Archival notes on Onorio Longhi and Ippolito Buzzi
Prior to his death in December 1619 the architect Onorio Longhi drew up two different versions of his last will, still unexploited or even unknown. These documents as well as the first biographical account of the Longhi family, written by the Roman aristocrat Giovan Pietro Caffarelli in around 1608, yield insights into the social sphere in which Onorio moved in Rome. Apparently, he continued to maintain down to 1618 close relations with prominent members of the noble Altemps and Cesi families who had already promoted the career of his father Martino Longhi. However, archival research on Onorio’s legacy has produced a blank concerning the inventory of his estate and of his remarkable art collection, which was probably never compiled. Thus a key document to reconstruct the possessions of the Longhi family is missing. The second part of the paper presents new data concerning the life and legacy of Onorio’s relative Ippolito Buzzi, the well–known sculptor, who died in Rome in October 1634 and left a quite substantial fortune. However, the inventory of his household effects reveals that Ippolito, unlike Onorio, was neither ambitious to establish an art collection nor did he encourage his son and heir Pier Maria Buzzi to enter the artistic profession. The only works of art Ippolito kept were some paintings of his second son Francesco, who had died some years earlier, but has so far left no trace in the art–historical literature.
