Bonifazio Bevilacqua Aldobrandini
Encyclopedia
Bonifazio Bevilacqua Aldobrandini (1571 – April 7, 1627) was an Italian
Cardinal
. He was the uncle of Pope Gregory XIV
.
associated Count Luigi Bevilacqua and his two brothers, Conte Bonifazio IV (1571-1627) and Conte Alfonso II (1565-1610), with his own family granting them use of his family’s Aldobrandini
Coat of Arms and the right to appoint courts and judges in their territories. They were also made Counts of the Palace and Knights of the Lateran and of the Golden Spur. Luigi also acquired citizenship in Rome, Bologna, Mantua and Montferrat with the Castle of Fontanile
, Perugia, and Assisi. In 1607, Pope Paul V
appointed him Captain of the Curiasses and the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinando I
gave him the Leadership of the Helmets. In addition, Clement made Bonifazio a cardinal in 1599.
Bonifazio was a “secret waiter” of Pope Gregory XIII
in his youth, and received his doctorate in law at the University of Padua
. Later, Bonifazio became Archdeacon
of Ferrara and the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople
.
Bonifazio was also elected Governor of Fano
, and Governor of the Duchy of Camerino
which were part of the Papal States
at the time. During the conclave of Pope Gregory XV
, Bonifazio formed strong alliances on the side of the French against Cardinal Guido Bentivoglio and the Spanish. When Gregory became pope, he gave Bonifazio citizenship in the Republic of Lucca
. Due to the political animosity among the cardinals during his election, Pope Gregory XV abolished these abuses by making the balloting secret with no cardinal able to vote for himself.
When Bonifacio was made Cardinal, he was in charge of the diocese of Sabina, and Perugia
, both in Umbria
. He was also made the Prefect of the Cardinal’s Consul, Referendario of the Cardinal’s Senate, and elected Prefect of all of the Catholic Church’s Assemblies. Pope Clement VIII bestowed his own family name, Aldobrandini
, with all hereditary rights to Bonifazio since he loved him like a son. Bonifazio had the sepulchral monument of Torquato Tasso built in the church of S. Onofrio al Gianicolo in memory of one of his closest and dearest friends. Bonifacio is buried in a beautiful tomb in the Chapel of Saint Sebastiano Martire in the Church of Saint Andrea della Valle in Rome.
The Bevilacqua family exercised a tremendous amount of power within the Catholic Church through Cardinal Bonifacio and his aunt. Countess Isabella Bevilacqua (1519-1589) married Cavaliere Lorenzo Sfondrati, the Patrizio of Cremona. Lorenzo’s brother, Francesco, was made a cardinal by Pope Paul III
in 1544. Francesco was a Senator of Milan and when his wife, Sigismonda d’Este, died, he became a cardinal. Francesco’s son, Niccolò, became Pope Gregory XIV on December 5, 1590 and the next year made his nephew Paolo Emilio Sfondrati
a cardinal.
with his relatives the Capponi. The Capponi family built the Church and Monastery of Santo Spirito in Florence in 1360 by Gino Capponi
. Gino was famous for conquering Pisa
for the Florentines
in 1404. His son Neri, whose portrait is done in basso-relief by Simone di Betto in the church, was distinguished in the war of the Florentines against the Duke of Milan, Cosimo de' Medici
. His grandson Piero was threatened by Charles VIII of France
to surrender or Charles VIII would “sound his trumpets for the final attack”. Piero responded by saying, "Then, we shall sound our bells." Piero Capponi was killed in 1496 in an assault against the Pisans. He was buried in the same tomb as his great-grandfather Gino which is next to the monument of Cardinal Luigi Capponi
, a close friend of Cardinal Bonifazio.
Cardinal Bevilacqua was a major patron of Ventura Salimbeni
, the son of the Sienese artist Arcangelo Salimbeni (1567–1589), and Battista Focari, widow of Eugenio Vanni. Ventura was first taught painting in his native Siena
by his father, as was his half-brother Francesco Vanni
. Cardinal Bonifazio introduced Ventura to Pope Sixtus V
(1585–90) in 1588. Ventura received his first commission for the fresco decoration of the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (the Vatican Library
) by the pope.
