Pietro Riario (1445 – 3 January 1474) was an Italian

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, t ...

and Papal diplomat.

Biography

Born in

Savona Savona (; lij, Sann-a ) is a seaport and ''comune'' in the west part of the northern Italy, Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea. Savona used to be one of the chie ...

, he was the son of Paolo Riario and

Pope Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV ( it, Sisto IV: 21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484), born Francesco della Rovere, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 to his death in August 1484. His accomplishments as pope include ...

s' sister, Bianca Della Rovere. Sixtus nominated him in 1471

bishop of Treviso The Diocese of Treviso ( la, Dioecesis Tarvisina) is Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the Veneto, Italy. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Patriarchate of Venice ...

and cardinal, and, in 1473, archbishop of Florence. He was entrusted with Sixtus' foreign policy. To reinforce the alliance between Rome and

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

, he had his brother

Girolamo Girolamo is an Italian variant of the name Hieronymus. Its English equivalent is Jerome. It may refer to: * Girolamo Cardano (1501–1576), Italian Renaissance mathematician, physician, astrologer and gambler * Girolamo Cassar (c. 1520 – after ...

married to the daughter of

Galeazzo Maria Sforza Galeazzo Maria Sforza (24 January 1444 – 26 December 1476) was the fifth Duke of Milan from 1466 until his assassination a decade later. He was notorious for being lustful, cruel, and tyrannical. He was born to Francesco Sforza, a popu ...

Duke of Milan The following is a list of rulers of Milan from the 13th century to 1814, after which it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia by the Congress of Vienna. Before elevation to duchy Until 1259, Milan was a free commune that ele ...

. He was a

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

known for his patronage of literature and the arts, his huge feasts, luxurious behaviour and irreligious conduct. He had a large palace begun in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, near the church of Santi Apostoli (it was completed by his cousin Giuliano della Rovere, pope as Julius II). In 1473 he had the square before his palazzo transformed with painted canvas and wooden construction into temporary but luxurious lodging for the daughter of the

King of Naples The following is a list of rulers of the Kingdom of Naples, from its first separation from the Kingdom of Sicily to its merger with the same into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Kingdom of Naples (1282–1501) House of Anjou In 1382, the Kin ...

, who was entertained in June with an extravagant banquet with forty ''piatti'' that included roast stags, herons, the requisite roast peacock, even a roast bear. The bread was gilded. In 1473 he travelled to northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

to oversee the cession of Imola from Milan to the

Republic of Florence The Republic of Florence, officially the Florentine Republic ( it, Repubblica Fiorentina, , or ), was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany. The republic originated in 1115, when the Fl ...

. At his return to Rome, Riario died suddenly in his house at age 28. It was suspected that he had been poisoned, although an indigestion was more likely. He was buried in Santi Apostoli in a magnificent

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

tomb sculpted by Mino da Fiesole and

Andrea Bregno Andrea di Cristoforo Bregno (1418–1506) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and architect of the Early Renaissance who worked in Rome from the 1460s and died just as the High Renaissance was getting under way. Early life He was born in Ost ...

. His role as Sixtus' collaborator was inherited by his cousin Giuliano della Rovere.

Notes

1445 births 1474 deaths People from Savona 15th-century Italian cardinals Roman Catholic archbishops of Florence Bishops of Treviso Italian patrons of the arts Cardinal-nephews 15th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Medieval Italian diplomats Latin Patriarchs of Constantinople 15th-century diplomats 15th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Republic of Florence {{Italy-RC-cardinal-stub