 1657, which also definitely terminated the court case. She left behind numerous properties and chattel as well as money in the sum of two million scudos. These goods were inherited by her son Camillo Pamphilj, while the money was used by him for the purchase of works of art, which can be admired in the palace of Camillo and Olimpia the Princess of Rossano at via del Corso – Palazzo Doria Pamphilj (currently Galleria Doria Pamphilj).