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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, 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 and Pietro Tenerani, the painter Tommasso Minardi and the goldsmith Fortunato Pio Castellani. 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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, Stendhal,

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, Franz Liszt,

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, Renan,

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, Jean-Jacques Ampère,

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, Ferdinand Gregorovius, 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, orientalist and horse expert.T. Miciński: "Emir Rzewuski" Early life Wacław Rzewuski was born 15 December 1784 in Lwów. He was the son of field Hetm ...

, 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

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.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

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

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

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(''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