Carlo Bonelli (1612–1676) was an Italian lawyer and diplomat who was appointed a

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, the ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in 1664.

Life

Carlo Bonelli dei marchesi di Cassano was born in 1612, the great-great-grand-nephew of

Pope Pius V Pope Pius V ( it, Pio V; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri, O.P.), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1566 to his death in May 1572. He is v ...

. He received his doctorate in law from the

University of Perugia University of Perugia (Italian ''Università degli Studi di Perugia'') is a public-owned university based in Perugia, Italy. It was founded in 1308, as attested by the Bull issued by Pope Clement V certifying the birth of the Studium Generale. Th ...

and was appointed private chamberlain to

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As po ...

. His career in the Roman Curia resulted in appointments as governor of several cities of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

, including

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 ...

, then as vice-camerlengo from 15 April 1655 to 18 October 1656, when he was appointed to the titular position of

Latin Archbishop of Corinth The Latin Archbishopric of Corinth is a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church. It dates to 1210, when a Catholic archbishop was installed on the Orthodox Metropolis of Corinth, in southern Greece, in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade. Since the ...

. Fortified by the title, he was sent as nuncio extraordinary to

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered f ...

to establish peace among the Christian princes, 27 October 1656. With the

Treaty of the Pyrenees The Treaty of the Pyrenees (french: Traité des Pyrénées; es, Tratado de los Pirineos; ca, Tractat dels Pirineus) was signed on 7 November 1659 on Pheasant Island, and ended the Franco-Spanish War that had begun in 1635. Negotiations were ...

signed in 1659, he remained in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

as ordinary nuncio until 1664. When he was recalled to Rome and made cardinal in the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistory ...

of 14 January 1664, with the '' titulus'' of S. Anastasia, he brought with him the

auditor An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting and au ...

of the papal legation at the court of Madrid, the antiquarian Raffaello Fabretti, who took advantage of Bonelli's leisurely return through the south of France to extend his knowledge of Roman antiquities. Bonelli died on 27 August 1676. His tomb by

Carlo Rainaldi Carlo Rainaldi (4 May 1611 – 8 February 1691) was an Italian architect of the Baroque period. Biography Born in Rome, Rainaldi was one of the leading architects of 17th century Rome, known for a certain grandeur in his designs. He worked at f ...

in Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome has not been admired by art historians.As, e.g. the "clumsy and disjointed effects" noted by Robert Enggass, "New Attributions in St. Peter's: The Spandrel Figures in the Nave" ''The Art Bulletin'' 60.1 (March 1978:96-108); "At other times Rainaldi seems to have been unable to provide the direction and designs such sculptors needed. The tomb of Cardinal Carlo Bonelli in S.M. sopra Minerva, executed in the early 1670s, documents his helplessness on one such occasion." (Howard Hibbard, "Palazzo Borghese Studies - II: The Galleria" ''The Burlington Magazine'' 104 No. 706 anuary 1962:9-20p. 16).

Notes

References

Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church:
Carlo Bonelli {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonelli, Carlo 1612 births 1676 deaths 17th-century Italian cardinals Cardinals created by Pope Alexander VII Bomelli, Carlo University of Perugia alumni Latin archbishops of Corinth 17th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops