Patrizio

Patrizio (died 1506) was a Roman noble and lived in a palazzo in the Vatican district of Rome, just north-east of the piaza leading to the Basilica di San Pietro.

History

At some point between 1497 and 1506, he was in a relationship with Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI. When he died on August 18th 1503, Lucrezia left Rome to live with her new lover, Alfonso I d'Este, in Ferrara. Some time prior, she gave Patrizio one of her portraits, painted by Leonardo da Vinci, to remember their love.

In 1506, he was visited in his palazzo's courtyard by Ercole Massimo, leader of the Hermeticists, to discuss the purchase of the portrait, but Patrizio, angered at how Lucrezia had seduced him into loving her then abandoned him, thought no one should own the portrait, and threw it on the ground, preparing to destroy it. However, Ercole intervened and had one of his Hermeticists stab Patrizio in the back before taking the portrait; resulting in Patrizio's death.