Italy On This Day

Sonnet writer satirised life in 19th century Rome Giuseppe Gioachino Belli's poems often poked  fun at the Roman Catholic church ...

Political pontiff dominated by sister-in-law The portrait of Innocent X by the Spanish artist Diego Velázquez, notable for a terse fa...

Legally-trained pontiff was against witchcraft and for secret ballots Gian Lorenzo Bernini's marble bust of Gregory XV, which he s...