A splendid portrait of Cardinal Giulio Mazarini (1602-1661), painted by Nicolas Mignard (1606-1668) graces the cover of this issue dedicated to Johann Hieronymus Kapsberger (1580-1651).
An Italian, a Frenchman and a German – contemporaries brought together through the generous patronage of the cardinal from his privileged position at the court of Louis XIV.
The cardinal, born in Pescina, Abruzaos, when this territory belonged to the Spanish crown, was one of those men with a stunning biography: Duke of Nevers, a leader of European diplomacy and successor to Cardinal Richelieu, Mazarini was educated in Spain, at the universities of Alcalá de Henares and Salamanca, and worked under the Pope in Rome before transferring to the French court.