Main description (English)

The article presents the inventory of a palace belonging to the Portuguese physician Gabriel da Fonseca (1586?-1668), a notable doctor whose career in Rome spanned several decades. Brought to Rome by the resident Spanish ambassador at the beginning of the seventeenth century, Fonseca’s tenure in the city saw him become a professor at Sapienza University and personal physician to Pope Innocent X (1644- 1655). The inventory of his Roman palace in the rione of Parione, here published, shows that he was in contact with a number of important prelates and nobles, that he had significant investments in papal debt and property, and that he had accumulated a considerable art collection and library, rivaling that of other well-to-do contemporaries in the Eternal City. Careful study of this document enables us to better understand this important physician and man of science, his tastes and interests, and his relations and activities. It also demonstrates the care with which he had organized his investments to place them in the hands of his two sons so as to assure a continuity of the family name and patrimony.