Contrary to other popes, at the outset of his six-year reign he stated that “he would not like to leave “dead stones” as his only souvenir”, which for the artists of the time could mean only one thing – limiting of papal funds towards construction initiatives and others. However, this did not come to pass and as it quickly turned out artists were able to breathe a sigh of relief. In opposition to his predecessors, Clement X did not favor the already elderly, seventy-two year old Gian Lorenzo Bernini, whom he entrusted with completing only three of his busts. The pope’s new favorite was Bernini’s student - Carlo Fontana.

On the political arena the pope’s greatest achievement was stopping the Turkish invasion of Europe, which was contributed to by the King of Poland John III Sobieski defeating them at Khotyn in 1673. The greatest failure of Clement X, on the other hand, was the situation in the French Church. King Louis XIV, desiring to become as independent of the pope as possible, steadily confiscated church property in France and nominated bishops who were devoted to him.

Similarly to his predecessors, Clement X also surrounded himself with his family during his pontificate. The most entrepreneurial of those turned out to be the nepot – Cardinal Paluzzo Paluzzi-Altieri degli Albertoni. He was not only the right hand man of the elderly pope, but also the person who set the tone for his policies, the last nepot in history, who significantly interfered in matters of the papacy. It was at his initiative that his relative Ludovica Albertoni was beatified and for her, a chapel which was designated to be a family mausoleum, in the Church of San Francesco a Ripa was created – with an impressive figure of the blessed (1674) – a work of Bernini. It must be admitted that in this case the papal nephew exhibited a far-reaching frugality, since the artist who was known for high apanages, was „forced” to work for free in exchange for papal pardon for his brother, sentenced to banishment for indecent acts. However, the papal nepot did not spare the money for the very costly expansion of the family palace (Palazzo Altieri), for which he was also heavily criticized.

The pope’s nephew was also, as tradition would have it, the founder of the tomb of Clement X created ten years after the pope’s death (1691), in St Peter’s Basilica (San Pietro in Vaticano), placed in a prestigious location on the right side of the apse. This monumental statue of glory was to commemorate the Holy Father, but also gave testimony to the strength of the Altieri family. It must not be forgotten that in Rome, the glory of a given family generally coexisted with the memory of its greatest member, which was generally the pope. This is where its wealth and earthly properties came from. That is why families of the so-called black aristocracy very seldom neglected the responsibility of commemorating the pope’s name, and if they had, they lost both in importance and prestige. That is why the nephew spared no expenses, while the designer of the statue Mattia de Rossi used rare, multi-colored types of marble. The pope seated on a throne, whose marble statue was completed by Bernini’s student - Ercole Ferrata, is accompanied at his feet by two allegories relating to his character – Benignity and Clemency . The relief found on the sarcophagus commemorates the moment of the grand opening of the Holy Doors of the Jubilee Year in 1675.

Structures completed in Rome at the initiative of the pope or his nepot:

• Expansion and decoration of Palazzo Altieri – frescos by Carlo Maratti
• Busts of Cardinal Giovanni Altieri and his brother Lorenzo (brother and father of the pope) in the Altieri Chapel in the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva
• Altieri Chapel with the figure of the blessed Ludovica Albertoni in the Church of San Francesco a Ripa – work of Gian Lorenzo Bernini
• A fountain designed on St Peter’s Square (Piazza di San Pietro) with the pope’s coat of arms (by Carlo Fontana)