During 1590–91, Salimbeni received commissions from Cardinal Bevilacqua to decorate Gesù
and Santa Maria Maggiore churches in Rome. In 1595, and the Church of Santa Trinita and the Church of Santa Spirito in Siena utilizing the Mannerist style. Subsequently, Cardinal Bonifacio Bevilacqua commissioned Salimbeni to paint the Betrothal of the Virgin in the diocese’s seminary in Foligno while Bonifazio was governor.
Salimbeni was commissioned to paint Saint Carl Borromeo Adores the Name of Jesus for the cathedral of Saint Lawrence in Grosseto. Cardinal Bevilacqua was a supporter of the cult of the Name of Jesus instituted by Saint Bernardino
and sanctioned by Pope Eugene IV
in 1432. His next work, Concert of Angels, is stylistically very similar to Betrothal of the Virgin. For almost all of his painting cycles he first created detailed drawings. The few engravings that Salimbeni executed for the cardinal were made in Rome. Of these, only seven survive, dated between 1589 and 1594.
In Perugia
, he decorated the Church of San Pietro
. After completing his fresco
in the church called Cavaleriato del Esperon de Oro, Cardinal Bevilacqua bestowed Ventura Salimbeni with the Bevilacqua family name. From that time, he became known as Il Cavaliere Ventura Salimbeni Bevilacqua. The title of Cavaliere was similar to being knighted. While knighthood was the first and most common of Italy's entitlements, it is not hereditary as are the royal titles. Knighthood is an individual title conferred by members of an Italian royal family for an individual’s outstanding or meritorious service.
In 1612, one year before Salimbeni died, he painted a portrait
in celebration of Bonifacio’s elevation to the cardinalate. This is a reference to the letter sent by Pope Clement VIII on April 3, 1598 granting Bonifacio with dispensation for not having reached the canonical age to accept his election by the College of Cardinals
to the title of Patriarch of Constantinople. Bonifazio was only twenty seven years of age; three years younger than the canonical age to be elected a Patriarch.
In 1735, Marquis Ercole Bevilacqua and his wife, Bradamante d'Este, donated their Palace Paradiso to the city of Ferrara
as The Civic Lapidario Museum. They also donated several ancient Roman gravestones, and many works of art including the Portrait of Cardinal Bonifacio Bevilacqua. This gift was in celebration his reelection to Giudice dei Savi or Mayor and Judge of Ferrara. In 1763, Cardinal Bonifacio’s portrait was incorporated as part of Cardinal Giovanni Maria Riminaldi’s prestigious collection of nineteen portraits of famous cardinals at the Civic Museum of Ferrara in the Schifanoia Palace
.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
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...
. He was the uncle of Pope Gregory XIV
Pope Gregory XIV
Pope Gregory XIV , born Niccolò Sfondrati, was Pope from 5 December 1590 until his death in 1591.- Early career :...
.
Biography
In 1601, Pope Clement VIIIPope Clement VIII
Pope Clement VIII , born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was Pope from 30 January 1592 to 3 March 1605.-Cardinal:...
associated Count Luigi Bevilacqua and his two brothers, Conte Bonifazio IV (1571-1627) and Conte Alfonso II (1565-1610), with his own family granting them use of his family’s Aldobrandini
Aldobrandini
The Aldobrandini are an Italian noble family from Florence, with close ties to the Vatican. Its Roman fortunes were made when Ippolito Aldobrandini became pope under the name Pope Clement VIII. He arranged the marriage that linked the Aldobrandini with the Roman family of Pamphili...
Coat of Arms and the right to appoint courts and judges in their territories. They were also made Counts of the Palace and Knights of the Lateran and of the Golden Spur. Luigi also acquired citizenship in Rome, Bologna, Mantua and Montferrat with the Castle of Fontanile
Fontanile
Fontanile is a comune in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 70 km southeast of Turin and about 25 km southeast of Asti...
