Pier Francesco Orsini
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Pier Francesco Orsini (4 July 1523 – 28 January 1583), also called Vicino Orsini, was an Italian
condottiero Condottieri (; singular: ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian military leaders active during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The term originally referred specifically to commanders of mercenary companies, derived from the ...
,
patron of the arts Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...
, and duke of Bomarzo. He is famous as the commissioner of the
Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...
Park of the Monsters The Sacro Bosco ("Sacred Grove"), colloquially called Park of the Monsters (Parco dei Mostri in Italian), also named Garden of Bomarzo, is a Mannerism, Mannerist monumental complex located in Bomarzo, in the province of Viterbo, in northern Lazio, ...
in
Bomarzo Bomarzo is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Viterbo (Lazio, Central Italy), in the lower valley of the Tiber. It is located east-northeast of Viterbo and north-northwest of Rome. History The city's current name is a derivation of ...
(northern
Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...
).


Biography


Early years

Born in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, he was the son of Giovanni Corrado
Orsini Orsini is a surname of Italian origin, originally derived from Latin ''ursinus'' ("bearlike") and originating as an epithet or sobriquet describing the name-bearer's purported strength. Notable people with the surname include the following: * Aaro ...
and Clarice Orsini di Franciotto di Monterotondo. His maternal grandmother, Violante di Vicino Orsini di Foglia, had been transmitted the rights to the fief of Bormarzo by her father, Pierfrancesco I Orsini, also known as Vicino, who was lord of Bomarzo. His maternal grandfather, Cardinal Franciotto Orsini, Lord of Monterotondo, was educated in the house of
Lorenzo de' Medici Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (), known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (; 1 January 1449 – 9 April 1492), was an Italian statesman, the ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic, and the most powerful patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Lore ...
, who had married his aunt
Clarice Orsini Clarice Orsini (1453 – 30 July 1488) was the daughter of Jacopo Orsini, and Maddalena Orsini; both from the Orsini family, a great Roman noble house, and was the wife of Lorenzo de' Medici. Life Clarice and Lorenzo married 4 June 1469, with a ...
. After the death of his wife, Franciotto was made a cardinal by his uncle Giovanni de' Medici, who had become pope as Leo X. Vicino Orsini inherited the duchy of Bomarzo seven years after the death of his father, thanks to an intercession in 1542 by Alessandro Farnese (
Pope Paul III Pope Paul III (; ; born Alessandro Farnese; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death, in November 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era follo ...
), after a dispute over inheritance with his younger brother, Maerbale. He spent the majority of 1542 living in Venice and frequenting its intellectual circles, where he met Francesco Sansovino, with whom he became close friends.


Marriage

He married Alessandro Farnese's great-niece, Giulia Farnese, in the early 1540s. According to ''Casa Cesarini. Ricerche e documenti'' by Patrizia Rosini, Vicino Orsini married Giulia Farnese on 11 February 1545 in Rocca di Giove. According to the same book Giulia was named after her great-aunt because her mother Isabella had been raised and protected by her when she lost her mother. This book gives the year of Giulia's death as 1560, while ''Bomarzo: Ein Garten gegen Gott und die Welt'' by Renate Vergeiner gives it as 1564. According to ''Bomarzo: Ein Garten gegen Gott und die Welt'', the two married in 1541. The article ''The Collection of Corradino Orsino'' by Lothar Sickel places the wedding in January 1541. Giulia was the daughter of Galeazzo Farnese, Duke of Latera, and Isabella, daughter of Giuliano dell'Anguillara and Girolama Farnese. Giulia's maternal grandmother, Girolama Farnese, was the sister of Alessandro Farnese (Pope Paul III), and
Giulia Farnese Giulia Farnese (; 1474 – 23 March 1524) was an Italian noblewoman, a mistress to Pope Alexander VI, and the sister of Pope Paul III. Known as , she was a member of the noble House of Farnese, Farnese family, who were prominent leaders in the Ital ...
, the mistress of Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI). Girolama was born in 1466 and was murdered with a sword in Stabiae Castle on 1 November 1504 (or 1505) by her stepson Giovanni Battista dell'Anguillara for alleged infidelity. Her first marriage had been to Puccio Pucci, whom she married on 10 November 1483. Puccio Pucci died in 1494, and she married her second husband, Count Giuliano dell'Anguillara on 15 February 1495. From this marriage came the daughter Isabella (Elisabeth) della Anguillara, who later married Galeazzo Farnese, the grandson of Bartolomeo, and the children of that marriage were the daughters Violante and Giulia Farnese. One of Giulia's paternal great-grandfathers was Bartolomeo Farnese, Count of Montalto and Canino, and also a brother of Girolama, Alessandro (Pope Paul III) and Giulia Farnese. He was born in 1470 and married Iolanda Monaldeschi, with whom he had the son Pedro Bertodolo Farnese and the daughters Isabella and Cecilia. Bartolomeo died in 1552 and was the founder of the Duchy of Latera, which existed until 1668. Vicino's wife Giulia Farnese was thus related to Pope Paul III twice over, the only child of his tragically murdered sister, and as the daughter of the grandson of his brother Bartolomeo, the line that inherited the family title and holdings. In a book published in 1556, ''Le Imagine del tempio della signora Giovanna Aragona'', by Giuseppe Betussi, Giulia Farnese Orsini is referred to as amongst the most virtuous ladies of Italy, on account of her constancy, having remained faithful to Vicino during the long periods when he was absent at war.


