Giulio Mancini

Giulio Mancini (1558-1630) was a noted physician, art collector and writer on a range of subjects. A native of Siena, he came to Rome in 1592 and quickly made a brilliant medical career, becoming personal physician to pope Urban VIII in 1623. In his private life the pope's doctor "moved in libertine intellectual and artistic circles and was known as an atheist with an irregular private life." He was a discerning art collector, and his notes on co... more

Giulio Mancini (1558-1630) was a noted physician, art collector and writer on a range of subjects. A native of Siena, he came to Rome in 1592 and quickly made a brilliant medical career, becoming personal physician to pope Urban VIII in 1623. In his private life the pope's doctor "moved in libertine intellectual and artistic circles and was known as an atheist with an irregular private life." He was a discerning art collector, and his notes on contemporary artists are an important source of our knowledge of Baroque artists such as Caravaggio and Annibale Carracci. He also wrote on such diverse subjects as dancing and the ways of courtiers. less