, Perugia, and Assisi. In 1607, Pope Paul V
Pope Paul V
-Theology:Paul met with Galileo Galilei in 1616 after Cardinal Bellarmine had, on his orders, warned Galileo not to hold or defend the heliocentric ideas of Copernicus. Whether there was also an order not to teach those ideas in any way has been a matter for controversy...
appointed him Captain of the Curiasses and the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinando I
Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1587 to 1609, having succeeded his older brother Francesco I.-Biography:...
gave him the Leadership of the Helmets. In addition, Clement made Bonifazio a cardinal in 1599.
Bonifazio was a “secret waiter” of Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII , born Ugo Boncompagni, was Pope from 1572 to 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake for the Gregorian calendar, which remains the internationally-accepted civil calendar to this date.-Youth:He was born the son of Cristoforo Boncompagni and wife Angela...
in his youth, and received his doctorate in law at the University of Padua
University of Padua
The University of Padua is a premier Italian university located in the city of Padua, Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 as a school of law and was one of the most prominent universities in early modern Europe. It is among the earliest universities of the world and the second...
. Later, Bonifazio became Archdeacon
Archdeacon
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in Anglicanism, Syrian Malabar Nasrani, Chaldean Catholic, and some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop. In the High Middle Ages it was the most senior diocesan position below a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church...
of Ferrara and the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople
Latin Patriarch of Constantinople
The Latin Patriarch of Constantinople was an office established as a result of Crusader activity in the Near East. The title should not be confused with that of the Patriarch of Constantinople, an office which existed before and after....
.
Bonifazio was also elected Governor of Fano
Fano
Fano is a town and comune of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort 12 km southeast of Pesaro, located where the Via Flaminia reaches the Adriatic Sea...
, and Governor of the Duchy of Camerino
Camerino
Camerino is a small town of 7.135 inhabitants in the Marches , in the province of Macerata, Italy. It is located in the Apennines bordering Umbria, between the valleys of the rivers Potenza and Chienti, about 40 miles from Ancona....
which were part of the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
at the time. During the conclave of Pope Gregory XV
Pope Gregory XV
Pope Gregory XV , born Alessandro Ludovisi, was pope from 1621, succeeding Paul V on 9 February 1621...
, Bonifazio formed strong alliances on the side of the French against Cardinal Guido Bentivoglio and the Spanish. When Gregory became pope, he gave Bonifazio citizenship in the Republic of Lucca
Lucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
. Due to the political animosity among the cardinals during his election, Pope Gregory XV abolished these abuses by making the balloting secret with no cardinal able to vote for himself.
When Bonifacio was made Cardinal, he was in charge of the diocese of Sabina, and Perugia
Province of Perugia
The Province of Perugia is the larger of the two provinces in the Umbria region of Italy, comprising two-thirds of both the area and population of the region. Its capital is the city of Perugia...
, both in Umbria
Umbria
Umbria is a region of modern central Italy. It is one of the smallest Italian regions and the only peninsular region that is landlocked.Its capital is Perugia.Assisi and Norcia are historical towns associated with St. Francis of Assisi, and St...
. He was also made the Prefect of the Cardinal’s Consul, Referendario of the Cardinal’s Senate, and elected Prefect of all of the Catholic Church’s Assemblies. Pope Clement VIII bestowed his own family name, Aldobrandini
Aldobrandini
The Aldobrandini are an Italian noble family from Florence, with close ties to the Vatican. Its Roman fortunes were made when Ippolito Aldobrandini became pope under the name Pope Clement VIII. He arranged the marriage that linked the Aldobrandini with the Roman family of Pamphili...
, with all hereditary rights to Bonifazio since he loved him like a son. Bonifazio had the sepulchral monument of Torquato Tasso built in the church of S. Onofrio al Gianicolo in memory of one of his closest and dearest friends. Bonifacio is buried in a beautiful tomb in the Chapel of Saint Sebastiano Martire in the Church of Saint Andrea della Valle in Rome.
