Tomb of Innocent XII

The papal tomb remained the most important sculptural task in Rome right to the end of the eighteenth century. Its history is a touchstone not only for assessing the contributions of the leading sculptors, their style, and the quality of their work, but also for the appreciation of the profound spiritual development that occurred at this period.

Filippo della Valle’s tomb of Innocent XII repeats the structure of the papal tombs, by then conventionalised from the type created by Bernini at the height of the Catholic Restoration as an adequate expression of papal power. Filippo della Valle’s work shows an almost Rococo elegance. His figure f the pope shows a fragile old man rather than the symbolic head of Christianity.