Benedetto Pamphili
Encyclopedia
Benedetto Pamphili (born 25 April 1653, died 22 March 1730) was an Italian cardinal
, patron of the arts, composer and librettist.
on 25 April 1653 into the powerful Pamphili
family . His father was Camillo Pamphili
who had also been a cardinal but renounced his post to marry Olimpia Aldobrandini
.
Pamphili was Grand Prior of the Order of St John of Jerusalem in Rome
from 1678 until
Pope Innocent XI
made him cardinal-deacon of Santa Maria in Portico in the consistory
of 1 September 1681 .
He later opted for the tituli of Sant'Agata in Suburra
, San Cesareo in Palatio
, Santa Maria in Cosmedin
and Santa Maria in Via Lata
.
Innocent X made him Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura
on 23 March 1685. He became Cardinal Legate
of Bologna
in 1690, cardinal protodeacon in 1693, as well as archpriest of the basilica
of Santa Maria Maggiore and of San Giovanni in Laterano.
In 1704 he was made librarian of the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana and archivist of the Archivio Segreto Vaticano. He died in 1730 and is buried at Sant'Agnese in Agone
.
) and chapel he had built.
He was particularly interested and skilled in music, not only writing several libretti
himself for operas with music by (among others) Alessandro Scarlatti
, but also gave hospitality and opportunity to several composers (such as Arcangelo Corelli
, Giovanni Lorenzo Lulier
, Alessandro Melani
, Antonio Maria Bononcini
and Carlo Francesco Cesarini, who all began their musical careers under his protection), funding publication and performances of their works. His patronage was also expressed during George Frideric Handel
's stay in Rome, when he struck up a lasting friendship with the composer and began an interesting correspondence with him. Handel dedicated a series of cantatas to the cardinal, including the famous 1707 Trionfo del tempo e del disinganno
, with a libretto by the cardinal.
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
, patron of the arts, composer and librettist.
Life
Pamphili was born in RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
on 25 April 1653 into the powerful Pamphili
Pamphili
The Pamphili are one of the papal families deeply entrenched in Roman Catholic Church, Roman and Italian politics of the 16th and 17th centuries ....
family . His father was Camillo Pamphili
Camillo Francesco Maria Pamphili
Camillo Francesco Maria Pamphili was an Italian Catholic Cardinal and later nobleman of the Pamphili family. His name is often spelled with the final long i orthography; Pamphilj.-Early life:...
who had also been a cardinal but renounced his post to marry Olimpia Aldobrandini
Olimpia Aldobrandini
Olimpia Aldobrandini was a member of the Aldobrandini family of Rome, and the sole heiress to the family fortune.-Biography:...
.
Pamphili was Grand Prior of the Order of St John of Jerusalem in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
from 1678 until
Pope Innocent XI
Pope Innocent XI
Blessed Pope Innocent XI , born Benedetto Odescalchi, was Pope from 1676 to 1689.-Early life:Benedetto Odescalchi was born at Como in 1611 , the son of a Como nobleman, Livio Odescalchi, and Paola Castelli Giovanelli from Gandino...
made him cardinal-deacon of Santa Maria in Portico in the consistory
Consistory
-Antiquity:Originally, the Latin word consistorium meant simply 'sitting together', just as the Greek synedrion ....
of 1 September 1681 .
He later opted for the tituli of Sant'Agata in Suburra
Sant'Agata dei Goti
Sant'Agata dei Goti is a church in Rome, Italy, dedicated to the martyr Saint Agatha. It is currently the titular church assigned to Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, currently Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.-History:...
, San Cesareo in Palatio
San Cesareo in Palatio
San Cesareo in Palatio or San Caesareo de Appia is a titular church in Rome, near the beginning of the Appian Way. It is dedicated to Saint Caesarius of Africa, a 2nd century deacon and martyr.-Origins:...
