By Anne Leader
Italian cardinal and art patron Pietro Ottoboni died on 28 February 1740 in Rome. Appointed as cardinal of San Lorenzo in Damaso and then vice-chancellor by his great-uncle Pope Alexander VIII, Ottoboni was well known in Rome as a lover of music, theater, poetry, and the visual arts. Among his commissions were a tomb for his papal great-uncle at St. Peter’s, a series of canvases depicting the seven sacraments by Giuseppe Crespi, and various works by Francesco Trevisani. He also made changes to the Palazzo della Cancelleria, including the construction of a theater by Filippo Juvarra and various interior decorations by Domenico Paradisi and Angelo de Rossi.
Francesco Trevisani, Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, c.1689, oil on canvas. The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle
Giuseppe Bertosi and Angelo De Rossi, Tomb of Pope Alexander VIII, 1695-1725, marble and bronze. St. Peter’s, Rome
Giuseppe Maria Crespi, The Seven Sacraments, 1712, oil on canvas. Gemäldegalerie, Dresden
Giuseppe Vasi, Palazzo della Cancelleria, Rome, engraving, 18th cent.