300 px, The Villa Falconieri in Frascati; renovations were commissioned by Orazio Falconieri Orazio Falconieri (died 1664) was an Italian nobleman from

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

; he was the owner of the

Villa Falconieri The Villa Falconieri is a villa in Frascati, Italy. History The villa was originally called Villa Rufina, having been was initially built by Monsignor Alessandro Rufini. Later it was enlarged thanks to Pope Paul III, dates back to 1546. In 162 ...

. His

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

symbol was a

falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

Family

Falconieri was the son of Paolo Falconieri and Maddalena Albizzi and the brother of

Lelio Falconieri Lelio Falconieri (1585–1648) was an Italian Catholic Cardinal. Family and early life Falconieri was born in 1585 in Florence, the tenth of the thirteen children of Paolo Falconieri and his second wife Maddalena degli Albizzi. He was the brothe ...

who was later elevated to Cardinal. In 1615 he married Ottavia Sacchetti (1590–1645), sister of Cardinal

Giulio Cesare Sacchetti Giulio Cesare Sacchetti (1586 – 28 June 1663) was an Italian Catholic Cardinal and was twice included in the French Court's list of acceptable candidates for the Papacy, in 1644 and 1655. Early life Sacchetti was born in 1586, the second sur ...

who would later

consecrate Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

Orazio's brother Lelio. The Sacchetti and Falconieri were already close; Orazio's father had made his fortune importing

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

and as a result Orazio had business connections to Ottavia Sacchetti's father. When Ottavia's first husband, Piero Alberti, died, marriage to Orazio was considered an excellent option for both families. Records indicate they had at least one son (Paolo Francesco Falconieri) who took ownership of the Villa Falconieri and took his father's titles.

Commissions

Falconieri purchased the

and commissioned

Francesco Borromini Francesco Borromini (, ), byname of Francesco Castelli (; 25 September 1599 – 2 August 1667), was an Italian architect born in the modern Swiss canton of Ticino

to renovate it. Orazio later commissioned Borromini to renovate the church of

San Giovanni dei Fiorentini The Basilica of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini ("Saint John of the Florentines") is a minor basilica and a titular church in the Ponte ''rione'' of Rome, Italy. Dedicated to St. John the Baptist, the protector of Florence, the new church for the ...

to build a Falconieri family chapel for his burial and the burial of his brother Lelio Falconieri.''Borromini'' by Anthony Blunt (Harvard University Press, 1979)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falconieri, Orazio 1664 deaths Italian untitled nobility Nobility from Florence Year of birth unknown