Pope Clement XII
Pope Clement XII reigned from 1730 to 1740, was blind for most of it, and left Rome some of its most familiar buildings. Born Lorenzo Corsini in Florence in 1652 into a wealthy patrician family, he trained in law at Pisa, and only entered the church properly after his father's death, buying the office of treasurer general and later becoming a cardinal. He was elected at seventy-eight, already in poor health, and lost his sight entirely within two years, conducting business from bed and relying on his nephew Neri Corsini. He began by prosecuting Cardinal Niccolò Coscia, the favourite of his predecessor Benedict XIII, who had sold offices and benefices on an enormous scale; Coscia was fined, imprisoned and stripped of his revenues, and a good deal of money was recovered. To repair the finances he restored the public lottery, which Benedict had abolished as immoral, and used the proceeds for building. The building programme is what survives. He commissioned the Trevi Fountain, begun in 1732 to Nicola Salvi's design; the façade of St John Lateran; the Corsini chapel there; and the harbour works at Ancona and Ravenna. He bought the Albani collection of classical sculpture and installed it on the Capitoline, creating what is generally reckoned the first public museum in the world. In April 1738 he issued In eminenti apostolatus, the first papal condemnation of Freemasonry, forbidding Catholics to join on pain of excommunication — the beginning of a hostility that lasted into the twentieth century. He tried and failed to prevent the powers from partitioning papal claims in Italy. He died in 1740.
- Lived: 1652 CE – 1740 CE
- Nationality: Italian
- Roles: pope, cleric
