Domenico Grimani was a Venetian Churchman 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...

. From 1498 to 1517 he was Patriarch of Aquileia

Patriarch of Aquileia

The Patriarch of Aquileia was an office in the Roman Catholic Church. During the Middle Ages the Patriarchate of Aquileia was a temporal state in Northern Italy. The Patriarchate of Aquileia as a church office was suppressed in 1752....

, and from 1517 to 1520 bishop of Ceneda. He became a cardinal in 1493. Grimani was not ordained a priest until 1498. After the election of Pope Julius II he became cardinal priest of San Marco. In 1508 he was named cardinal bishop of Albano.http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios1493.htm

Grimani was also a notable collector and his collection now forms part of the Museo d'Antichità in the Doge's Palace in Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

. The Grimani Breviary, long in the library of San Marco

St Mark's Basilica

The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice, northern Italy. It is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture...

, Venice, is a key work in the late history of Flemish

Flemish people

The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...

 illuminated manuscript

Illuminated manuscript

An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...

s. It was produced in Ghent

Ghent

Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...

 and Bruges

Bruges

Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....

 ca 1515-1520 and by 1520 owned, though possibly not originally commissioned, by Cardinal Domenico Grimani. Several leading artists, including Simon Bening

Simon Bening

Simon Bening was a 16th century miniature painter of the Ghent-Bruges school, the last major artist of the Netherlandish tradition....

 and Gerard David

Gerard David

Gerard David was an Early Netherlandish painter and manuscript illuminator known for his brilliant use of color.-Life:...

 contributed some of their finest work to it.

Grimani is reputed to have been an ecclesiastical pluralist.

Grimani's father was Antonio Grimani

Antonio Grimani

Antonio Grimani was the Doge of Venice from 1521 to 1523.-Biography:He was born in Venice into a relatively poor family and in his early years he worked as a tradesman, soon becoming one of the most important ones in the city...

, the oldest elected Doge of Venice

Doge of Venice

The Doge of Venice , often mistranslated Duke was the chief magistrate and leader of the Most Serene Republic of Venice for over a thousand years. Doges of Venice were elected for life by the city-state's aristocracy. Commonly the person selected as Doge was the shrewdest elder in the city...

. In 1521 when his father was elected Doge, Grimani was already Cardinal.

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