Birth. March 1, 1690, Mantua. Son of Marquis Carlo Valenti and Barbara Andreasi. Uncle of Cardinal Luigi Valenti Gonzaga (1776). Grand-uncle of Cardinal Cesare Guerrieri Gonzaga (1819).
Education. Collegio de' Nobili, Parma; University of Ferrara, Ferrara (doctorate in utroque iure, both canon and civil law, September 27, 1710). Spoke Greek, Latin and French. Received the diaconate, May 20, 1731.
Early life. Privy chamerlain of Pope Clement XI. Sub-datary of His Holiness. Ablegato to bring the red biretta to Cardinal Mihály Frigyes Althan in Vienna, 1719; stayed for two years in a special mission to obtain the restitution of the city of Comacchio to the papal states. Referendary of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature and of Grace, June 17, 1724. Archimandrite commendatario of S. Salvatore di Messina from 1724.
Priesthood. Ordained, June 3, 1731.
Episcopate. Elected titular archbishop of Nicea, June 18, 1731. Consecrated, July 22, 1731, Rome, by Cardinal Álvaro Cienfuegos, S.J. Nuncio in Flanders, February 29, 1732. Nuncio in Spain, January 28, 1736.
Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of December 19, 1738. Legate in Bologna, September 30, 1739. Participated in the conclave of 1740, which elected Pope Benedict XIV. Secretary of State, August 20, 1740 until his death. Received the red hat and the title of S. Prisca, September 16, 1740. Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, February 25, 1747 until his death. Prefect of the S.C. of Propaganda Fide, March 27, 1747 until his death. Opted for the title of S. Callisto, May 15, 1747. Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals, January 20, 1749. Opted for the order of bishops and the suburbicarian see of Sabina, April 9, 1753. Prefect of the S.C. of the Sacred Consulta. Founder of the Pinacoteca Capitolina.
Death. August 28, 1756, Viterbo. Exposed and buried, temporarily, in the cathedral of Viterbo. On January 31, 1757, transferred to Rome and buried in the church of S. Bonaventura, of the Reformed Franciscans, in the tomb he had built for himself.
Bibliography. Morselli, Raffaella ; Vodret Adamo, Rossella ; Panini, Gian Paolo, 1691-1765. Ritratto di una collezione : Pannini e la Galleria del cardinale Silvio Valenti Gonzaga. Corp author : Galleria civica di Palazzo Te. Milano : Skira, 2005. Note : Catalog of an exhibition held at the Palazzo Te, Mantua, Mar. 6-May 15, 2005; Todeschi, Claudio. Elogio del cardinale Silvio Valenti Gonzaga. Dedicato alla Santitá di Nostro Signore Papa Pio VI, felicemente regnante. Rome : da Stampede dei Salomoni, 1776.
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