An Ardent Patron explores the exceptional contribution Cardinal Camillo Massimo (1620-1677) made to the culture of seventeenth-century Rome. A close friend of Nicolas Poussin and Diego
Vel�zquez and an even closer friend of Giovanni Pietro Bellori, Massimo combined a sophisticated intellect with a wide range of cultural interests, which he pursued with determination. He
became a highly regarded antiquarian collector and patron of contemporary artists, including, besides Poussin and Vel�zquez, Claude Lorraine and Carlo Maratti, and he significantly influenced
the taste of the following century. This book reconstructs his patronage and collection in the context of the society that produced him, and argues for his role as an active force promoting
particular artists, theories and enterprises in Baroque Rome.
