Three popes have blood relations with the Altoviti; Innocent VIII, Clement IX and Clement XII. Pope Innocent VIII was the uncle of La Papessa Dianora Altoviti Cybo. Her son Bindo Altoviti became one of the most influential papal bankers and patron of the arts of the Renaissance. The Altoviti are still present and descendants continue to be involved in art and culture.
Origins
Pope Pius II presumed the family would be of Roman origin as in Fiesole was found a tomb with a Roman inscription quoting Furio Cammillo Altovita grandson of Furio Camillo, general, statesman and one of the most famous heroes of the early Roman Republic, honored with the title of Second Founder of Rome for his victory over the Gauls during the Gallic siege of Rome. According to the family legend, the silver Italian wolf on black background refers to the Roman origin of the family and is the mythical she-wolf Lupa Capitolina Romana who would have protected the founder of the dynasty Furio Camillo by devouring his enemies.[1]
Some believe the Altoviti were of Lombard heritage, descending from Tebalduolo Longobardo, baron and trusted advisor of king Alboin. The family came to Florence in the twelfth century. They engaged in the usual mix of culture, commerce (mainly wool and salt), banking and politics. Many were respected judges and diplomats in royal and papal courts. They belonged to the pro-papal elite of the Guelph faction. With an old military tradition, members of the family were considered supremely valiant captains in numerous decisive battles of the Florentine Republic. Therefore, scholars believe the heraldic wolf was granted by Emperor Frederick II as an award for brave captains.[2]
In 1300 Rinaldo Altoviti was chosen with Dante Alighieri as chief of the Priors and possessed the supreme authority in the state. They were sent as ambassador to Boniface VIII to negotiate a truce between the rival Guelph factions cementing their position in the center of power of the Republic.[3] Bartolomea Altoviti was the wife of Salvestro de' Medici, Gonfalonier of Justice and cousin of Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, who established the Medicean domination in the affairs of Florence. Giovanna Altoviti married the rich merchant Benci Aldobrandini and became known as Madonna Aldobrandini. After her husband's death, she married the influential politician Giovanni Panciatichi.[4] One of their descendants was Giulio Rospigliosi, later Pope Clement IX. Still in 14th century, the family allied with the Salviati, Gucci, Pucci, Sacchetti and Bardi and became strong supporters of the war against Pope Gregory XI. The War of the Eight Saints contributed to the end of the Avignon Papacy, while Bardo Altoviti was one of the Eight Saints.[5]
Antonio Altoviti married his cousin Dianora Altoviti Cybo. Known as La Papessa due to the influence she held over her uncle Giambattista Cybo, Pope Innocent VIII, Antonio was made papal Master of the Mint.[7] Like other Florentines banking families who provided loans to the popes in exchange for the rights to papal revenues, the Florentine, and Roman branch of the Altoviti prospected. The family supported the construction of the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini and was a driving force behind the Compagnia della Misericordia. Some of the most famous members were Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.[8]
Bindo Altoviti's career flourished under the pontificate of Leo X and Clement VII. He was appointed as Depository General, the leading banker of the Papal States and chief commissioner for collecting taxes, mainly allocated for the reconstruction of the St. Peter's Basilica. After the death of Agostino Chigi and the sack of Rome in 1527, only a few wealthy banks had the capital to prevent economic chaos. Competing with fierce Genoese bankers and the Germans Fugger and Welser; the Strozzi, Salviati and Altoviti became the leading Florentine and curial bankers, given the chance to participate in massive credit transactions, controlling an enlarging sphere of papal finance.[9] Bindo's son Giovanni Battista Altoviti married Clarice Ridolfi, daughter of Lorenzo Ridolfi, grandson of Lorenzo il Magnifico de' Medici and Clarice Orsini, tighten the bond between the Altoviti and the houses of Medici and Strozzi.
Bindo Altoviti gradually expanded and diversified his financial activities, established dependences of the Altoviti Bank in foreign money markets as France, Netherlands, and England. Among his clients were duke Charles III of Savoy or king Henry II of France, and by shrewd political as well financial acumen he amassed one of the largest private fortunes in Italy. After the death of Clement VII and duke Alessandro de' Medici, the Altoviti sided with Catherine de' Medici and Pope Paul III, getting into an open confrontation with Cosimo I de' Medici.
