Queen Christina of Sweden (1626–1689) was one of the 17th century’s most unconventional and extraordinary figures. Crowned at the age of six, she then abdicated when she was 28 and travelled from Stockholm to Rome, where she became a celebrated patron of the arts. Her passion for music helped shape Rome into a cultural capital, where she fostered talents such …

In the heart of Baroque Rome, the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is the principal Marian sanctuary of the Eternal City. For centuries it has guarded not only the relics of Jesus’s cradle and swaddling-clothes, but also the celebrated marble Nativity Scene by Arnolfo di Cambio (1291), the first of its kind in the history of art, thus earning it …