, Santa Maria in Cosmedin
Santa Maria in Cosmedin
The Basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin is a minor basilica church in Rome, Italy. It is located in the rione of Ripa.- History :The church was built in the 8th century during the Byzantine Papacy over the remains of the Templum Herculis Pompeiani in the Forum Boarium and of the Statio annonae, one...
and Santa Maria in Via Lata
Santa Maria in Via Lata
Santa Maria in Via Lata is a church on the Via del Corso , in Rome, Italy.-History:It is claimed that St. Paul spent two years here, in the crypt under the church, whilst under house arrest waiting for his trial. This conflicts with the tradition regarding San Paolo alla Regola...
.
Innocent X made him Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura
Apostolic Signatura
The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura is the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church...
on 23 March 1685. He became Cardinal Legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
of Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
in 1690, cardinal protodeacon in 1693, as well as archpriest of the basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
of Santa Maria Maggiore and of San Giovanni in Laterano.
In 1704 he was made librarian of the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana and archivist of the Archivio Segreto Vaticano. He died in 1730 and is buried at Sant'Agnese in Agone
Sant'Agnese in Agone
Sant'Agnese in Agone is a seventeenth century Baroque church in Rome, Italy. It faces onto the Piazza Navona, one of the main urban spaces in the historic centre of the city and the site where the Early Christian Saint Agnes was martyred in the ancient Stadium of Domitian.The rebuilding of the...
.
Patronage
He was in the first rank of Rome's cultural and artistic life in the 17th and 18th centuries, as demonstrated by his belonging to the prestigious accademia dell'Arcadia, under the pseudonym Fenicio Larisseo. He formed the major collection of Flemish paintings in the Galleria Doria Pamphilj, whose interior (by Carlo FontanaCarlo Fontana
Carlo Fontana was an Italian architect, who was in part responsible for the classicizing direction taken by Late Baroque Roman architecture.-Biography:...
) and chapel he had built.
He was particularly interested and skilled in music, not only writing several libretti
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
himself for operas with music by (among others) Alessandro Scarlatti
Alessandro Scarlatti
Alessandro Scarlatti was an Italian Baroque composer especially famous for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the founder of the Neapolitan school of opera. He was the father of two other composers, Domenico Scarlatti and Pietro Filippo Scarlatti.-Life:Scarlatti was born in...
, but also gave hospitality and opportunity to several composers (such as Arcangelo Corelli
Arcangelo Corelli
Arcangelo Corelli was an Italian violinist and composer of Baroque music.-Biography:Corelli was born at Fusignano, in the current-day province of Ravenna, although at the time it was in the province of Ferrara. Little is known about his early life...
, Giovanni Lorenzo Lulier
Giovanni Lorenzo Lulier
Giovanni Lorenzo Lulier, nicknamed Giovannino del Violone was a Baroque Italian composer, cellist and trombone player of Spanish descent.-Life:...
, Alessandro Melani
Alessandro Melani
Alessandro Melani was an Italian composer and the brother of composer Jacopo Melani, and castrato singer Atto Melani. Along with Bernardo Pasquini and Alessandro Scarlatti, he was one of the leading composers active in Rome during the 17th century...
, Antonio Maria Bononcini
Antonio Maria Bononcini
Antonio Maria Bononcini was an Italian cellist and composer, the younger brother of the better-known Giovanni Battista Bononcini....
and Carlo Francesco Cesarini, who all began their musical careers under his protection), funding publication and performances of their works. His patronage was also expressed during George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
's stay in Rome, when he struck up a lasting friendship with the composer and began an interesting correspondence with him. Handel dedicated a series of cantatas to the cardinal, including the famous 1707 Trionfo del tempo e del disinganno
The Triumph of Time and Truth
The Triumph of Time and Truth is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel which saw three iterations across 50 years of Handel's career.HWV 46a is an Italian oratorio from 1707. In 1737 Handel revised and expanded the oratorio to create HWV 46b...
, with a libretto by the cardinal.