Bindo's son, Antonio was initiated to the ecclesiastical career, under the protection of one of the most authoritative Florentine prelates of the early sixteenth century, Cardinal Niccolò Ridolfi. Pope Paul III appointed Antonio Altoviti, as Archbishop of Florence. Furious by this open affront, Cosimo I retaliated by banning the new archbishop from setting foot in the city and even seized all the income and assets of the diocese.
After the death of Paul III (1549) Cosimo I lost no time in asking his successors to deliver the rebellious archbishop to him, but all refused. Nevertheless, within the next years, Cosimo I manifested a policy of rapprochement with the popes in anticipation of his request to obtain the title of Grand Duke. In 1564 Pope Pius IV, Giovanni Angelo de' Medici, asked Cosimo I to enforce the decree of the Council of Trent. Cosimo I responded to the plea by granting forgiveness to the Altoviti and writing to Antonio Altoviti, urging him to return to Florence to take command of his diocese and begin a process of reformation.
Antonio Altoviti finally took possession of the archdiocese in 1567. He entered the Florence with so much pomp, solemnity, and court of nobles, that Cosimo I was so irritated, understanding this triumphal event as a humiliation of his sovereign authority. Though in the same year Antonio Altoviti ordinated Cosimo's nephew Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici and became his mentor. Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici succeeded Antonio Altoviti as archbishop and became Pope Leo XI. The friendship between Antonio Altoviti and Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici, continued the reconciliation between the Altoviti and the new ducal branch of the Medici. In 1569, Pius V finally conferred the title of grand duke of Tuscany on Cosimo I.
Bindo enjoyed the financial resources to undertake extensive renovations to the properties he inherited from his father including is suburban villa on the Tiber to indulge a growing passion for art. Known and endowed with a strong taste for art, he became a patron of the arts and friend to Vasari, Cellini, Raphael, and Michelangelo.[10]
Vasari frescoed the Triumph of Ceres in the main hall of the Villa Altoviti now shown in the National Museum of Palazzo Venezia.[11] For Bindo's suburban villa he also frescoed a vast loggia called the Vineyard decorated with statues and burial marbles from emperor Hadrian'sVilla Adriana as he had bought most of the estate.[12]Andrea Sansovino also gave Bindo as a gift a terra-cotta model of the statue of St. Giovanni he sculptured for the Duomo in Florence.
Immortalized by Raphael and Cellini, Bindo harbored Michelangelo when he fled from Florence to Rome.[13] Michelangelo had such a high esteem for him (while he despised his rival Agostino Chigi) that he gave him as a gift the cartoon of Noah's Blessing, used in the vault of the Sistine Chapel (lost) as well as a design of a Venus (lost) colored then by Vasari.[14]
In Florence on Piazza del Limbo they had a palazzo with a large family coat of arms on the façade and detained the patronage of the church Santi Apostoli. It was also Michelangelo who convinced Bindo, not to rebuild, but to preserve the church. Vasari painted the Allegory of the Immaculate Conception for the family chapel.[15] Bindo was buried in the church of Santa Trinità dei Monte in Rome and Giovanni Battista Naldini was commissioned to paint the cycle of frescoes concerning St. Giovanni the Baptist.
In the late 16th and 17th century, Alessandro Altoviti was the designated head of the Altoviti Bank in Rome. His brother-in-law was Giovanni Bonsi, Prime Minister of Ferdinando I de' Medici and created cardinal by Pope Paul V. The alliance with the Bonsi continued to stabilize the relationship between the Altoviti and the Medici and establishing a new alliance with the Borghese. Cardinal Bonsi also became a mentor to Iacopo Altoviti, who was later appointed Archbishop of Athens and Patriarch of Antioch by his close friend Pope Alexander VII.
Alessandro's daughter Francesca married Giovanni Battista Sacchetti, a trading partner of the Barberini family of Pope Urban VIII. The marriage had the effect of transferring to the Sacchetti financial resources, property including part of the collection of the Altoviti and profitable links with the curia, as well as client relations already established by the Altoviti.[16] Their son Giulio Cesare Sacchetti was an influential cardinal, supporter of Galileo Galilei and twice included in the French Court's list of acceptable candidates (papal conclave of 1644 and papal conclave of 1655) for the papacy. Their other son Marcello Sacchetti became papal treasurer to Urban VIII and his art agent. He continued to expand the family collection and became one of the most respected collectors of the Baroque and patron of Nicolas Poussin, Guido Reni and Pietro da Cortona. The family collection had over 800 paintings and later became the foundation for the Capitoline Museum in Rome.[17] Later the family inherited the principal titles of the Barberini and held until 1968 the hereditary title as Quartermaster General of the Sacred Apostolic Palace.
