A Christmas Conspiracy: The Family at the End of the World

The Object

It’s good to be the pope in the 1600s. But staying pope is not so easy, as the famous Barberini family finds out when one of their own takes up the tiara in 1623. As Rome fills up with their art, and dungeons fill up with their enemies, can they survive the forces of change threatening their worldview—and the forces of the occult threatening to kill the pope on Christmas Day? You can see some of the art commissioned by the Barberini family, including Pope Urban VIII, all over Rome—in the Piazza Barberini, the Palazzo Barberini, and of course St. Peter’s Basilica—and also in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art: https://collections.artsmia.org/search/pope%20urban Look closely and you may see the curious Barberini family crest—a trio of bees—on fountains, frames, and even the altar in St. Peter’s Basilica. Read about its symbolism and ubiquity here: https://theframeblog.com/2017/08/22/bees-in-the-frame-part-1-the-barberini-bee/