Orsini collection

Machine-translated from the Italian article

The Orsini collection was an art collection founded in Rome in the 16th century and belonging to the eponymous Roman family. Although the family counts among its successes three popes (Celestine III, elected in 1191, Nicholas III, elected in 1287, and Benedict XIII in 1724), the collection was not the product of papal patronage or of cardinal nephews, but rather of aristocratic members of the family, above all Paolo Giordano I and his line of descent from the Bracciano branch to the brothers Virginio (cardinal), Flavio and Prince Lelio Orsini, the last heirs of the collection. The family line having died out towards the end of the 17th century, the collection was fragmented and dispersed among various European collections.