Born in
Florence, Corsini was the second of the two sons of Filippo Corsini and Lucrezia Rinuccini of the influential
Corsini family. He traveled widely through Europe between 1709–1713. Following this, he was appointed to serve as the ambassador of the
Grand Duchy of Tuscany to France in 1709, followed by serving that same office in England. He acted as
Minister Plenipotentiary to the negotiations which resulted in the
Treaty of the Hague in 1720. After the death of his patron,
Grand Duke Cosimo III de' Medici in 1723, Corsini moved to
Rome, where in 1726 he became the secretary of his uncle, Cardinal Lorenzo Corsini, serving him until his election as pope, under the name of
Pope Clement XII in 1730. His uncle then named him a
cardinal deacon in pectore at the
consistory of 14 August 1730. His creation as cardinal was made public in December of that same year, and he was given as his
titular church the Church of
S. Adriano - which was deconsecrated in 1946 and returned to its archaeological state as the Roman Senate House. After this, Corsini donated the library of the Agonal Palace, his uncle's former residence, to the
Holy See and opened his open library to the public. The Vatican Librarian
Giovanni Gaetano Bottari was his advisor. He opted to exchange his titular church for that of the Basilica of
Sant'Eustachio, at which he had an elaborate altar built to hold the remains of its
patron saint. His uncle called upon him to settle a dispute with the
Kingdom of Portugal which resulted in a
concordat with that state. In 1737 he was named the Protector of Ireland. In the artistic field, he promoted the decoration of palaces and churches, supporting various artists, especially Tuscan and Roman, but also talented foreigners. He was the protector and benefactor of the famous painter
Jacopo Zoboli; thanks to his intervention on behalf of the King of Naples,
Charles III of Spain, the painter was hosted in the
Palazzo Farnese in Rome from 1738 to 1760, where, in addition to an apartment, he was provided with a large studio for painting. The other painters protected or favored by Cardinal Neri Maria Corsini were:
Agostino Masucci,
Pier Leone Ghezzi,
Giovanni Paolo Panini and
Sebastiano Conca. Corsini took part in the
conclave of 1740 at which
Pope Benedict XIV was elected, by whom he was immediately named
Archpriest of the
Basilica of St. John Lateran (1740-1770). He also participated in the Conclave of 1758, which elected
Pope Clement XIII, and the Conclave of 1769 which elected
Pope Clement XIV. From 1753 until his death in 1770 he was Secretary of the
Roman Inquisition. Corsini died at his palace on 6 December 1770 at the age of eighty-five. He was buried in the Corsini Chapel in the
Basilica of St. John Lateran. ==References==