Die Bekehrung Königin Christinas von Schweden und die Oper La vita humana (1656)

Abstract

The political circumstances surrounding Queen Christina of Sweden’s abdication and her conversion to the Catholic faith in 1654 and 1655 largely dictated the artistic and cultural projects enacted for the celebration of her conversion and arrival in Rome in 1655. This article examines particular strategies in portraying the Queen’s reception in Rome and her conversion within the allegorical plot of the opera La vita humana (written by Giulio Rospigliosi and Marco Marazzoli), performed in 1656 in Rome in the Queen’s honor, and offers a new interpretation of the allegory and possible parallels to her visit. In this sense, the opera’s character Intendimento can be seen as a possible personification of the Jesuit discourse responsible for her conversion.