Military career

Vicino's career as a condottiero began in 1545 when he was called upon by Alessandro Farnese (
Pope Paul III Pope Paul III (; ; born Alessandro Farnese; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death, in November 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era follo ...
), to assist with the fortifications of the
Borghi Borghi ( or ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Forlì-Cesena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is located about southeast of Bologna and about southeast of Forlì. Borghi borders the following municipalities: Longiano, Poggio Bern ...
of the City of Rome. He was taken prisoner in 1546, while leading Pontifical troops assisting the army of the Holy Roman Emperor, King Charles V, against the Protestant Principates. He was released the following year. He was again taken prisoner and released in 1556, when the
Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis The Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in April 1559 ended the Italian Wars (1494–1559). It consisted of two separate treaties, one between England and France on 2 April, and another between France and Spain on 3 April. Although he was not a signatory ...
ended the French-Spanish Wars in Italy.


Park of the Monsters

Orsini retired to Bomarzo where he surrounded himself with writers and artists, and devoted himself to an
Epicurean Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded 307 BCE based upon the teachings of Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher. Epicurus was an atomist and materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to religious s ...
style of life. Here he had a family and, starting from 1547, created the famous
Park of the Monsters The Sacro Bosco ("Sacred Grove"), colloquially called Park of the Monsters (Parco dei Mostri in Italian), also named Garden of Bomarzo, is a Mannerism, Mannerist monumental complex located in Bomarzo, in the province of Viterbo, in northern Lazio, ...
(aka 'Sacro Bosco' or 'Garden of Bomarzo'), whose enigmatic constructions and sculptures are one of the most suggestive examples of late Renaissance art in Italy. After the death of his wife he dedicated the park to her memory.


Children

He and his wife had five sons, Corradino, Marzio, Alessandro, Scipione and Orazio (died in the famous
Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval warfare, naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League (1571), Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states arranged by Pope Pius V, inflicted a major defeat on the fleet of t ...
in 1571), and two daughters, Faustina and Ottavia. Faustina Orsini (1557–1594) married Fabio Mattei. Fabio inherited the Palazzo Nuovo (Palazzo Mattei di Paganica) on his father's death in 1566. He remained close to Cardinal Odoardo Farnese after the marriage. It was with Fabio Mattei that the latter commissioned
Annibale Carracci Annibale Carracci ( , , ; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother Agostino Carracci, Agostino and cousin Ludovico Carracci, Ludovico (with whom the Ca ...
to paint the Pietà installed in the Mattei family chapel in
San Francesco a Ripa San Francesco a Ripa is a church in Rome, Italy. It is dedicated to Francis of Assisi who once stayed at the adjacent convent. The term ''Ripa'' refers to the nearby riverbank of the Tiber. History The origins of this church are related to a Fr ...
at Easter 1603 (even though the chapel itself was not completed for a number of years), and Fabio bequeathed some works of art to Odoardo when he died in 1612. He evidently devoted himself to charitable pursuits within the SS Trinità after the death of his wife in 1594. Her portrait was painted by
Scipione Pulzone Scipione Pulzone (1544 – February 1, 1598), also known as Il Gaetano, was a Neapolitan painter of the late Italian Renaissance. His work differs in several respects from the Mannerist style predominant at the time. He was active mainly in R ...
. Ottavia married Marcantonio Marescotti, III Count of Vignanello, and became Countess of Vignanello. The couple had the children Sforza Vicino Marescotti, IV Count of Vignanello, Ginevra, Clarice ''alias'' Santa Giacinta Marescotti and Ortensia.


Artistic tributes

*
Alberto Ginastera Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical music, 20th-century classical composers of the Americas. Biography G ...
's 1967 opera ''
Bomarzo Bomarzo is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Viterbo (Lazio, Central Italy), in the lower valley of the Tiber. It is located east-northeast of Viterbo and north-northwest of Rome. History The city's current name is a derivation of ...
'' is based on the life of Orsini, as told in the book of the same name by Argentinian writer Manuel Mujica Láinez. *
Anna von Hausswolff Anna Michaela Ebba Electra von Hausswolff (born 6 September 1986) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, musician, composer, and pipe organist. She is known for her Gothic rock, gothic-styled music, usually accompanied by the pipe organ. Von Hausswolff ...
's song ''Dolore di Orsini'' was inspired by Pier Orsini's grief after losing his wife, which led him to create the garden Sacro Bosco.


References


Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Orsini, Pier Francesco 1523 births 1583 deaths People from the Province of Viterbo 16th-century condottieri Pier Francesco People from the Papal States