Filippo II Colonna 9th Duke and Prince of Paliano, was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 nobleman of the prominent Colonna family

Colonna family

The Colonna family is an Italian noble family; it was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one Pope and many other Church and political leaders...

.

Filippo was the son of Don Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna

Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna

Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna was an Italian nobleman of the Colonna family. He was the 8th Duke and Prince of Paliano and hereditary Grand Constable of the Kingdom of Naples. He was also a Knight of the Golden Fleece.-Biography:...

, hereditary Grand Constable

Constable

A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...

 of the Kingdom of Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

, and Maria Mancini

Marie Mancini

Anna Maria Mancini was the third of the five Mancini sisters; nieces to Cardinal Mazarin who were brought to France to marry advantageously...

, a niece of Cardinal Mazarin. The Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 had ruled Naples since the early sixteenth century, and the Colonna were prominent servants of the Spanish crown in Italy. In 1687, while his father served as head of the interregnum council of Naples, Filippo was appointed commander of a company of lancer

Lancer

A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used in mounted warfare by the Assyrians as early as and subsequently by Greek, Persian, Gallic, Han-Chinese, nomadic and Roman horsemen...

s. In 1689 he succeeded his father as Grand Constable and Duke-Prince of Paliano.

As a patron of the arts, Filippo had the art gallery in the family's Roman palazzo

Palazzo Colonna

The Palazzo Colonna is a palatial block of buildings in central Rome, Italy, at the base of the Quirinal Hill, and adjacent to the church of Santi Apostoli...

 refurbished. He opened the gallery in 1703. The composer Bononcini

Giovanni Battista Bononcini

Giovanni Battista Bononcini was an Italian Baroque composer and cellist, one of a family of string players and composers. His father, Giovanni Maria Bononcini , was a violinist and a composer.-Biography:...

 wrote six serenatas, an oratorio and five operas while in his service (1692–1697). Filippo was a member of the Academy of Arcadia

Academy of Arcadia

The Academy of Arcadia or Academy of Arcadians was an Italian literary academy founded in Rome in 1690.-History:...

, which had been established in Rome in 1690.

Among his other titles, Filippo was Prince of Castiglione

Castiglione

-Places:Towns in Italy, many of which were simply called Castiglione prior to the unification of Italy in the 19th century:* Castiglion Fibocchi, in the province of Arezzo* Castiglion Fiorentino, in the province of Arezzo...

, and Duke of Marino

Marino

Marino, Mariño or Maryino may refer to:In places:* Marino, Lazio, a town in the province of Rome, Italy* Marino, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide* Marino, County Down in Northern Ireland...

, Miraglia and Tagliacozzo

Tagliacozzo

-History:Near the modern city was fought the Battle of Tagliacozzo between Conradin of Hohenstaufen and Charles I of Anjou.-Main sights:*The Palazzo Ducale , built by Roberto Orsini....

. He was made a knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece

Order of the Golden Fleece

The Order of the Golden Fleece is an order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It evolved as one of the most prestigious orders in Europe...

 by Spanish king Carlos II

Charles II of Spain

Charles II was the last Habsburg King of Spain and the ruler of large parts of Italy, the Spanish territories in the Southern Low Countries, and Spain's overseas Empire, stretching from the Americas to the Spanish East Indies...

 in 1679. In 1710 he became the first Colonna to be appointed hereditary Prince Assistant to the Papal Throne

Prince Assistants to the Papal Throne

The Princes Assistant to the Pontifical Throne are hereditary offices of the Roman Curia. They date from the early sixteenth century, and survived the reform of the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household in 1968...

.

Don Filippo married the Spanish aristocrat Lorenza de La Cerda

House de la Cerda

House de la Cerda is a noble line of the Crown of Castile descending from the Infante Ferdinand de la Cerda, eldest son of King Alfonso X. It was one of four noble lineages that arose directly from the Castilian royal family during the thirteenth century and is the origin of the Dukes of...

 in Madrid in 1681, but she died without issue in 1697. Later that year in Rome he wed his second wife, the Italian aristocrat Olimpia Pamphilj

Pamphili

The Pamphili are one of the papal families deeply entrenched in Roman Catholic Church, Roman and Italian politics of the 16th and 17th centuries ....

 (1672-1731), by whom he had several children.

The Prince suffered from painful bladder stones and diseased kidneys prior to his death in 1714. His son Fabrizio II Colonna succeeded him in his hereditary titles. Fabrizio also commissioned a tomb for his father in the church of Sant’ Andrea in the family seat of Paliano

Paliano

Paliano is a town and comune in the province of Frosinone, in the Lazio region of central Italy.- History :Paliano was the seat of a branch of the powerful Colonna family whose head was Lord, then Duke, then Prince of Paliano. Their fortress dominates the town...

, which was executed by the sculptor Bernardino Ludovisi

Bernardino Ludovisi

Bernardino Ludovisi , also called Bernardo, was an Italian sculptor.- Life and work :Little is known of his life. The Ludovisi were an ancient Italian family, originally from Bologna. Bernardino seems to have spent most, if not all, of his career in Rome...

and installed in 1745.