Giacomo Serra (1570–1623) was a

Catholic 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 ...

cardinal.

Life

He was a son of the noblewoman Claudia Lomellini and her husband Antonio Maria Serra, deputy to

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

's Nobile Vecchio Portico and a senator of

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

. He moved to Rome, where in January 1601 he was made a clerk to the Apostolic Camera. He was acting governor of Borgo while that post was vacant in 1605 and three years later was made nuncio extraordinary to the papal troops in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

. At the end of the latter role he became treasurer general to the Apostolic Camera. In 1606-1608 he commissioned an altarpiece for

Santa Maria in Vallicella Santa Maria in Vallicella, also called Chiesa Nuova, is a church in Rome, Italy, which today faces onto the main thoroughfare of the Corso Vittorio Emanuele and the corner of Via della Chiesa Nuova. It is the principal church of the Oratorians, ...

from Rubens. On 17 August 1611

Pope Paul V Pope Paul V ( la, Paulus V; it, Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death in January 1621. In 1611, he honored ...

made him a cardinal, granting him the 'diaconi' of

San Giorgio in Velabro San Giorgio in Velabro is a church in Rome, Italy, dedicated to St. George. The church is located next to the Arch of Janus in the rione of Ripa in the ancient Roman Velabrum. According to the founding legend of Rome, the church was built ...

on 12 September that year. He then became papal legate to Ferrara in 16 September 1615, holding that post until his death and becoming a frequent patron to the painter

Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vi ...

. In the meantime he became a cardinal priest on 28 September 1615 with the titulus of

Santa Maria della Pace Santa Maria della Pace is a church in Rome, central Italy, not far from Piazza Navona. The building lies in rione Ponte. History The current building was built on the foundations of the pre-existing church of Sant'Andrea de Aquarizariis in 148 ...

, where he was later buried. He took part in the papal conclaves of

1621 Events January–March * January 12 – Şehzade Mehmed, the 15-year old half-brother of Ottoman Sultan Osman II, is put to death by hanging on Osman's orders. Before dying, Mehmed prays aloud that Osman's reign as Sultan be rui ...

and

1623 Events January–March * January 21 – **Viscount Falkland, England's Lord Deputy of Ireland, issues a proclamation ordering all Roman Catholic priests to leave Ireland. The order frustrates negotiations between Protestant En ...

References

1570 births 1623 deaths 17th-century Italian cardinals Clergy from Genoa {{Italy-RC-cardinal-stub