The Bevilacqua family exercised a tremendous amount of power within the Catholic Church through Cardinal Bonifacio and his aunt. Countess Isabella Bevilacqua (1519-1589) married Cavaliere Lorenzo Sfondrati, the Patrizio of Cremona. Lorenzo’s brother, Francesco, was made a cardinal by Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III , born Alessandro Farnese, was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1534 to his death in 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era following the sack of Rome in 1527 and rife with uncertainties in the Catholic Church following the Protestant Reformation...
in 1544. Francesco was a Senator of Milan and when his wife, Sigismonda d’Este, died, he became a cardinal. Francesco’s son, Niccolò, became Pope Gregory XIV on December 5, 1590 and the next year made his nephew Paolo Emilio Sfondrati
Paolo Emilio Sfondrati
Paolo Emilio Sfondrati was an Italian Cardinal.Born to a noble family in Milan and the nephew of Pope Gregory XIV, he was the cardinal priest of Santa Cecilia, papal legate in Bologna, member of the Congregation of the Sant'Offizio and a good friend of San Filippo Neri.He was bishop of Cremona,...
a cardinal.
Arts
Cardinal Bonifazio was a great patron of the arts. He constructed the Church della Madonna della Neve in CerviaCervia
Cervia is a town and comune in the province of Ravenna , central Italy.-History:Originally called Ficocle, it was probably of Greek origin and was located midway from current Cervia and Ravenna...
with his relatives the Capponi. The Capponi family built the Church and Monastery of Santo Spirito in Florence in 1360 by Gino Capponi
Gino Capponi
Marquis Gino Capponi was an Italian statesman and historian.The Capponi family is one of the most illustrious Florentine houses, and is mentioned as early as 1250; it acquired great wealth as a mercantile and banking firm, and many of its members distinguished themselves in the service of the...
. Gino was famous for conquering Pisa
Pisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
for the Florentines
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
in 1404. His son Neri, whose portrait is done in basso-relief by Simone di Betto in the church, was distinguished in the war of the Florentines against the Duke of Milan, Cosimo de' Medici
Cosimo de' Medici
Còsimo di Giovanni degli Mèdici was the first of the Medici political dynasty, de facto rulers of Florence during much of the Italian Renaissance; also known as "Cosimo 'the Elder'" and "Cosimo Pater Patriae" .-Biography:Born in Florence, Cosimo inherited both his wealth and his expertise in...
. His grandson Piero was threatened by Charles VIII of France
Charles VIII of France
Charles VIII, called the Affable, , was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. Charles was a member of the House of Valois...
to surrender or Charles VIII would “sound his trumpets for the final attack”. Piero responded by saying, "Then, we shall sound our bells." Piero Capponi was killed in 1496 in an assault against the Pisans. He was buried in the same tomb as his great-grandfather Gino which is next to the monument of Cardinal Luigi Capponi
Luigi Capponi
Luigi Capponi was an Italian Catholic Cardinal who became Archbishop of Ravenna.-Biography:Capponi was born in 1582, the son of Senator Francesco Capponi and Ludovica Macchiavelli. The Capponi family had extensive links to Italian political circles and to senior members of the Catholic Church...
, a close friend of Cardinal Bonifazio.
Cardinal Bevilacqua was a major patron of Ventura Salimbeni
Ventura Salimbeni
Ventura di Archangelo Salimbeni was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker and among the last representatives of a style influenced by the earlier Sienese School of Quattrocento-Renaissance....
, the son of the Sienese artist Arcangelo Salimbeni (1567–1589), and Battista Focari, widow of Eugenio Vanni. Ventura was first taught painting in his native Siena
Siena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
by his father, as was his half-brother Francesco Vanni
Francesco Vanni
Francesco Vanni was an Italian painter of the Mannerist style, active in Rome and his native city of Siena.-Biography:He was half-brother of the painter Ventura Salimbeni, and the stepson of Arcangelo Salimbeni, another Sienese painter. His stepfather died when Francesco was young, and as a 16...
. Cardinal Bonifazio introduced Ventura to Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V , born Felice Peretti di Montalto, was Pope from 1585 to 1590.-Early life:The chronicler Andrija Zmajević states that Felice's family originated from modern-day Montenegro...
(1585–90) in 1588. Ventura received his first commission for the fresco decoration of the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (the Vatican Library
Vatican Library
The Vatican Library is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from...
