Alessandro Farnese (5 October 1520 – 2 March 1589), an Italian cardinal and diplomat and a great collector and patron of the arts, was the grandson of Pope Paul III (who also bore the name Alessandro Farnese), and the son of Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma, who was murdered in 1547.[1]
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Born at Valentano (current province of Viterbo), he studied at Bologna, and was appointed administrator of the Diocese of Parma.
On 18 December 1534, at the age of 14, he was appointed Cardinal Deacon of the Title of Sant'Angelo by Paul III, his grandfather, who had been elected to the papacy two months previously.
The Gran Cardinale received many other offices and benefices, becoming Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church, Governor of Tivoli, Archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica, Archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, Administrator of Jaen, Spain, of Vizeu, Portugal, of Würzburg, Germany and of Avignon, France. In 1536 he became Bishop of Monreale, Sicily; after he inherited estate after the murder of his father (1547), in 1552 he founded a Jesuit college there.
He became Bishop of Massa in 1538, Archbishop of Tours in 1553, and Bishop of Cahors; Archbishop of Benevento, and Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia and Velletri and Dean of the College of Cardinals in 1580.
He also became a Papal Legate, arranging peace between the perpetually warring Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Francis I of France. In 1546 he accompanied the troops sent by the pope to the aid of Charles V against the Schmalkaldic League. In 1580, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the papacy. Among the buildings that Cardinal Farnese built or restored are the Church of the Gesù in Rome, the Villa Farnese at Caprarola, and the Farnese palace near Lake Bracciano, and the monastery Tre Fontane.
Alessandro Farnese is remembered for gathering the greatest collection of Roman sculpture assembled in private hands since Antiquity, now mostly in Naples, after passing by inheritance to the Bourbon-Parma kings.[2] His generosity towards artists made a virtual academy[3] at the power house he built at Caprarola and in his lodgings at Palazzo della Cancellaria and, after his brother Cardinal Ranuccio Farnese died in 1565, at the Palazzo Farnese. In the Palazzo Farnese the best sculptors worked under his eye, to restore fragments of antiquities as complete sculptures, with great scholarly care. He was also a great patron of living artists. Under the direction of his curator and librarian, the antiquarian iconographer Fulvio Orsini, the Farnese collections were enlarged and systematised. Farnese collected ancient coins and commissioned modern medals. He had paintings by Titian, Michelangelo, and Raphael, and an important collection of drawings. He commissioned the masterpiece of Giulio Clovio, arguably the last major illuminated manuscript, the Farnese Hours, which was completed in 1546 after being nine years in the making (now Morgan Library, New York). The studiolo built to house this collection appears to be the one re-erected at the Musée de la Renaissance, Écouen.[4]
In 1550, Farnese acquired a northern portion of Palatine hill in Rome and had Roman ruins from the time of Tiberius at the northwest end filled in, and converted to a summer home and formal gardens. The Farnese Gardens became one of the first botanical gardens in Europe.[5] From these gardens are derived the names of Acacia farnesiana and from its floral essence, the important biochemical farnesol.
The Cardinal's only daughter, Clelia, married firstly Giangiorgio Cesarini, Marchese of Civitanova, and secondly Marco Pio di Savoia, Lord of Sassuolo.
Farnese was buried before the high altar in the Church of Gesù.
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Alessandro Farnese |
Bishop of Parma 1534-1535 |
Succeeded by Guido Ascanio Sforza di Santa Fiora |
| Preceded by Esteban Gabriel Merino |
Bishop of Jaén 1535-1537 |
Succeeded by Francisco Mendoza |
| Preceded by Ippolito de' Medici |
Archbishop of Avignon 1535–1551 |
Succeeded by Annibale Bozzuti |
| Preceded by Ippolito de' Medici |
Archbishop of Monreale 1536-1573 |
Succeeded by Luis Torres |
| Preceded by ? |
Bishop of Bitonto 1537-1538 |
Succeeded by ? |
| Preceded by Girolamo Ghianderoni |
Bishop of Massa 1538 |
Succeeded by Bernardino Maffei |
| Preceded by ? |
Bishop of Cavaillon 1540-1541 |
Succeeded by ? |
| Preceded by Miguel II. da Silva |
Bishop of Viseu 1547-1552 |
Succeeded by Gonçalo Pinheiro |
| Preceded by Étienne Poncher |
Archbishop of Tours 1553-1554 |
Succeeded by Simon de Maillé |
| Preceded by Pau de Caretto |
Bishop of Cahors 1554-1557 |
Succeeded by Pere de Bertrand |
| Preceded by Giovanni della Casa |
Archbishop of Benevento 1556-1560 |
Succeeded by Alfonso Caraffa |
| Preceded by Giovanni Girolamo Morone |
Cardinal-bishop of Sabina 1564-1565 |
Succeeded by Ranuccio Farnese |
| Preceded by Giovanni Girolamo Morone |
Cardinal-bishop of Frascati 1565-1578 |
Succeeded by Giacomo Savelli |
| Preceded by Cristoforo Madruzzi |
Cardinal-bishop of Porto 1578-1580 |
Succeeded by Fulvio Corneo |
| Preceded by Giovanni Girolamo Morone |
Cardinal-bishop of Ostia 1580-1589 |
Succeeded by Giovanni Antonio Serbelloni |
| Preceded by Giovanni Girolamo Morone |
Dean of the College of Cardinals 1580–1589 |
Succeeded by Giovanni Antonio Serbelloni |
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