Works: libretti and scores
- S. Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi. Oratorio da cantarsi nel giorno della sua festa alla presenza dell'eminentiss. sig. card.le de' Medici. Tinassi, Rome, 1687.
- Conversione di S. M. Maddalena. Oratorio a tre voci da cantarsi nella chiesa de' padri della congregazione dell' oratorio di S. Filippo Neri di Firenze, music by Alessandro ScarlattiAlessandro ScarlattiAlessandro Scarlatti was an Italian Baroque composer especially famous for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the founder of the Neapolitan school of opera. He was the father of two other composers, Domenico Scarlatti and Pietro Filippo Scarlatti.-Life:Scarlatti was born in...
. Vangelisti, Florence, 1693. - S. Francesca Romana. Oratorio a cinque voci da cantarsi nella chiesa de' padri della congregazione dell'oratorio di S. Filippo Neri di Firenze, music by Alessandro MelaniAlessandro MelaniAlessandro Melani was an Italian composer and the brother of composer Jacopo Melani, and castrato singer Atto Melani. Along with Bernardo Pasquini and Alessandro Scarlatti, he was one of the leading composers active in Rome during the 17th century...
. Vangelisti, Florence, 1693. - Il sagrifizio di Abel. Oratorio a quattro voci da cantarsi nella chiesa de' padri della Congregazione dell'Oratorio di S. Filippo Neri di Firenze, music by Alessandro Melani. Vangelisti, Florence, 1693.
- S. Rosa di Viterbo del sacro ordine di S. Francesco. Oratorio a cinque voci da cantarsi nella chiesa de' padri della congregazione dell' oratorio di san Filippo Neri di Firenze, music by Alessandro Melani. Vangelisti, Florence, 1693.
- Il martirio di S. Vittoria. Oratorio a quattro voci da cantarsi nella chiesa de' padri della congregazione dell' oratorio di S. Filippo Neri di Firenze, music by Giovanni del Violone. Vangelisti, Florence, 1693.
- L' Ismaele soccorso dall' angelo. Oratorio a cinque voci da cantarsi nella venerabible compagnia dell' angiolo Raffaello detta la scala, music by Alessandro Scarlatti. Vangelisti, Florence, 1695.
- Il trionfo della grazia o vero La conversione di S.M. Maddalena oratorio a tre voci da cantarsi nel nobil collegio Tolomei di Siena, music by Alessandro Scarlatti. Miccioni, Florence, 1699.
- Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi. Oratorio dedicated to the convittori del collegio Clementino alla madre suor Maria Grazia di S. Clemente carmelitana. Bernabo, Rome, 1705.
- Triumph of the Virgin ascended into heaven. Oratorio for 4 voices to be sung in the venerabil compagnia della Purificazione di Maria Vergine e S. Zanobi detta di S. Marco, music by Alessandro Scarlatti. Vangelisti, Florence, 1706.
- The Triumph of Grace. Oratorio, with music by Antonio Maria BononciniAntonio Maria BononciniAntonio Maria Bononcini was an Italian cellist and composer, the younger brother of the better-known Giovanni Battista Bononcini....
. eredi Cosmeroviani, Vienna, 1707. - Sedecia king of Jerusalem. Oratorio per musica da cantarsi nelle stanze de' paggi d'onore di sua altezza reale dedicato da' medesimi al serenissimo gran duca. Borghigiani, Florence, 1707.
- The prodigal son. Oratorio, music by Carlo Francesco Cesarini. Bernabo, Rome, 1708.
- Maria Maddalena de' pazzi. Oratorio a quattro voci fatta cantare da monsignor Sebastiano Pompilio Bonaventura vescovo di Montefiascone, e Corneto alla presenza delle reali maestà di Giacomo Terzo re della Gran Bretagna, e Maria Clementina Sobieschi di lui regia consorte, music by Alessandro Scarlatti. Seminario, Montefiascone, 1719.