) by the pope.
During 1590–91, Salimbeni received commissions from Cardinal Bevilacqua to decorate Gesù
Church of the Gesu
The Church of the Gesù is the mother church of the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic religious order also known as the Jesuits. Officially named , its facade is "the first truly baroque façade", introducing the baroque style into architecture ,. The church served as model for innumerable Jesuit...
and Santa Maria Maggiore churches in Rome. In 1595, and the Church of Santa Trinita and the Church of Santa Spirito in Siena utilizing the Mannerist style. Subsequently, Cardinal Bonifacio Bevilacqua commissioned Salimbeni to paint the Betrothal of the Virgin in the diocese’s seminary in Foligno while Bonifazio was governor.
Salimbeni was commissioned to paint Saint Carl Borromeo Adores the Name of Jesus for the cathedral of Saint Lawrence in Grosseto. Cardinal Bevilacqua was a supporter of the cult of the Name of Jesus instituted by Saint Bernardino
Bernardino of Siena
Saint Bernardino of Siena, O.F.M., was an Italian priest, Franciscan missionary, and is a Catholic saint.-Early life:...
and sanctioned by Pope Eugene IV
Pope Eugene IV
Pope Eugene IV , born Gabriele Condulmer, was pope from March 3, 1431, to his death.-Biography:He was born in Venice to a rich merchant family, a Correr on his mother's side. Condulmer entered the Order of Saint Augustine at the monastery of St. George in his native city...
in 1432. His next work, Concert of Angels, is stylistically very similar to Betrothal of the Virgin. For almost all of his painting cycles he first created detailed drawings. The few engravings that Salimbeni executed for the cardinal were made in Rome. Of these, only seven survive, dated between 1589 and 1594.
In Perugia
Perugia
Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....
, he decorated the Church of San Pietro
San Pietro, Perugia
San Pietro is the name of a church and an abbey in the city of Perugia , central Italy.-History:The monastery was created around 996 over the former cathedral church, the early seat of Perugia's bishops, existing since the early seventh century, although the first document citing the abbot is from...
. After completing his fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
in the church called Cavaleriato del Esperon de Oro, Cardinal Bevilacqua bestowed Ventura Salimbeni with the Bevilacqua family name. From that time, he became known as Il Cavaliere Ventura Salimbeni Bevilacqua. The title of Cavaliere was similar to being knighted. While knighthood was the first and most common of Italy's entitlements, it is not hereditary as are the royal titles. Knighthood is an individual title conferred by members of an Italian royal family for an individual’s outstanding or meritorious service.
In 1612, one year before Salimbeni died, he painted a portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
in celebration of Bonifacio’s elevation to the cardinalate. This is a reference to the letter sent by Pope Clement VIII on April 3, 1598 granting Bonifacio with dispensation for not having reached the canonical age to accept his election by the College of Cardinals
College of Cardinals
The College of Cardinals is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church.A function of the college is to advise the pope about church matters when he summons them to an ordinary consistory. It also convenes on the death or abdication of a pope as a papal conclave to elect a successor...
to the title of Patriarch of Constantinople. Bonifazio was only twenty seven years of age; three years younger than the canonical age to be elected a Patriarch.
In 1735, Marquis Ercole Bevilacqua and his wife, Bradamante d'Este, donated their Palace Paradiso to the city of Ferrara
Ferrara
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
as The Civic Lapidario Museum. They also donated several ancient Roman gravestones, and many works of art including the Portrait of Cardinal Bonifacio Bevilacqua. This gift was in celebration his reelection to Giudice dei Savi or Mayor and Judge of Ferrara. In 1763, Cardinal Bonifacio’s portrait was incorporated as part of Cardinal Giovanni Maria Riminaldi’s prestigious collection of nineteen portraits of famous cardinals at the Civic Museum of Ferrara in the Schifanoia Palace
Palazzo Schifanoia
Palazzo Schifanoia is a Renaissance palace in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna built for the Este family. The name "Schifanoia" is thought to originate from "schivar la noia" meaning literally to "escape from boredom" which describes accurately the original intention of the palazzo and the other villas...
.