RUSTICUCCI, GEROLAMO. - Cardinal, b. at Fano in 1537, d. at Rome in June 1603.
Secretary of State to Pio V, of whose cardinalitial court he had been a member, he carried out intense diplomatic activity, also acting in place of the cardinal-nephew. On 17 May 1570, as a reward for his labours, he was created cardinal, and in the following year bishop of Senigallia and protector of the Cistercians. Set aside by Gregorio XIII, Sisto V reappointed him Secretary of State and a member of the cardinalitial Consulta. In 1587 he was appointed vicar general of Rome, an office he retained until his death and in which he was an effective collaborator of various pontiffs in the rebuilding of the city and in the repression of immorality. His work for the instruction and education of the clergy, in implementation of the Tridentine decrees, was likewise effective. Titular of the church of S. Susanna, he oversaw its restoration, having frescoes depicting scenes of the biblical Susanna executed and the artistic façade built by Maderno.