ALESSANDRO ALGARDI PAINTED ROME RED!!!

Were Cardinal Paolo Emilio Zacchia and the sculptor Alessandro Algardi lovers? Whether or not he was a homosexual has never been confirmed. It is safe to assume the artist was bi-sexual.

Though he and his contemporary Gian Lorenzo Bernini, one of history's greatest sculptors, were flamboyant in their art, their personal lives were just the opposite. The brother of Annibale Carracci, Agostino, knew them well since both trained under him in Bologna.

"Gian Lorenzo was devoted to his wife and children while Alessandro would fuck anything that walked," said Carracci. "He was an animal, but as his many male and female friends would attest, he was a charming animal. He loved with an animal's ferocity, which made him irresistible.

"The more he drank and the later the night, the more indiscriminate his tastes became. He said that the women he liked best were the ones that liked him.

"There wasn't a nook or a cranny in Rome that he didn't know. In spite of his many vices, he amassed a great fortune. I remember him saying that he was at his best after a good screw."

Bernini spoke highly of his fiercest rival.

"I admired his work and I admired him," said Bernini. "He was a character. He could drink all night, but he would be the first one in his studio. There were plenty of commissions. As a result, there was no competition between us.

"I've told those implying that there was a jealously between Alessandro and me it would be akin to comparing a fine Cabernet with a fine Merlot. It is a question of taste."