Domenico della Rovere

Domenico della Rovere

Domenico della Rovere (1442 – 22 April 1501) was an Italian cardinal and patron of arts.

Biography

He was born at Vinovo, near Turin, and was a relative of Pope Sixtus IV, and took advantage of the latter's extensive nepotism.

In 1478 he was appointed as Bishop of Tarantaise succeeding his brother, Cristoforo. In the same year, on 10 February, he was created cardinal of San Vitale by Sixtus IV (one year later he exchanged the title with that of San Clemente). Also in 1478 he received the title of bishop of Montefiascone and Corneto, which he kept until his death. In 1482 he was appointed to the diocese of Geneva, which he immediately exchanged with that of Turin, where he arrived in 1483.

After Sixtus' death in 1484, he went to Rome to participate in the papal conclave which elected Pope Innocent VIII. Della Rovere remained in Rome for most of the rest of his life, leaving the diocese of Turin to his collaborators, including in nephew Giovanni Ludovico della Rovere. In Piedmont, he funded the Collegiate church of Saluzzo and the rebuilding of the Turin Cathedral, as well as a new castle in Vinovo to serve as his residence. In Rome, he commissioned Pinturicchio the decoration (including the Semi-Gods Ceiling) of the Palazzo dei Penitenzieri, whose construction he had started in 1480, perhaps under design by Baccio Pontelli.

He died in Rome in 1501, and is now buried in the Turin Cathedral.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Domenico della Rovere.

Sources