Pope Pius IX with attendants

A carte-de-visite portrait of Pope Pius IX (1792-1878; reigned 1846-1878).

In 1846 Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti became the 252nd man to occupy the chair of St. Peter. He is seen here surrounded by his attendants and members of his cabinet.

Initially a liberal, he never recovered from his exile of 1848 and for the rest of his life remained convinced that political concessions to democracy merely fuelled the fires of revolution. An opponent of Italian unity, he became a virtual prisoner in the Vatican.

Photographer unidentified.