Bonifazio Bevilacqua Aldobrandini

Coat of arms of the Bevilacqua family

Bonifazio Bevilacqua Aldobrandini(1571 – 7 April 1627) was an ItalianCardinal.He was the uncle ofPope Gregory XIV.

Biography

In 1601,Pope Clement VIIIassociated 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’sAldobrandiniCoat 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 theGolden Spur.Luigi also acquired citizenship in Rome, Bologna, Mantua and Montferrat with the Castle ofFontanile,Perugia, and Assisi. In 1607,Pope Paul Vappointed him Captain of the Curiasses and theGrand Duke of TuscanyFerdinando Igave him the Leadership of the Helmets. In addition, Clement made Bonifazio a cardinal in 1599.Bonifazio was a “secret waiter” ofPope Gregory XIIIin his youth, and received his doctorate in law at theUniversity of Padua.Later, Bonifazio becameArchdeaconof Ferrara and theLatin Patriarch of Constantinople.

Bonifazio was also elected Governor ofFano,and Governor of theDuchy of Camerinowhich were part of thePapal Statesat the time. During the conclave ofPope Gregory XV,Bonifazio formed strong alliances on the side of the French against CardinalGuido Bentivoglioand the Spanish. When Gregory became pope, he gave Bonifazio citizenship in the Republic ofLucca.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 ofSabina,andPerugia,both inUmbria.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 ofS. Onofrio al Gianicoloin memory of one of his closest and dearest friends. Bonifacio is buried in a beautiful tomb in the Chapel of Saint Sebastiano Martire in theChurch of Saint Andrea della Vallein 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 byPope Paul IIIin 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 5 December 1590 and the next year made his nephewPaolo Emilio Sfondratia cardinal.

Arts

Cardinal Bonifazio was a great patron of the arts. He constructed theChurch della Madonna della NeveinCerviawith his relatives the Capponi. The Capponi family built theChurch and Monastery of Santo Spiritoin Florence in 1360 byGino Capponi.Gino was famous for conqueringPisafor theFlorentinesin 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 theDuke of Milan,Cosimo de' Medici.His grandson Piero was threatened byCharles VIII of Franceto 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 CardinalLuigi Capponi,a close friend of Cardinal Bonifazio.

Cardinal Bevilacqua was a major patron ofVentura Salimbeni,the son of the Sienese artistArcangelo Salimbeni(1567–1589), andBattista Focari,widow ofEugenio Vanni.Ventura was first taught painting in his nativeSienaby his father, as was his half-brotherFrancesco Vanni.Cardinal Bonifazio introduced Ventura toPope Sixtus V(1585–90) in 1588. Ventura received his first commission for the fresco decoration of theBiblioteca Apostolica Vaticana(theVatican Library) by the pope.

During 1590–91, Salimbeni received commissions from Cardinal Bevilacqua to decorateGesùandSanta Maria Maggiorechurches in Rome. In 1595, and theChurch of Santa Trinitaand the Church of Santa Spirito in Siena utilizing the Mannerist style. Subsequently, Cardinal Bonifacio Bevilacqua commissioned Salimbeni to paint theBetrothal of the Virginin the diocese’s seminary in Foligno while Bonifazio was governor.

Salimbeni was commissioned to paintSaint Carl Borromeo Adores the Name of Jesusfor the cathedral of Saint Lawrence in Grosseto. Cardinal Bevilacqua was a supporter of the cult of the Name of Jesus instituted bySaint Bernardinoand sanctioned byPope Eugene IVin 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.

InPerugia,he decorated theChurch of San Pietro.After completing hisfrescoin the church called Cavaleriato del Esperon de Oro, Cardinal Bevilacqua bestowed Ventura Salimbeni with theBevilacqua familyname. From that time, he became known as Il Cavaliere Ventura Salimbeni Bevilacqua. The title ofCavalierewas 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 aportraitin celebration of Bonifacio’s elevation to the cardinalate. This is a reference to the letter sent by Pope Clement VIII on 3 April 1598, granting Bonifacio with dispensation for not having reached the canonical age to accept his election by theCollege of Cardinalsto the title ofPatriarch of Constantinople.Bonifazio was only 27 years of age; three years younger than the canonical age to be elected a Patriarch.

In 1763, Cardinal Bonifacio’s portrait was incorporated as part of CardinalGiovanni Maria Riminaldi’s prestigious collection of nineteen portraits of famous cardinals at the Civic Museum of Ferrara in theSchifanoia Palace.

External links

• Miranda, Salvador."BEVILACQUA, Bonifazio (1571-1627)".The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church.Florida International University.Archived fromthe originalon 2018-03-16.