Giuliano da Sangallo
Giuliano da Sangallo (c. 1445 – 1516) was an Italian sculptor, architect and
Early life
Giuliano da Sangallo (né Giuliano Giamberti) was born c. 1445 in Florence. His father, Francesco Giamberti, was a woodworker and an architect who worked closely with
Major works
Medici Villa at Poggio a Caiano
The victory at Calabria gave Lorenzo de' Medici confidence to keep working with Giuliano. Consequently, Lorenzo commissioned him to design a villa in Poggio a Caiano after holding a competition to determine the best design.[3] Construction on the villa began in 1485 and remained largely unfinished throughout Lorenzo's life. His son, Giovanni, oversaw its completion after being elected pope as Pope Leo X.[4] Giuliano's design featured classical design elements including Ionic columns and an ancient temple style façade.[1] The Medici Villa in Poggia a Caiano is one of the oldest examples of Renaissance-style country villas and served as an inspiration for many future architects of the era.[5]
Santa Maria delle Carceri
In 1484, a child from the town of Prato claimed to have seen a painting of the
Reggia in Naples
In 1488, after the initial plans were set for the villa in Poggia a Caiano, Lorenzo de' Medici commissioned Giuliano to build a castle for
While Sangallo was designing the palace for the King of Naples, the King's son, the Duke of Calabria, wrote to Lorenzo de' Medici asking for a palace design as well. In response to this letter, Lorenzo sent another Giuliano, Giuliano da Maiano, to design his palace.[6] Giorgio Vasari, the Renaissance author who wrote biographies of many Renaissance artists in Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, falsely attributes the Duke of Calabria's palace to Giuliano da Sangallo. Also according to Vasari, after working in Naples, the Bishop of Ostia, later known as Pope Julius II, hired Giuliano to re-fortify his castle in Ostia.[8] It is true that Sangallo worked on this project, but he did it along with another architect, Baccio Pontelli. Additionally, according to inscriptions in the castle, the renovation was completed in 1484, before Giuliano started working for the King of Naples.[9]
Church of San Gallo
After Giuliano returned from Naples, Lorenzo commissioned him once again to build a church for a group of
Palazzo Gondi
Around the same time that Giuliano da Sangallo was commissioned to build the Church of San Gallo, he was also commissioned by a wealthy Florentine merchant, Giuliano Gondi, of the old, Florentine banking Gondi family.[11] After hearing of Sangallo's work for the Medici family and the King of Naples, Gondi requested that he build a new Palazzo Gondi in Florence. For this project, Giuliano relied on the design of the other large palaces in the city such as the Palazzo Medici Riccardi and Palazzo Strozzi.[11] Like both of those palaces, the Palazzo Gondi featured the use of finer levels of stone on each ascending level of the façade. Unfortunately, like many of his commissions, this palace was not finished within Giuliano's lifetime or within the lifetime of his patron, Giuliano Gondi. The palace continued to be renovated and expanded on for almost two more centuries. Because of these renovations, historians have been unable to definitively identify Sangallo's original plan.[11]
Palazzo della Rovere
Shortly after Giuliano completed his work on Santa Maria delle Carceri, his patron and longtime friend Lorenzo died in 1492.
The palace design was greatly influenced by the Bishop's other estates such as the one in Vincoli and the fortress in Ostia that Sangallo helped renovate.[12] Giuliano della Rovere was fueled by a rivalry with his cousin, Rafaelle della Rovere, to make his palace in Savona the biggest that the city had seen. Della Rovere achieved this by purchasing the properties surrounding the family estate. Like Alberti's design for the Palazzo Rucellai in Florence, Sangallo reconciled the fact that the palazzo was made up of multiple buildings by creating one large, towering façade.[12] Also like the Palazzo Rucellai, Sangallo used the concept of reducing the size of each ascending level of the façade in order to make it appear more imposing from street level.
Late career and death
Giuliano's final work was to assist in the design and construction of the new St. Peter's Basilica. Sangallo was called upon to design the new church. Pope Julius II, however, appointed Donato Bramante instead and construction began in 1506.[2] Giuliano was called by Julius II to help Michelangelo remove mould from the Sistine Chapel ceiling after the younger artist had applied too wet a plaster.[13] After Giuliano's distinguished career and close working relationship with Julius II, Bramante's promotion left Giuliano devastated and he left Rome for Florence. After the death of Julius II and the subsequent election of Giovanni de' Medici to the papacy in 1513 as Pope Leo X, along with the death of Bramante in 1514, Giuliano was recalled to Rome from Florence to help rebuild the basilica.[2]: 67 By this time however, Giuliano was over 70 years old and not well enough to travel back to Rome and oversee a project of such magnitude. Therefore, Pope Leo X selected another distinguished artist, Raphael, to assume control of the design of the new basilica.[2]
Giuliano died in Florence in 1516.
Legacy
Giuliano's legacy is unlike other architects of the era, because many of his largest works remain either unfinished or are no longer standing at all such as Santa Maria delle Carceri, