CHIGI, FAUTO, afterwards Pope Alexander VII., was born at Siena in 1599. Having been early sent to Rome, he formed a friendship with the Marquis Pallavicini, who recommended him to Pope Urban VIII., and procured his appointment as inquisitor at Malta. He was next sent as vice-legat to Ferrara, and afterwards as nuncio into Germany, where, at the conference of Munster, he had abundant opportunity for displaying his genius for intrigue. Cardinal Mazarin cherished a secret resentment against Chigi, who was soon afterwards made cardinal and secretary of state by Innocent X.; but this resentment was wisely sacrificed to political views. Chigi, after his elevation, laid aside the mask of sanctity, and indulged openly in luxury and voluptuousness. There is a volume of his poems still extant; and the plan of the college Della Sapienza, which he finished and adorned with a fine library, sufficiently attests his fine taste in architecture.