BORGHESE, SCIPIONE. - Son of Ortensia B., wife of Francesco Caffarelli, born in Rome in 1576 and died on October 2, 1633. As soon as he was elected Pope, Paul V made him a member of his own family, granting him his own surname and coat of arms, created him cardinal on July 18, 1605, of the title of St. Chrysogonus, and kept him at his side with the office of cardinal nephew according to the custom of the time. His favor with the Pope only increased over the years: in 1607 he was named legate of Avignon, in 1608 archpriest of the Lateran, prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Council and commendatory abbot of St. Gregory on the Caelian, in 1609 librarian, in 1610 major penitentiary and archbishop of Bologna; he held the archbishopric, however, only until 1612, when he was named camerlengo of Holy Church and prefect of the Apostolic Briefs. The growth of his revenues kept pace, reaching enormous figures, which allowed him to protect the arts, artists and men of letters and to acquire the best estates of Latium. He presided over the commission for the Acqua Paola aqueduct, and to him is due the construction of the palace on the Quirinal that now bears the name of the Rospigliosi and which he had munificently adorned with works of art, first among them the celebrated Aurora of Guido Reni, and of the palace that serves as the casino of the famous Villa Borghese, where he gathered the finest of what was being collected in paintings and sculptures. He did not build new religious edifices but strove to restore and embellish those already existing, as he did at St. Andrew on the Caelian, where, in addition to the paintings, he built through the work of G. B. Soria the beautiful staircase and the principal facade. To him are due the facades of St. Mary of the Victory, of St. Chrysogonus, and of St. Sebastian Outside the Walls.
With the death of Paul V (1621) there came to an end for the cardinal that importance which he had held in the public life of Rome. In 1629 he became bishop of Sabina. He was buried in the Borghese chapel at S. Maria Maggiore, and his features are recalled by two busts that Bernini carved and that are in the Borghese Gallery. He was not a man of government, but a amiable patron, lavish with benevolence and promises.
Bibliography
Elsa Gerlini