How did the patronage of the nobility (rulers of church and state) and of the middle class (merchants and bankers) affect 16th and/or 17th century art?
Choose four (4) different works of painting, sculpture and/or architecture to exemplify which artists were patronized by each social class and why, and what type of subject matter each class preferred and for what reasons.

The Patronage of the nobility (ruler of church and state) and of the middle class (merchants and bankers) affected the 16th and 17th century art business positively.

In the seventeenth century, an age of absolutism as the church and nation states began to consolidate their power, patronage became monopolized. The papacy used Gian Lorenzo Bernini to produce grand statements in his Vatican architecture and sculpture that by their splendor and scale affirmed the truth of the Roman Catholic faith. In Rome the Jesuits and other religious orders engaged Francesco Borromini, Pietro da Cortona, and Giovanni Battista Gaulli for large projects that expressed the confidence and expansive optimism of their patrons.

For example, Pope Julius II brought the role of the Church in commissioning art to its height. Some of the most important works of art and architecture in the history of art happened under Julius II' patronage. They are:

For the noble and wealthy merchant-banker popolo grosso families, artistic patronage was a means of achieving and maintaining social status and political power in a society where there was a strict social hierarchy. In Florence, the economic prosperity of the city had enabled the merchant-banker families like the Medici to control the government.

These newcomers were very eager to demonstrate that they belonged as a ruling class in a world of kings, princes, and popes. One way to do this was to demonstrate appreciation for the finer things in life like music, art, sculpture, and literature.

The Medici, for instance, spent huge sums commissioning paintings and sculpture for the privacy of their own palace in Florence.

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