en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Clement_IX
2 corrections found
opening the first public opera house in Rome
This is chronologically impossible: Clement IX died in 1669, while Rome’s first public opera house, the Teatro Tordinona, was built in 1670 and opened in 1671.
Full reasoning
The timeline does not work.
- The Holy See’s biography page for Clement IX gives the end of his pontificate as 9 December 1669.
- The official Rome tourism page for Teatro Tordinona says the theatre was built in 1670.
- Scholarly literature identifies the Tordinona as Rome’s first commercial/public opera theatre and dates its opening to 1671.
Because Clement IX was already dead before the theatre was built, he could not have opened Rome’s first public opera house. At most, he may have approved or supported plans that were realized after his death.
3 sources
- Clement IX | The Holy See
Beginning Pontificate 20,26.VI.1667 ... End Pontificate 9.XII.1669
- Teatro Tordinona | Turismo Roma
Il Teatro Tordinona, costruito nel 1670...
- “All’uso di Venezia”: The Teatro Tordinona | Oxford Academic
The first commercial theater in Rome, the Teatro Tordinona, opened in 1671...
the colonnade of Saint Peter's Basilica
Bernini’s St. Peter’s colonnade was commissioned by Pope Alexander VII, not by Clement IX.
Full reasoning
This attribution is incorrect.
- The Vatican’s own page on the colonnade states that Pope Alexander VII (1655–1667) commissioned Gian Lorenzo Bernini to build the colonnade.
- The official Saint Peter’s Basilica site likewise says Saint Peter’s Square was designed by Bernini at the behest of Pope Alexander VII and that it was completed in 1667.
So the colonnade was already an Alexander VII project, not a Clement IX commission. The wording here wrongly attributes that Bernini commission to Clement IX.
3 sources
- Colonnade | The Holy See
Pope Alexander VII (1655-1667) commissioned Gian Lorenzo Bernini to build the colonnade.
- The Square | Basilica Papale di San Pietro
Saint Peter's Square was designed by the architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini, at the behest of Pope Alexander VII. It was completed in 1667...
- Clement IX | The Holy See
End Pontificate 9.XII.1669