Upon the death of Pope Clement XII on 6 February 1740, Ottoboni was considered "papabile", but left the conclave with a fever. He died three days later. His heirs took advantage of the vacant papacy and removed everything portable from the Cancelleria. There is a full description of the cardinal's paintings, which locates them by room. It presents a clear picture of his extensive acquisitions over a period of fifty years. Listed are almost 530 paintings, some inherited from his great-uncle: the most important painters are mentioned above. Others were Benedetto Luti, Guido Reni, Giovanni Batista Gaulli, Tintoretto, Pusini, Giuseppe Chiari, Pietro da Cortona, Francesco Albani, Jacopo Bassano, Giovanni Baglione, Giacinto Brandi, Giuseppe Cesari, and Veronese. In Rome Ottoboni had acquired a taste for Northern European paintings like those by Caspar van Wittel and Gerrit van Honthorst. The Ottoboni possessions were disposed of in four sales, and as a result dispersed throughout the world. Final settlements of all accounts were made in 1752.