Tomb of Francesco Mantica
Santa Maria Del Popolo, Rome
photographs by Lee van Laer
Notable for the exquisitely carved angelic figure and memento mori found above & beneath the inscription on the tomb.
Biographical Information:
MANTICA, Francesco (1534-1614)
Birth. March 20, 1534 (1), Venzone (2). Of a noble family originally from Como. Son of Andrea Mantica and his second wife, Fontana, daughter of Rizzardo, count and castellano of Fontanabuona.
Education. University of Bologna, Bologna (civil law); University of Padua, Padua (doctorate in utroque iure, both canon and civil law, 1558).
Early life. Public professor and lector of law at the University of Padua, 1559, for twenty-six years; among his students were the nephews of Pope Clement VIII. Aggregated to the nobility of Udine, 1561. Auditor of the Sacred Roman Rota, 1580, for ten years. Jurist of fame, his De conjecturis ultimarum voluntatum was an authentic best seller in the 1500s and 1600s.
Sacred orders. (No information found).
Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon in the consistory of June 5, 1596; received the red hat on June 8, 1596; and the deaconry of S. Adriano, June 21, 1596. Opted for the order of cardinal priests and the title of S. Tommaso in Parione, January 24, 1597.
Priesthood. Ordained, (no date found), by Cardinal Agostino Valeri, bishop of Verona. Opted for the title of S. Maria del Popolo, June 17, 1602. Participated in the first conclave of 1605, which elected Pope Leo XI. Participated in the second conclave of 1605, which elected Pope Paul V. Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals, January 13, 1614 until his death.
Death. January 28, 1614 (3), Rome. Buried in the church of S. Maria del Popolo (4).
The above biographical material was originally published at the web site of Florida International University.
