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Giancarlo
Giancarlo de' Medici painted byBaldassare Franceschini.
Born	(1611-07-24)24 July 1611 Palazzo Pitti,Florence,Tuscany
Died	22 January 1663(1663-01-22) (aged 51)
Burial	The Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence, Tuscany
Grand Ducal	House of Medici
Father	Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Mother	Maria Maddalena of Austria
Religion	Roman Catholic

Giancarlo de' Medici (24 July 1611 – 22 January 1663) was an Italiancardinal of theHouse of Medici. He was the second son ofGrand Duke Cosimo II of Tuscany and his wife,Maria Maddalena of Austria, and the brother ofFerdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.

He was born atFlorence, the second son and third child ofCosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany andMaria Maddalena of Austria. He entered the ecclesiastical state at a young age. In 1620 he joined theSovereign Military Order of Malta and was named Grand Prior of Pisa. In 1638 he was named General of the Mediterranean Sea.^{[citation needed]}

On 14 November 1644Pope Innocent X created Giancarlo a cardinal-deacon as a token of his affection toward theMedici.^[1] Thus forced to give up his military career and with it the title of "General of the Spanish Seas", Giancarlo could not reconcile himself to his new "religious" lifestyle.^[2]

Cardinal de' Medici participated in thepapal conclave, 1655 as one of leaders of the Spanish faction.Pope Alexander VII made Giancarlo responsible for welcomingQueen Christina of Sweden, a new convert to Catholicism, to Rome in 1655.^[3] Upon discovering of the closeness that had formed between the two, the Pope sent Gian Carlo back to Florence, declaring him "too handsome and too young" to be "spiritual advisor" to the Queen.

Here, Giancarlo led a life of dissipation, taking many mistresses; nevertheless, Ferdinando II delegated to him the management of the state's financial affairs. After one of his mistresses died, "the sexton who buried her said that Cardinal Gian Carlo, remembering the convulsions of that ivory body, came to look once more; and overcome by so much beauty, entered the vault and lay with her for the last time." He murdered a romantic rival, Cavaliere Luna, but his brother, Duke Ferdinando II, did nothing.^[4][5] He was patron of science, letters and music. He founded theAccademia degli Immobili and contributed to the construction ofTeatro della Pergola and the enrichment of theGalleria Palatina di Palazzo Pitti.^[6]

In later years, Giancarlo donated his sizeable art collection to form thePitti Gallery.^[7] He died at Florence, of anapoplexy, at the age of 51, and was interred in theMedicean necropolis,the Basilica of San Lorenzo,Florence.^[8]

Four years after the death of Giancarlo, his younger brotherLeopoldo was created a cardinal.^{[citation needed]}

• Acton, Harold:The Last Medici, Macmillan, London, 1980,ISBN 0-333-29315-0
• Young, G.F.:The Medici: Volume II, John Murray, London, 1920

• House of Medici
• 17th-century Italian cardinals
• 1611 births
• 1663 deaths
• Tuscan princes
• Burials at San Lorenzo, Florence
• Sons of dukes

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