RICCI, GIOVANNI. - Cardinal, b. at Montepulciano c. 1497, d. 3 May 1574 at Rome.
He went to Rome in 1515 in the service of Card. Antonio Del Monte, and subsequently entered the service of the Apostolic Camera (1534–39); he later received political assignments from Paul III at the court of Charles V, until in June 1544 he was sent as nuncio to Portugal and elected archbishop of Siponto; from there, in Oct. 1549, he went as nuncio and collector to Spain. Appointed treasurer of the Apostolic Camera in Jan. 1551, he returned to Italy and was created cardinal by Julius III on 20 Nov. 1551. He held the bishopric of Montepulciano in administration and, in 1567, the archbishopric of Pisa. He took part in the elections of five popes, and in that of 1566 had Carlo Borromeo as his opponent. He built the Palazzo Ricci at Montepulciano, the palace now known as the Sacchetti in Via Giulia at Rome, and the Villa Medici on the Pincio. He was also a collector of works of art and antiquities. In Apr. 1573 he became bishop of Sabina.