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Raffaello Menicucci
Valentin de Boulogne French
Not on view
Valentin’s contemporary left a description of this extraordinary person—the buffoon of Pope Urban VIII—that reads: "He was of a stature closer to medium than to tall, fairly corpulent, with a large head and full face, repugnant appearance, dark skinned, and of a scurrilous, if not wholly despicable, character. He could produce verses extemporaneously, pronounce witty sayings, inspire hilarity, play the part of a not gross parasite. But in preserving and increasing the patrimony of his family, whether through astuteness or through zeal, he unquestionably surpassed many of his time in ability and shrewdness." The drawing in Menicucci’s hand shows a tower he had purchased.
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