Andrea della Valle

Who was Andrea della Valle?

Cardinal Andrea della Valle was an Italian clergyman and art collector.

Of an ancient family of Roman nobles whose family tomb is in Santa Maria in Aracoeli, he was elected bishop of Crotone in 1496. In 1503-05 he directed the Apostolic Chancery, and served as Apostolic secretary during the pontificate of Pope Julius II. He was transferred to the titular diocese of Miletus in 1508, which he resigned in favor of his nephew Quinzio Rustici on 26 November 1523. He participated in the Fifth Lateran Council, 1512, and was created cardinal priest in the consistory of 1 July 1517. He participated in the conclaves of 1521-22 and 1523. As archpriest of the patriarchal Liberian basilica he ceremonially opened and closed the Holy Door in the Jubilee Year of 1525.

Cardinal della Valle is best remembered, however, as the collector of one of the first collections of Roman antiquities that marked the High Renaissance. He inherited some antiquities, which had been collected by the della Valle in the previous century, according to Vasari. and eagerly acquired more.