Michela Berti

Europe in Rome/Rome in Europe: Diplomacy as a Network of Cultural Exchanges

French ambassadors to the Holy See were known for their extensive use of festive events as occasions to promote the grandeur of their country. The polycentric system of the Roman court forced ambassadors to offer festive events for a use that could be appreciated by different audiences, including different social classes. Each of these areas of celebration—religious, political, popular—provided a musical accompaniment directed to that specific cultural context; obviously, the fate of these musical accompaniments was different: the music composed for political purposes spread immediately throughout Europe due to the extensive network of European diplomats, whose role was comparable to that of a cultural broker who contributed to the diffusion of Roman musical style. Through the examples of two feste organized by French ambassadors in Rome in 1747 and 1782 and through the study of related diplomatic correspondence, this chapter aspires to analyze the role of the diplomatic network in the circulation of festive and musical models from Rome to the other European courts. At first I formalize the model of circulation in three steps—from the French court to Rome and then from Rome to the other European courts; secondly, I define the role of the ambassador compared with his related king, on the one hand, and with the artists involved, on the other hand.