Art, Art History, and Film Faculty

Professor Leone’s research focuses on the city of Rome in the early modern period (1400-1800), which provides endless opportunities to study the intersection of art and society. She is interested in how art was made, what purpose it had, and what it meant in its original context and over time. Her research considers the topics of patronage, the papal court, domestic architecture, architectural practice, the work of artisans, art collecting, and material culture.

Her monograph, The Palazzo Pamphilj in Piazza Navona: Constructing Identity in Early Modern Rome (2008), launched her interests in the world of the papal court, the patronage of Pope Innocent X, the Pamphilj family, and their contributions to shaping the city of Rome. The book explores the social rise of the Pamphilj, the building history of the palace, the relationship between architecture and self-representation, and the role of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s famous Four Rivers Fountain in this story.

Her next project brought together an interdisciplinary group of local, national, and international scholars to examine the wide-ranging influence of Innocent X and his relatives, especially Cardinal Benedetto Pamphilj, on the visual, musical, and literary arts in Rome, from 1644-1730. This wonderful collaborative endeavor resulted in an international conference at Boston College, and the edited volume, The Pamphilj and the Arts: Patronage and Consumption in Baroque Rome (2011).

At present, Professor Leone is writing a book—titled Building for the Holy Year: Innocent X Pamphilj and Architecture in Rome—about Innocent X’s projects to renovate Rome for the Holy Year of 1650 and how he managed to accomplish so much building in just five years. Along with digging in the archives, she is using the digital technology of network analysis to analyze the relationships among advisors, architects, and artisans in architectural practice.

In addition, Professor Leone has published many articles and book chapters on related and separate topics, from the Chapel of Francis Xavier in the Gesù church in Rome, to an eighteenth-century Italian painting masquerading as a Raphael in nineteenth-century Boston. She is grateful for the research support of many institutions, including Boston College, the American Academy in Rome, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, CASVA at the National Gallery of Art, and Harvard University’s Villa I Tatti outside Florence.

Professor Leone enjoys teaching a repertoire of courses on Italian Renaissance and Baroque art at Boston College. Her classes are informed by her experiences of on-site study in Italy. Special topics include a new course called Rome Reborn (planned for 2025-26), a recent addition on Renaissance Women, and a longtime favorite, Venetian Art and Architecture. While aiming to transport her students back in time, she also considers how the art of the past is displayed in museums today.