The Coat of Arms of Pope Innocent X

Map

Coat of Arms of Pope Innocent X, Fountain of the Four Rivers

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On September 15th 1644, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Pamphilj was elected pope, taking the name Innocent X.

Innocent X (r. 1644-55) was a member of the Pamphilj family, whose coat of arms sports three fleur-de-lys and a dove with an olive branch in its beak. The latter is a reference to the dove which Noah 'sent forth...to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground' (Genesis 8:8).  The dove returns having 'found no rest for the sole of her foot'. Seven days later Noah once again 'sent forth the dove out of the ark; and the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off' (Genesis 8:11).

Innocent X's motto was Allevitæ Sunt Aquæ Super Terram (The waters on the earth were relieved).  

The Pamphilj dove also appears on both the exterior and interior of the church of Sant' Agnese in Agone, which stands in the shadow of the fountain, and on the Palazzo Pamphilj, the erstwhile home of the Pamphilj family, which now houses the Brazilian embassy. 

Related posts: 

• Papal Coats of Arms. 
• Portrait of Pope Innocent X by Velasquez. 

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