Italian cardinal, art collector and patron of the arts. A member of the Borghese family, he was the patron of Caravaggio and Bernini. His legacy is the establishment of the art collection at the Villa Borghese in Rome. His maternal uncle was Pope Paul V. In the classic pattern of papal nepotism, Cardinal Borghese wielded enormous power as the Pope's secretary and effective head of the Vatican government. On his own and the Pope's behalf he amassed an enormous fortune through papal fees and taxes, and acquired vast land holdings for the Borghese family. This letter is just one example of how Borghese gleaned income from episcopal benefices.
LS - Letter Signed, one page, Rome, 30 January 1612. Boldly signed by Borghese. In a remarkable state of preservation. Reads: We Scipione Cardinal Borghese have received from the Magnificent Giovanni Antonio Alberghetti for 500 scudi, by virtue of an order from the Carmelite Prelate Fra Piermaria Bertocci of the 28th of this month, I set for the deadline of next Christmas that Juan Antonio Bovio, O. Carm., Bishop of Molfetta owes us for the pension reserved for us on the fruits of the said bishopric, and in faith we have signed this letter for receipt in my own hand this 30th day of January 1612 in Rome. Alberghetti may have been a member of a family whose wealth was in military armaments.
The year Borghese wrote this letter he began construction on the Villa Borghese to house his family and growing art and antiquities collection.
Scipione received many honors from his uncle. He became superintendent general of the Papal States, legate in Avignon, archpriest of the Lateran and Vatican basilicas, prefect of the Signature of Grace, Abbot of Subiaco and San Gregorio da Sassola on the Coelian, and librarian of the Roman Catholic Church. He also assumed the offices of Grand Penitentiary, secretary of the Apostolic Briefs, Archbishop of Bologna, protector of Germany and the Habsburg Netherlands, of the Orders of Dominicans, Camaldolese and Olivetans, of the Shrine of Loreto and of the Swiss Guard, and numerous other ecclesiastical positions. In each of these offices the cardinal received stipends. His income in 1609 was about 90,000 scudi, and by 1612 it had reached 140,000 scudi. With his enormous wealth, he bought the villages of Montefortino and Olevano Romano from Pier Francesco Colonna, Duke of Zagarolo for 280,000 scudi.
Beyond nepotism and simony, Borghese came under investigation from the Inquisition in matters sexual. He was alleged to have had an intense affair with Stefano Pignatelli. So troublesome was the scandal — with ambassadors and dignitaries complaining to the pope that he was obliged to remove Pignatelli from Rome via promotion as archbishop. Borghese suffered considerably from the absence of Pignatelli such that the pope recalled Pignatelli to Rome and named him a cardinal. Scipione also was alleged to have pursued a passionate but short-lived affair with a nobleman who, soon after his departure from the anti-chamber of Cardinal Borghese, was found dead by the cardinal’s servants. Charges were never mounted and the death remains a mystery.