Dévotion et objets d’affection. Les dons de Francesco Barberini aux clarisses de Fara in Sabina, de trésor à collection

The objects preserved in one place are a valuable source for drawing other stories, by placing in an internal and family perspective events, circumstances and people which are ignored by official history. Moments in the history of the Clarisse monastery of Fara in Sabina (Rieti) are thus re-read through devotional objects (paintings, statues, trinkets, remains and relics) which are preserved here and some of which were donated by Cardinal Francesco Barberini. The analysis of some of these pieces allows us to reconstruct the fragments of an unpublished story and to consider hypotheses concerning the religious policies and religious orientations of the monastery. Constituted by the objects in question, but also by the words of the nuns, their stories, their memories and all daily writings (scattered annotations, notes, chronicles and community newspapers, letters) relating to these objects, private and informal sources, highlight in particular the relationship between Francesco Barberini and Francesca Farnese (1597-1651), founder of the place as well as the strategic intentions of Barberini.