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Michelangelo Caetani, Duke of Sermoneta and Prince of Teano (Rome, 20 March 1804 – Rome, 12 December 1882), was a notable political figure, goldsmith, and an Italian scholar with a great interest in literature and sculpture.

Life

He was a descendant from the Italian noble

Caetani family The House of Caetani, or Gaetani, is the name of an Italian noble family, originally from the city of Gaeta, connected by some to the lineage of the lords of the Duchy of Gaeta, as well as to the patrician Gaetani of the Republic of Pisa. It pla ...

, which played a great role in the history of Pisa and Rome. According to the practice of his time, he was educated at home by private tutors. However, his interest in arts led quickly him to study in the studios of sculptors

Bertel Thorvaldsen Bertel Thorvaldsen (; 19 November 1770 – 24 March 1844) was a Danes, Danish and Icelanders, Icelandic Sculpture, sculptor medallist, medalist of international fame, who spent most of his life (1797–1838) in Italy. Thorvaldsen was born in ...

and

Pietro Tenerani Pietro Tenerani (11 November 1789 – 16 December 1869) was an Italian sculptor of the Neoclassic style. Biography He was born in Torano, near Carrara. He initially trained with his maternal uncle, the sculptor Pietro Marchetti, and in 18 ...

, the painter Tommasso Minardi and the goldsmith

Fortunato Pio Castellani Fortunato Pio Castellani (6 May 1794 – 1 January 1865) was a 19th-century Italians, Italian jeweller and founder of Castellani, an Italian jewellery company. Castellani opened his first shop in Rome in 1814. Geoffrey Munn He specialised i ...

. The last of the three transformed Caetani’ s drawings into actual antique-style jewelries which today are partly preserved in the National Etruscan Museum in Rome. Caetani was also a scholar of Dante Alighieri. He published relevant works, such as La Materia nella Divina Commedia and Carteggio Dantesco and designed a series of topographic maps to be used by students of the Divine Comedy. His work was printed by the monks at Monte Cassino, using early

Chromolithography Chromolithography is a method for making multi-colour prints. This type of colour printing stemmed from the process of lithography, and includes all types of lithography that are printed in colour. When chromolithography is used to reproduce ph ...

He was a cosmopolitan. His house was the meeting place of national and international scholars, such as

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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...

, Renan,

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, Jean-Jacques Ampère,

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, Alfred von Reumont, Démosthène Ollivier. In 1840, Caetani married the Polish Countess Calixta Rzewuski, the daughter of

Wacław Seweryn Rzewuski Wacław Seweryn Rzewuski (15 December 1784 – 14 May 1831) was a Polish explorer, poet, orientalism, orientalist and horse expert.T. Miciński: "Emir Rzewuski" Early life Wacław Rzewuski family, Rzewuski was born 15 December 1784 in Lvov, Lw� ...

, a well-known Polish orientalist. Their son, Onorato, was Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Italy, while their daughter Ersilia was an archaeologist and the first woman who was admitted to the oldest scientific academy, the

Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei The Accademia dei Lincei (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rom ...

.Ersilia Lovatelli
Grace Mary Crowfoot, Brown.edu, Retrieved 12 October 2016 His second wife was the English Margherita Knight and his third was Harriette Ellis, the daughter of

Charles Ellis, 6th Baron Howard de Walden Charles Augustus Ellis, 6th Baron Howard de Walden and 2nd Baron Seaford (5 June 1799 – 29 August 1868), was a British diplomat and politician. Lineage Ellis was the son of Charles Ellis, 1st Baron Seaford and his wife, the Honourable Elizabe ...

. His political views subscribed to the ideology of moderate liberalism. He did not condone extremists and he was aligned with

Pellegrino Rossi Pellegrino Luigi Odoardo Rossi (13 July 1787 – 15 November 1848) was an Italian economist, politician and jurist. He was an important figure of the July Monarchy in France, and the minister of justice in the government of the Papal States, unde ...

. He served as Minister of police in the government of Cardinal Bofondi (1846-1848), in collaboration with Carlo Troya and

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. After the

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and its annexation to Italy as its third capital, Caetani became the Governor of Rome. He was elected twice to the Italian Parliament and was awarded the

Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation The Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation ( it, Ordine Supremo della Santissima Annunziata) is a Roman Catholic order of chivalry, originating in Savoy. It eventually was the pinnacle of the honours system in the Kingdom of Italy, which ce ...

due to his service to the Kingdom of Italy. A street in Rome is named after Michelangelo Caetani, which is located to the south of Via delle Botteghe Oscure in ''rione'' XI (Sant'Angelo). It was here in May 1978 that the body of the former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro was discovered, following his murder by the

Red Brigades The Red Brigades ( it, Brigate Rosse , often abbreviated BR) was a far-left Marxist–Leninist armed organization operating as a terrorist and guerrilla group based in Italy responsible for numerous violent incidents, including the abduction ...

(''Brigate Rosse'').Katz, Robert (1980). ''Days of Wrath''. New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, p. 238.

Gallery

Works

*Sermoneta, M. Caetani. (1821)
''La materia della Divina commedia di Dante Alighieri dichiarata in VI tavole: da Michelangelo Caetani.''
Nuova ed. a cura di G. L. Passerini. Firenze: G. C. Sansoni. *Sermoneta, M. Caetani. (1852).
Della dottrina che si asconde nell'ottavo e nono canto dell'Inferno della Divina Commedia di Dante Allighieri: esposizione nuova di Michelangelo Caetani''
Roma: Menicanti. *Sermoneta, M. Caetani. (1881).
Tre chiose di Michelangelo Caetani duca di Sermoneta nella Divina Commedia di Dante Alighieri
'' 3. ed. Roma: Salviucci. *Sermoneta, M. Caetani. (1857)
''Matelda nella divina foresta della Commedia di Dante Allighieri:''
urg. xxviii disputazione tuscalana. [Roma: Salviucci. *Società dantesca italiana. (1900)
''La lettera di Dante in Or San Michele e la Fondazione Michelangelo Caetani di Sermoneta.''
Firenze: L. Franceschini.

Letters

*Sermoneta, M. Caetani. (1902).
Epistolario. Firenze
'' *Sermoneta, M. Caetani. (1903).
Epistolario del duca Michelangelo Caetani di Sermoneta: corrispondenza dantsca.
' Firenze: [F. Lumachi, succ. flli. Bocca]. *Sermoneta, E. Caetani. (1904).
Alcuni ricordi di Michelangelo Caetani
', duca di Sermoneta. 2. ed., popolare. Milano: U. Hoepli. *Fiorella Bartoccini (a cura di). (1974). ''Lettere di Michelangelo Caetani duca di Sermoneta: Cultura e politica nella Roma di Pio IX''. oma Istituto di studi romani.

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

References