Their sister Clarice Sacchetti married her cousin Luigi Altoviti. Luigi was known as a skillful politician and became a senator as his father Alberto Altoviti or grandfathers Roberto Acciaioli and Niccolò Berardi, of the house of the BosonidsCounts of Marsi, before him. Their son Alberto Altoviti married Ottaviana de' Medici, cousin of Grand Duke Ferdinand II. Alberto was appointed senator and later Grand Chancellor of Tuscany. Emperor Ferdinand II elevated him to the title of Marquis of the Holy Roman Empire and later members of the family became actively involved in the Berlin salon culture.
Giovambattista Altoviti was able to expand the family collection as he inherited at the request of his friend Pietro Paolo Avila, his palazzo in Rome together with his prestigious art collection and the name Avila was joined to the name Altoviti. When in the 19th century parts of the collection were sold, the portrait of Bindo Altoviti was sold to Ludwig I of Bavaria and the statues of the Villa Adriana to the Borghese family.
Today, the descendants of the Altoviti remain active in various fields such as science, politics and culture, collaborating with Grammy and Academy-winning artist Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson of The Roots or Eumir Deodato.
Notable members
Frequently members of the family distinguished themselves in value, defending or serving the Florentine Republic holding prestigious public, political, military and religious offices.
Giovanna Altoviti (1305–1395), known as Madonna Aldobrandini
Iacopo Altoviti (1348–1403), Bishop of Fiesole
Bardo di Altoviti (1342–1405), one of the Eight Saints
Antonio Altoviti (1454–1507), papal banker and papal Master of the Mint
Bindo Altoviti (1491–1557), papal banker and patron of the arts of the Renaissance
Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici, known as Lorenzo the Magnificent, was an Italian statesman, the de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic, and the most powerful patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Lorenzo held the balance of power within the Italic League, an alliance of states that stabilized political conditions on the Italian Peninsula for decades, and his life coincided with the mature phase of the Italian Renaissance and the golden age of Florence. As a patron, he is best known for his sponsorship of artists such as Botticelli and Michelangelo. On the foreign policy front, Lorenzo manifested a clear plan to stem the territorial ambitions of Pope Sixtus IV, in the name of the balance of the Italian League of 1454. For these reasons, Lorenzo was the subject of the Pazzi conspiracy (1478), in which his brother Giuliano was assassinated. The Peace of Lodi of 1454 that he supported among the various Italian states collapsed with his death. He is buried in the Medici Chapel in Florence.
The House of Medici was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici, during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of Tuscany, and prospered gradually until it was able to fund the Medici Bank. This bank was the largest in Europe during the 15th century and facilitated the Medicis' rise to political power in Florence, although they officially remained citizens rather than monarchs until the 16th century.
Giorgio Vasari was an Italian Renaissance painter and architect, who is best known for his work Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, considered the ideological foundation of all art-historical writing, and still much cited in modern biographies of the many Italian Renaissance artists he covers, including Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, although he is now regarded as including many factual errors, especially when covering artists from before he was born.
Baccio Bandinelli, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, draughtsman, and painter.
The Republic of Florence, known officially as the Florentine Republic, was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany, Italy. The republic originated in 1115, when the Florentine people rebelled against the Margraviate of Tuscany upon the death of Matilda of Tuscany, who controlled vast territories that included Florence. The Florentines formed a commune in her successors' place. The republic was ruled by a council known as the Signoria of Florence. The signoria was chosen by the gonfaloniere, who was elected every two months by Florentine guild members.
Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici was the ruler of Florence from 1516 until his death in 1519. He was also Duke of Urbino during the same period. His daughter Catherine de' Medici became Queen Consort of France, while his illegitimate son, Alessandro de' Medici, became the first Duke of Florence.
