Pietro Aretino
Chigi, "indisputably the richest man in Rome", became also a rich patron of art and literature, the protector of Pietro Aretino among others, though his own education suffered many lacunae, notably his lack of Latin. His Venetian mistress Francesca Ordeaschi was the toast of Rome. His artistic protégés included almost all the main figures of the early 16th century: Perugino (from whom he commissioned the eponymous Chigi Altarpiece), Sebastiano del Piombo, Giovanni da Udine, Giulio Romano, Sodoma and Raphael.