CHIGI, AGOSTINO

(1465-1520)

Sienesebankerwho made his fortune through shipping and real estate. Agostino Chigi was also the main financier of the papacy under popesAlexander VI, Julius II, andLeo X, and he held the monopoly of the alum mines of Tolfa. This made him the richest man inRome. Agostino was infamous for his unrestrained behavior. He hosted a banquet in theloggiaof hisVilla Farnesina, built for him by Baldassare Peruzzi along the banks of the Tiber River and decorated by Peruzzi,Raphael, and Sebastiano del Piombo. Guests were served dinner on silver and gold plates that were tossed by servants into the river as they cleared them from the table. After the astounded guests left the banquet, the servants retrieved the plates that had fallen on strategically placed nets. Agostino, a cultured individual with great interest in humanism and antiquity, was also the patron ofPietro Aretino.