CONTI, SICISMONDO de'.—Born around 1440 in Foligno to a local noble family, died 18 Feb 1512. He studied at the University of Perugia; held many positions, first in his hometown, then in Rome where he entered the papal secretariat during the time of Sixtus IV and quickly advanced, especially with the support of Cardinal Giuliano Della Rovere, who later appointed him his private secretary when he became Pope Julius II; he also undertook diplomatic missions and served as prefect of the Fabbrica of St. Peter’s.
He was an esteemed humanist and writer, but today he is remembered only for his unfinished historical work, *Historiae sui temporis libri XIX* (1475–1510), which, though accurate and elegantly written, remains the work of a humanist and entirely favorable to the Della Rovere and Riario families. Bembo imagined one of his dialogues taking place in Conti’s apartment in the Vatican and included him among the interlocutors; Raphael depicted him in the famous *Madonna of Foligno*; in Rome he was welcomed everywhere.