Gio Filippo Spinola, Prince of Molfetta

The man

Gio Filippo Spinola was born in Genoa in 1609, son of Giovanni Battista Spinola, first Duke of San Pietro, and of Maria Spinola , daughter of Filippo, son of Ambrogio, married his niece Veronica Spinola, daughter of Luca Spinola, Prince of Molfetta, and of his sister Pellina. He was Prince of Molfetta, title he received as dowry from his wife Veronica. He is known for being a great artcollector.
As a cadet son, he did not inherit the title of Duke of San Pietro or the right to live in the Palazzo dell’Acquasola.
His known residences were a house near the Church of San Raffaele, belonging to his father-in-law Luca Spinola; an apartment near the Church of Sant’Agnese owned by his paternal uncle Gio Luca Spinola; and finally, the upper apartment of Palazzo Durazzo Pallavicini

…a prestigious residence worthy of his extraordinary paintings that found in the palazzo a perfect background, together with some of the work of art that he had in loan from the owners of the property and that in part he then bought..

(The collection of Gio. Filippo Spinola, Prince of Molfetta, Edited by Piero Boccardo page 288 onwards, from the book “Palazzo Doria Spinola, Architettura ed arredi di una dimora aristocratica genovese, da un inventario del 1727” edited by Roberto Santamaria, Le Mani Editore).

There is not a lot of news about his life but he certainly had large sums of money at his disposal and twice he held positions as the ambassadorfor the Republic of Genoa. A letter from Cardinal Mazarino who rejoiced at the birth of his son Francesco Maria suggests that he was a known and prestigious man.
He died in 1660 at the age of 51 and was buried in the Abbey of San Nicolò del Boschetto.

The Collector

It was the year 1650 when on the occasion of a trip to Verona, Gio Filippo Spinola visited the Benedictine convent of “Santi Nazario e Celso” where the painting “Cena in casa di Simone il Fariseo”, by Paolo Caliari, called the Veronese (1528-1588), was kept. The painting, of exceptional size (cm 314 x 451) struck the collector to such point that he offered an enormous sum to have it: 7.000 ducati equal to 21 kg of gold. The abbot and the chapter of the Santi Nazario e Celso decided to sell the opera, provided that it was replaced by a copy, perhaps to try to disguise the sale. The painting intended to replace the original was executed in Genoa by David Corte (1602-1657) but was never sent to its destination. The purchase aroused clamour and amazement especially for the amount paid, one of the highest figures ever offered for the purchase of a work of art.
It is not by chance that the picture was chosen to recall the figure of Gio Filippo whose effigy is missing at the moment.
On the same journey, Gio Filippo visited other works of art, showing his interest in another painting by Veronese, il Martirio di Santa Giustina.

Of the collection of Gio Filippo Spinola, we know with certainty only a little following an inventory made by his sister Pellina. In 1657 Luca Spinola died in Savona of the plague epidemic. He was the brother-in-law and father-in-law of Gio Filippo

after the plague ended….on 1 September 1660, under the Senate decree of 17 August 2001, the widow Pellina had drawn up three separate inventories concerning: The goods belonging to the deceased husband, those purchased “from my money” and those which were were brought to the house of said Mr. Luca by Mr. Gio. cores/quotas Filippo, his brother and son in law, in order to do a favour to Mrs. Pellina and to meet her taste in the composition of a beautiful Gallery.. In doing so, Pellina declared that she would return what was due to her brother, thus saving the objects from every possible claim by the husband’s heirs…

The sculptures, the silver, the vestments, the tapestries and the sixty-five among paintings and miniatures of remarkable value – including the names of Rubens, Veronese, Paris Bordon (quoted as “Bordonone”) – recorded in the third list, therefore, do not represent the entire collection put together by Gio. Filippo, but “only” those he had granted in use to his sister Pellina (from The collection of Gio. Filippo Spinola, Prince of Molfetta, Edited by Piero Boccardo page 290 onwards, from the book “Palazzo Doria Spinola, Architettura ed arred.i di una dimora aristocratica genovese, da un inventario del 1727” edited by Roberto Santamaria, Le Mani Editore)
One year after the death of Spinola, Salvatore Castiglione, brother of the well-known Giovanni Benedetto, wrote to the Duke of Mantua Carlo II Gonzaga that

…the death of the Prince of Molfetta, Giovanni Filippo Spinola, has deprived this city of those who were delighted by and could spend on paintings of this quality…

(From L’età di Rubens edited by Piero Boccardo, p. 457, 2004 Skira Publisher
Image taken from https://www.comune.molfetta.ba.it/vivere-il-comune/turismo/da-visitare/item/centro-antico.

Le Opere

Da La collezione di Gio. Filippo Spinola, principe di Molfetta, Edited by Piero Boccardo page 290 onwards, from the book “Palazzo Doria Spinola, Architettura ed arredi di una dimora aristocratica genovese, da un inventario del 1727” edited by Roberto Santamaria, Le Mani Editore). Please refer to the book for any further information.