Francesco Maria Santinelli
Francesco Maria Santinelli (1627-1697) was an Italian marquis, count, Marinist poet, librettist and alchemist. In Senigallia, Christina, Queen of Sweden was welcomed in verse by the handsome Santinelli and his brother, Ludovico, an acrobat and dancer. Both seem to have been accomplished scoundrels.
Also recorded as Fra Marc'Antonio Crassellame Chinese
Francesco Maria Santinelli

Francesco Maria Santinelli · Public domain
- Name
- Francesco Maria Santinelli
- Born
- 20 April 1627
- Birthplace
- Pesaro, Papal States
- Died
- 22 November 1697
- Place of death
- Rome, Papal States
- Occupation
- * Poet
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Francesco Maria Santinelli (1627-1697) was an Italian marquis, count, Marinist poet, librettist and alchemist. In Senigallia, Christina, Queen of Sweden was welcomed in verse by the handsome Santinelli and his brother, Ludovico, an acrobat and dancer. Both seem to have been accomplished scoundrels.
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In this article
Biography
Biography
A year later Ludovico was witness and participant at the murder of Gian Rinaldo Monaldeschi at Fontainebleau. (Francesco Maria was on business in Rome during this infamous event.) After the scandal, she promised Pierre Chanut that Ludivico and his two helpers would have to leave her court. Santinelli was an ardent Hermetic poet, and, as Anna Maria Partini has shown, he is also one of the first known Italian poets to allude to the Rosicrucians in poetic verse.
![Ritratto del Conte Francesco Maria Santinelli della Mentola, disegno ovale a matita rossa, effettuato con la tecnica della sanguigna, [1] al di sotto del quale si trova la scritta: «Ritratto del conte Francesco Maria Santinelli della Metola, marchese di S. Sebastiano e cameriere maggiore della Regina Cristina di Svezia »](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Francesco_Maria_Santinelli.png/800px-Francesco_Maria_Santinelli.png)
Ritratto del Conte Francesco Maria Santinelli della Mentola, disegno ovale a matita rossa, effettuato con la tecnica della sanguigna, [1] al di sotto del quale si trova la scritta: «Ritratto del conte Francesco Maria Santinelli della Metola, marchese di S. Sebastiano e cameriere maggiore della Regina Cristina di Svezia »
Luigi Primo · G.J. Hoogewerff, Disegni di maestri fiamminghi e olandesi nel Gabinetto nazionale delle stampe di Roma, in "Boll. d'arte", IX, 11, pag. 322, anno 1915

Prima Canzone della Lux Obnubilata pubblicata sotto lo pseudonimo di "Fra Marcantonio Crassellame Chinese"
Francesco Maria Santinelli · [1]
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Francesco Maria Santinelli • Born — 20 April 1627 • Birthplace — Pesaro, Papal States • Died — 22 November 1697 • Place of death — Rome, Papal States • Occupation — * Poet • Librettist • Alchemist • Parents — Alessandro Santinelli and Margherita Santinelli (née Santacroce) • Children — 2
Works
Works
• Le Donne Gverriere Del Signore Conte Francesco Maria Santinelli. Dedicate All'Eminentissimo Principe Il Signore Cardinale. Rocci, 1647 • Canzoni del conte Francesco Maria Santinelli: Dedicate alla sacra real maestà di Cristina regina gloriosissima di Svetia, 1655 • Prose 1659 • In 1659, Santinelli wrote a poem, Carlo Quinto, ovvero Tunesi racquistata, dedicated to emperor Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire in Vienna. • In 1666, Santinelli wrote an alchemical poem with commentary, Lux obnubilata suapte natura refulgens, (Light shining forth by its own nature out of darkness) while using the pseudonym Fra Marc’Antonio Crasselame Chinese. • L'Armida, nemica, amante, e sposa: Dramma musicale (1669) • Delle poesie del marchese Francesco Maria Santinelli...: Prima parte. Consacrata alla sacra cesarea maestà della imperatrice Leonora (1669) • Delle ode del marchese Santinelli conte della Metola, e marchese di San Sebastiano, &c. cameriero delle chiaue d'oro di sua maestà cesarea: prima parte (1671) • L'Alessandro overo il trionfo di se stesso: Opera regia (1673) • Alchimista della Massa Trabaria • Il catechismo ermetico-massonico della “Stella fiammeggiante” • Poesie 1680 • Ode 1680
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1627
Francesco Maria Santinelli was born on 20 April 1627.
1697
Francesco Maria Santinelli died on 22 November 1697.
Primary material
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reference work
- “Francesco Maria Santinelli”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q7420427: Francesco Maria Santinelli
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Rome and the Counter-Reformation in Scandinavia: The age of Gustavus ... By Oskar Garstein https://books.google.com/books?id=SJxEw4nVDXQC&dq=Ludovico+Santinelli&pg=PA755
- 2.Quilliet, B. (1987) Christina van Zweden : een uitzonderlijke vorst, p. 226-227.
- 3.Christina of Sweden, the Porta Magica and the Italian poets of the Golden and Rosy Cross.
- 4.Anna Maria Partini. Francesco Maria Santinelli: Sonetti Alchimici e altri scriti inediti. Mediterranee. 1985.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 19 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
38,988 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Francesco LeonettiAuthor
- Francesco ManuntaAuthor
- Francesco Maria MolzaAuthor
- Francesco Maria PiaveAuthor
- Francesco Maria ZanottiAuthor
- Francesco PatriziAuthor
- Francesco PittiAuthor
- Francesco PonaAuthor
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