Fernando Afán de Ribera, duke of Alcalá de los Gazules

Who was Fernando Afán de Ribera, duke of Alcalá de los Gazules?

Fernando Afán de Ribera y Téllez-Girón was a Spanish noble and diplomat.

He was the 3rd Duke of Alcalá de los Gazules, 8th Count of los Molares and 5th Marquis of Tarifa. His father was Fernando Enríquez de Ribera y Cortés, 4th Marquis de Tarifa and his mother Ana Téllez-Girón, daughter of Pedro Téllez-Girón, 1st Duke of Osuna.

He was ambassador to the Holy See and vicar general of Italy during the reign of Pope Urban VIII. He was also successively viceroy of Catalonia, Naples, Sicily and Governor of Milan.

A lover of art and literature, he was a patron of several artists, including Jusepe de Ribera, and he gathered an impressive art collection in his Sevillian residence, the casa de Pilatos.

He died in 1637 in Villach, on his way to Cologne on a diplomatic mission, sent by King Philip IV of Spain as Plenipotentiary to negotiate an end to the Thirty Years' War. His remains were returned to Spain and buried in the Monastery of Santa Maria de las Cuevas.