Raphael. Portrait of Cardinal Bernardo Dovizi
Bibbiena. c.1514-1516. Oil on canvas. Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina,
Florence, Italy. More.
Bernardo Dovizi, better known by the name of his native town Bibbiena (1470-1520) was a cardinal and a comedy-writer, close friend of the Medicis. In 1513, his tireless efforts on behalf of his lifelong patron secured the election of Giovanni dei Medici to the pontifical throne. Such services Leo X repaid by bestowing on him the purple robe, appointing him his treasurer and entrusting him with many important missions, among them a delegation to France (1518).