Luigi Alessandro Omodei

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Portrait of Cardinal Omodei, by Baciccio

Luigi Alessandro Omodei or Homodei or Amadei (born December 8, 1608 in Milan , † April 26, 1685 in Rome ) was an Italian cardinal .

biography

The first years

Luigi Alessandro was the seventh son of Carlo Omodei (Amadei), the marquis of Piovera and patrician of Milan , and his wife Beatrice Lurani. His paternal ancestor was the 14th century Sforza lawyer Sigonrello Omodei. His sister Lucrezia was married to Bartolomeo Arese, President of the Senate of Milan and a key figure in politics at the time. He was the uncle of Cardinal Luigi Omodei , son of his brother Agostino and Maria Pacheco de Moura from Madrid , born on May 20, 1656 in Madrid.

Church career

He began his ecclesiastical career with a degree in Parma before moving to the University of Perugia , where he graduated in utroque iure (ecclesiastical and civil law). He moved to Rome and became Apostolic Protonotary on July 30, 1627 . From 1638 trainee lawyer at the Apostolic Signature , in 1642 he became a cleric of the Apostolic Chamber and two years later dean. As a provisional general of the fortresses of the Papal States, he was appointed General Commissioner for the States during the pontificate of Innocent X. In 1649 he was employed as general of the papal troops in the Second Castro War .

cardinal

For his services to the Church, Pope Innocent X appointed him cardinal on February 19, 1652, and three years later he was a member of the conclave that elected Alexander VII to the papal throne. The latter made him a prolegato in Urbino in 1655 , a task that he fulfilled in particular through a general reorganization of the archdiocese and the transfer of the valuable library to the Biblioteca Alessandrina in Rome.

In Rome in 1669 he played a decisive role in the election of Clement IX. , because he tried together with other cardinals to free the papal election from the influence of the great European monarchies.

In 1676 he again influenced the choice of his friend Innocent XI. from Como , whose foreign policy he particularly influenced. He was always hostile to Jansenism and the overwhelming power of the French crown, while approaching the quietism of Miguel de Molinos , who was also supported by his brother-in-law Bartolomeo Arese in Milan.

Patronage in Rome and Milan

A great art lover, he commissioned Nicolas Poussin to create the second version of The Rape of the Sabinerines , which is now in the Louvre . In Milan he devoted himself to the restoration of the Church of San Giovanni, which was replaced by the Case Rotte (at today's Teatro alla Scala ), where he worked with Francesco Cairo (now in the Jesuit headquarters in the Milanese church of San Fedele) and Salvator Rosa (today in Brera ) commissioned the painting. Also in Milan, he had the church of Santi Cosma e Damiano, of which he was the patron, restored and donated an altarpiece painted by Nuvolone (now in Brera) for the altar of Saint Paola in the church of Santa Maria dei Servi. He expanded his art collection in Palazzo Marino , his family's residence at the time. In Sacro Monte di Varese he financed the construction of the fourth chapel.

IV. Chapel of the Sacro Monte di Varese, Represents The Presentation of the Lord

In Rome, he also oversaw the reconstruction of the facade of San Marcello al Corso (Seat of the Servites) by Carlo Fontana and sponsored other architectural work for the Santo Spirito in Sassia . The facade of the Basilica Santi Ambrogio e Carlo in Rome, which was executed by Onorio Longhi , was designed according to his idea .

The last few years

He died in Rome on April 26, 1685 at around 10 a.m. in his palace on the Arco della Ciambella. His body was exposed to public veneration and then buried under the reliquary with the heart of Saint Charles Borromeo in the Roman church of San Carlo al Corso , which he loved so much during his lifetime .

notes

  1. ↑ Fontes Verbani Lacus: letter of April 1655, from Rome to Milan, sender Giberto III. Borromeo . - Addressee - Renato II. Borromeo : “Finally the conclave ended with the elevation of Sr. Card.le Chigi to Sr. Card. Homodei and I, together with our friends, have served with all possible efforts from the first day of the conclave to the last day and were treated with one of the most annoying, in secret negotiations in many places ... "
  2. ↑ Filippo Titi: Descrizione delle Pitture, sculture e Architetture esposte in Roma . Marco Pagliarini, Rome 1674 (revised by Giovanni Bottari 1763, 372-375: the architecture was started by Onorio Lunghi, adorned, raised and turned by his son Martino; then almost completed with gilded stucco work, dome, tribune, high altar and crusade of the Church designed by Pietro da Cortona ; and recently reduced to perfection with a majestic façade, of which several drawings were made, including by Cavalier Rainaldi, and solved in the form that was the idea of ​​the said Cardinal Omodei.

literature

  • Franco Arese: Genealogy patrizie milanesi . In: Dante Zanetti (ed.): La demografia del patriziato milanese nei secoli XVII, XVIII, XIX . Università di Pavia 1972, Pavia, p. A80-A81, A153-A158 (Italian, (Brera CONS MI 703 M1)).
  • Andrea Spiriti: La grande decorazione barocca: iconografia e gusto . In: Maria Luisa Gatti Perer (ed.): Il palazzo Arese Borromeo a Cesano Maderno . Milan 1999, p. 43-188 (Italian).
  • Idem: Giovanni Ghisolfi tra Milano, Venezia e Vicenza: contributo al neoveronesismo . In: Arte documento . tape 15 , 2000, pp. 149-152 (Italian).

Web links

Commons : Luigi Alessandro Omodei  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
Mario Theodoli Cardinal priest of Santi Bonifacio ed Alessio
March 12, 1652-19. October 1676 		Federico Visconti
Scipione Pannocchieschi d'Elci Apostolic Legate of Urbino
August 2, 1655–15. January 1658 		Carlo Pio di Savoia
Camillo Astalli-Pamphilj Chamberlain of the Cardinal College
January 16, 1662–1. January 1663 		Giacomo Corradi
Niccolò Albergati-Ludovisi Cardinal priest of Santa Maria in Trastevere
October 19, 1676-13. September 1677 		Pietro Vito Ottoboni
Alderano Cibo Cardinal priest of Santa Prassede
September 13, 1677–8. January 1680 		Pietro Vito Ottoboni
Lorenzo Raggi Cardinal priest of San Lorenzo in Lucina
January 8, 1680-26. April 1685 		Carlo Barberini
Lorenzo Raggi Cardinal Protopriest
January 8, 1680-26. April 1685 		Carlo Barberini
personal data
SURNAME Omodei, Luigi Alessandro
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Homodei, Luigi Alessandro; Amadei, Luigi Alessandro
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian cardinal
DATE OF BIRTH December 8, 1608
PLACE OF BIRTH Milan
DATE OF DEATH April 26, 1685
Place of death Rome