Odoardo Farnese (cardinal)

Portrait by Annibale Caracci.

Odoardo Farnese (6 December 1573 – 21 February 1626) was an Italian nobleman, the second son of Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma and Maria of Portugal, known for his patronage of the arts. He became a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in Italy in 1591, and briefly acted as regent of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza for his nephew Odoardo from 1622 to 1626.

Cardinal Odoardo is probably best known today for commissioning the Bolognese artist Annibale Carracci to fresco the Camerino in the Palazzo Farnese in Rome. Carracci undertook this from 1595 to 1597, just prior to starting his decoration of the more famous and elaborate Farnese Gallery in the same palace.

Cardinals Alessandro and Odoardo Farnese

The Camerino was Farnese's private study. The subject of the central scene in the ceiling is The Choice of Hercules. The scene is surrounded by a painted frame, an example of quadro riportato, which gives the illusion of a framed oil painting hung on the ceiling when in reality both the scene and its frame were frescoed. This quadro riportato device was brought to fruition by Carracci in the Farnese Gallery a few years later.

In addition, Farnese commissioned various oil paintings from Carracci, including his Rinaldo and Armida now in the Capodimonte Museum in Naples. It was on the recommendation of Carracci that he commissioned Domenichino to fresco the Chapel of St Nilo in the abbey at Grottaferrata.[1] Farnese also commissioned Carracci's Sleeping Venus.[2]

His patronage of architecture was less extensive but included the Casa Professa, the Jesuit house adjacent to the church of the Gesu in Rome, by the architect Girolamo Rainaldi.[3]

Ancestry

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16. Pope Paul III
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8. Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
17. Silvia Ruffini
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
18. Luigi Orsini
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9. Girolama Orsini
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
19. Giulia Conti
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20. Philip I of Castile
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
21. Joanna of Castile
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Margaret of Austria
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
22. Gilles Johann van der Gheynst
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11. Johanna Maria van der Gheynst
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
23. Johanna van der Caye van Cocambi
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. Cardinal Odoardo Farnese
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
24. Infante Fernando, Duke of Viseu
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12. Manuel I of Portugal
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
25. Infanta Beatrice of Portugal
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6. Infante Duarte, Duke of Guimarães
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
26. Ferdinand II of Aragon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13. Maria of Aragon and Castile
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
27. Isabella I of Castile
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Infanta Maria of Guimarães
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
28. Fernando II, Duke of Braganza
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
14. James, Duke of Braganza
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
29. Infanta Isabella of Viseu
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. Isabel of Braganza
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
30. Juan Alonso Pérez de Guzmán y Afán de Ribera, 3rd Duke of Medina Sidonia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15. Eleonor of Mendoza
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
31. Isabel de Velasco or Leonor de Zúñ
 
 
 
 
 
 

References

  1. Robertson, Clare. 'Odoardo Farnese', Oxford Art Online
  2. van Gastel (2013), p. 156.
  3. Robertson, ibid

Bibliography

See also

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, February 12, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.