Texte remanié de: Tesi di dottorato--Antichità classiche in Italia e loro fortuna--Università degli studi di Roma Tor Vergata, 1998. / Bibliogr. p. 91-102.

Riche banquier siennois, Agostino Chigi est un homme d’affaires puissant. Il est également célèbre pour les commandes qu’il passe et qui feront bientôt partie des trésors de l’histoire de l’art de la Renaissance. L’actuelle villa Farnésine est alors un modèle d’architecture du début du XVIème siècle. Les fresques qui la décorent exaltent la créativité des peintres qui, après leur passage à la Villa, deviendront les artistes les plus « famosi » de Rome, et la chapelle Chigi, en l’église Santa Maria del Popolo, offre une véritable synthèse du néoplatonisme. Toutes ces commandes participent à la valorisation du banquier et témoignent de son mécénat fastueux. Pourtant, le mécénat d’Agostino Chigi ne se limitait pas aux seules commandes picturales, ou architecturales, et le rayonnement de l’homme d’affaires s’étendait à de nombreux autres secteurs. Quelles sont alors les particularités du mécénat d’un des banquiers les plus puissants de la Rome du début du Cinquecento ? Archétype de la Renaissance, le marchand-banquier est un des principaux artisans de la nouvelle société qui se met en place. Ainsi, de nombreux secteurs en développement éveillent son intérêt. Il investit dans le secteur éditorial à travers le financement d’imprimeries, la marchandisation et la démocratisation des savoirs. Il soutient les scientifiques, se passionne pour l’astrologie, la médecine, la botanique. Le mécénat d’Agostino Chigi nous plonge au cœur d’une société moderne naissante, notre société. Étroitement lié à ses préoccupations d’homme d’affaires moderne, ce mécénat met en lumière le bouleversement des mentalités et les profondes transformations de cette société. / As a rich banker from Sienna, Agostino Chigi was a powerful businessman. He was also famous for the works of arts he commissioned and that now count as the treasures of Italian Renaissance art history. The contemporary Villa Farnesina was at the time a model of early sixteenth century architecture and stood as a cultural centre. The frescos that adorn it are an illustration of the creativity and inventiveness of the painters who, after their stay at the Villa, became the most renowned artists in Rome. The Chigi Chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo’s church, displays the epitome of Neoplatonism. All these commissions made the banker an important figure and testify to his sumptuous patronage. Yet, Agostino Chigi’s patronage was not only about commissions for paintings or architectural designs: the businessman’s influence actually spread to many other areas. Then, what were the specificities of the patronage of one of the most powerful bankers in early-Cinquecento Rome? An archetype of the Renaissance period, the merchant-banker was one of the main actors in the establishment of a new society. Thus, many developing sectors caught his attention: he invested in publishing by funding printing houses and encouraging the sale and democratization of knowledge. He also supported scientists and he showed interest for astrology, medicine and botany. Agostino Chigi’s patronage takes us into the heart of a developing modern society: ours. Because it is intimately connected to a modern businessman’s concerns, this patronage brings some light into the important changes in people’s mentalities and the deep transformations of this society.

Little did Hadrian know in 130 A.D. that when he deified his beloved departed Antinous, in order to provide a unifying symbol of worship for his diverse empire, that he was instead creating a lasting symbol of the antique world. This thesis examines the power of nostalgia and its successful use by two formidable men from different eras in Rome: The Emperor Hadrian and the extravagantly wealthy Renaissance merchant Agostino Chigi. Though separated by centuries, each man used the nostalgic allure of the beautiful youthful male figure of Antinous to gain power and influence in his own time and to leave a lasting impact on generations to come. Using the statue known as the Farnese Antinous I will show that these very different men were not so different after all: each understood the human tendency to romanticize the past, and each attempted to evoke a feeling of nostalgia for the past from those they sought to “conquer.” Hadrian used portraits of Antinous to unite an empire and cement his place in history; Agostino used one of those very same portraits in commissioned artworks by Raphael to earn his place among the nobility of his day, and to leave a lasting legacy for his descendants.