Cardinal Camillo Massimo
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Camillo Massimo or Cardinal Camillo II Massimo (1620-1670)was a cardinal in 17th century Rome, best remembered as a major patron of Baroque artists such as Pouissin, Lorrain, Velazquez, Duquesnoy, Algardi, Francesco Fontana and Cosimo Fancelli.
Born as Carlo in 1620 into the prominent Massimo family, he was educated at the Sapienza. He succeeded at age 20 to the estate of his cousin Camillo, from whom he derived his name. The elder Camillo had been the executor of the will of another great Roman collector, Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani.
In 1653, Camillo was made patriarch of Jerusalem and a year later Nunzio to Spain. However, Phillip IV, king of Spain, refused his appointment as Nunzio, complaining he was too friendly with the French. He was forced to stop for a year in a small town between Valencia and Madrid. In 1670, Pope Clement X (Altieri) made him Cardinal and Maestro di Camera. His portraits were painted by both Velazquez and Carlo Maratta. He reoganized the Roman academy of the Umoristi.
He had copies made by Pietro Santo Bartoli of the illustration of an antique edition of Virgil and drawings based on the ancient paintings found in the Tomb of the Nasonii in Rome. He was also aided the eccentric, if not erratic, once-Queen Christina of Sweden with her library and collections.
[edit] Sources
- Haskell, Francis (1993). "Chapter 6", Patrons and Painters: Art and Society in Baroque Italy, 1980, Yale University Press, p 114-119.
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