Niccolò Ridolfi (1501 – 31 January 1550) was an Italiancardinal.

Born inFlorence, son of Piero Ridolfi andContessina de' Medici (the daughter ofLorenzo de' Medici the Magnificent). His father was aGonfaloniere of Justice. The family was wealthy and prominent.Pope Leo X was Niccolò's maternal uncle and granted him a quick ecclesiastical career. He was named governor ofSpoleto in the period 1514-1516 andprotonotary apostolic at the age of thirteen. Niccolò became a long time friend of humanistGian Giorgio Trissino, who served Leo as hisNuncio in Germany.^[1]

Pope Leo X created himcardinal deacon in theconsistory of 1 July 1517 at the age of sixteen with the deaconry ofSS. Vito e Modesto.^[1] Later his uncle appointed him administrator of the see ofOrvieto on 24 August 1520 and he kept that post until 3 September 1529. Ridolfi participated in the conclaves of1521–1522 and1523.

Pope Clement VII named himarchbishop of Florence on 11 January 1524. He resigned from that position on 11 October 1532. He served also as administrator ofVicenza from 14 March 1524 until his death. In 1537 he invited theAngelic Sisters of Saint Paul toVicenza, where they received the support of theValmarana family.^[2]

Ridolfi was administrator ofForlì (16 April 1526 - 7 August 1528). During theSack of Rome (1527) he was taken hostage toHugo of Moncada with other cardinals. Later he was named administrator ofViterbo (16 November 1532 – 6 June 1533), administrator of the metropolitan see ofSalerno (7 February 1533 - 19 December 1548) and administrator ofImola (4 August 1533 - 17 May 1546).Pope Clement VII opted him for the deaconry ofSanta Maria in Cosmedin on 19 January 1534.^[1] He participated in thePapal conclave, 1534.

Pope Paul III appointed him administrator ofViterbo again (8 August 1538 - 25 May 1548) and opted him for the deaconry ofSanta Maria in Via Lata on 31 May 1540 as he becamecardinal protodeacon. He was a member of a special commission of eleven cardinals for reform of theRoman Curia. On 8 January 1543 he was namedArchbishop of Florence for second time and resigned again on 25 May 1548.

After the death ofPope Paul III he was apapabile, entered theconclave of 1549 - 1550, but left because of illness. He died on 31 January 1550 of an apoplexy before the newPope Julius III was elected on 7 February 1550. Cardinal Ridolfi was buried in the church ofSant'Agostino.

A patron of the arts, Ridolfi had an extensive collection of books, paintings, and sculpture that passed to his brother Lorenzo.^[3] A large armorial pitcher, currently held by theMetropolitan Museum of Art is believed to have been commissioned by Ridolfi on the occasion of Charles V's coronation in Bologna in 1530.^[4]

• Byatt, Lucinda M. C. (1988). "The concept of hospitality in a cardinal's household in Renaissance Rome".Renaissance Studies.2 (2):312–320.doi:10.1111/j.1477-4658.1988.tb00159.x.JSTOR 24409406. [very tangential, of background value only]
• Byatt, Lucinda (1984)."Il Cardinale Niccolo Ridolfi ed il Palazzo di Bagnaia".Biblioteca e società.4:3–8. Retrieved2016-05-09.
• Byatt, Lucinda (1983).Una suprema magnificenza : Niccolo' Ridolfi a Florentine Cardinal in sixteenth-century Rome (Ph.D. thesis). European University Institute.hdl:1814/5809.
• Ridolfi, Roberto (1929). "La biblioteca del cardinale Niccolo Ridolfi (1501-1550)".La Bibliofilia.31:173–193.

• The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church - Biographical Dictionary
• Giga - Catholic Information for this cardinal