From libraries to picture galleries Collecting and libertinism in seventeenth-century Italy

Studying collections can ground research on the rise of libertinism in seventeenth-century Italy. Analysing libraries such as that of Cardinal Brancaccio, of the master of the house Girolamo Mercuri, or of the playwright Giovanni Azzavedo, reveals the link that exist between the interest for libertinism and pictorial genres such as bambocciata, landscape painting or animal painting, as well as a subversion of the traditional criteria for displaying art.