Alessandro de' Medici, nicknamed "il Moro" due to his dark complexion, Duke of Penne and the first Duke of the Florentine Republic, was ruler of Florence from 1530 to his death in 1537. The first Medici to rule Florence as a hereditary monarch, Alessandro was also the last Medici from the senior line of the family to lead the city. His assassination at the hands of distant cousin Lorenzaccio caused the title of Duke to pass to Cosimo I de Medici, from the family's junior branch.
The Basilica di San Lorenzo is one of the largest churches of Florence, Italy, situated at the centre of the main market district of the city, and it is the burial place of all the principal members of the Medici family from Cosimo il Vecchio to Cosimo III. It is one of several churches that claim to be the oldest in Florence, having been consecrated in 393 AD, at which time it stood outside the city walls. For three hundred years it was the city's cathedral, before the official seat of the bishop was transferred to Santa Reparata.
The Palazzo Vecchio is the town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the Piazza della Signoria, which holds a copy of Michelangelo's David statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi.
The Duca della Repubblica Fiorentina, rendered in English as Duke of the Florentine Republic or Duke of the Republic of Florence, was a title created in 1532 by Pope Clement VII for the Medici family, which ruled the Republic of Florence. There were effectively only two dukes of the Republic of Florence, Alessandro de' Medici and Cosimo de' Medici, the second duke being elevated to Grand Duke of Tuscany, causing the Florentine title to become subordinate to the greater Tuscan title.
The Medici Chapels are two chapels built between the 16th and 17th centuries as an extension to the Basilica of San Lorenzo, in the Italian city of Florence. They are the Sagrestia Nuova, designed by Michelangelo, and the larger Cappella dei Principi, a collaboration between the Medici family and architects. The purpose of the chapels was to celebrate the Medici family, patrons of the church and Grand Dukes of Tuscany.
Hercules and Cacus is an Italian Renaissance sculpture in marble to the right of the entrance of the Palazzo Vecchio in the Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy.
The Battle of Anghiari (1505) was a planned painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Salone dei Cinquecento in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. Its central scene would have depicted four men riding raging war horses engaged in a struggle for possession of a standard at the Battle of Anghiari in 1440.
The Duchy of Florence was an Italian principality that was centred on the city of Florence, in Tuscany, Italy. The duchy was founded after Pope Clement VII, himself a Medici, appointed his relative Alessandro de' Medici as Duke of the Florentine Republic, thereby transforming the Republic of Florence into a hereditary monarchy.
Filippo Strozzi the Younger was a Florentine banker, and the most famous member of the Strozzi family in the Renaissance. He is best remembered as a tragic hero and defender of the lost Florentine republic against the Medici dukes – yet this is almost entirely a nineteenth-century fiction of nationalist historians and dramatists. He had been one of the staunchest supporters of the House of Medici in Florence and Rome.
The House of Cybo, Cibo or Cibei of Italy was an old and influential aristocratic family from Genoa of Greek origin that ruled the Duchy of Massa and Carrara.
Innocenzo Cibo was an Italian cardinal and archbishop.
The Sacchetti family is an Italian noble family originating in Tuscany, now resident in Rome, whose earliest documented member Merlo lived during the late 10th and early 11th centuries. The name of the family is derived from one or more members known as Sacchetto. According to Ugolino di Vieri (1438–1516),"nobile Sacchetti genus est, moenia primus romanus sangius".
Bindo Altoviti of the Altoviti family was an Italian banker and one of the most influential papal bankers of his generation. A patron of the arts, he cultivated close friendships with artists such as Benvenuto Cellini, Raphael, Michelangelo and Giorgio Vasari.
Antonio Altoviti was an Italian Catholic archbishop, son of Bindo Altoviti and archbishop of Florence from 1548 to 1573.
References
↑ Emil, O'Brien (2015). The Commentaries of Pope Pius II (1458–1464). Toronto University Press. p.166.
↑ Vasari, Giorgio (1993). Vita di Michelangelo. Edizioni Studio Tesi. p.118.
↑ Giusti, Anna Maria (2006). Pierre Dure, The Art of Semiprecious Stonework. Thames & Hudson. p.28.
↑ Trevor Dean, & K. J. P. Lowe (1998). Marriage in Italy, 1300–1650. Cambridge University Press. p.209.
↑ Zirpolo, Lilian H. (2005). Ave Papa/Ave Papabile: The Sacchetti Family, Their Art Patronage, and Political Aspirations. CRRS Publications University of Toronto. p.116.
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