Alessandro Albani


Alessandro Albani
Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Via Lata
Portrait by Ludovico Mazzanti, 1722
ChurchCatholic Church
Appointed10 April 1747
Term ended11 December 1779
PredecessorCarlo Maria Marini
SuccessorDomenico Orsini d'Aragona
Orders
Created cardinal16 July 1721
by Pope Innocent XIII
RankCardinal-Deacon
Personal details
Born15 October 1692
Died11 December 1779(1779-12-11) (aged 87)
Rome, Papal States

Alessandro Albani (15 October 1692 – 11 December 1779) was a Roman Catholic cardinal remembered as a leading collector of antiquities, dealer and art patron in Rome. He supported the art historian, Johann Joachim Winckelmann and commissioned paintings from Anton Raphael Mengs. As a cardinal (from 1721) he furthered the interests of the governments of Austria, Savoy and Britain against those of France and Spain; he was a noted jurist and papal administrator in his earlier career. Upon his death he was the last cardinal created by Pope Innocent XIII.