Pietro Aldobrandini

Pietro Aldobrandini (31 March 1571 – 10 February 1621) was an Italian cardinal and patron of the arts.

Biography
Pietro Aldobrandini was a cousin of Cardinal Cinzio Aldobrandini, and uncle of Cardinals Silvestro and Ippolito Aldobrandini.

Cardinal
He was made a cardinal in 1593 by his uncle, Pope Clement VIII, with the title Cardinal-deacon of San Nicola in Carcere. The church was rebuilt in 1599, with a new facade by Giacomo della Porta. Aldobrandini took over the Duchy of Ferrara in 1598 when it fell to the Papal States and his collection of paintings was augmented by works removed from Ferrara. He served as Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, charged with the fiscal administration of the Patrimony of Saint Peter. In 1600, he traveled to Lyon as papal legate to bless the marriage of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici. On 17 Oct 1604, he was consecrated bishop by Pope Clement VIII, with François-Marie Tarugi, Archbishop of Siena, Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici, Cardinal-Bishop of Palestrina, and Ottavio Bandini, Archbishop of Fermo, serving as co-consecrators. He became archbishop of Ravenna in 1604 and Cardinal-Priest of San Pancrazio, but opted the following year for Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio. In 1612, he was named Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Trastevere.

Patron of the arts
In 1598, Pope Clement gave Pietro the old Ruffini villa at Frascati as a reward for successful negotiations he had undertaken with the French. It was known as the Villa Aldobrandini. His architect, Giacomo della Porta, began the work. Carlo Maderno added a loggia; Giovanni Fontana worked on the garden. Domenichino painted frescoes in a garden pavilion.

In 1600, Clement acquired the Vitelli Gardens on the Quirinal hill. The following year, he gave this to his nephew. The old buildings were demolished and construction began on the new villa and adjacent garden. Della Porta equipped the building with stairs, and loggias. The upper floors of the Palazzo Aldobrandini held a rich collection of works of art left to the cardinal by the Duchess of Urbino Lucrezia d'Este, in 1598.

He was a patron of Torquato Tasso, and of Girolamo Frescobaldi.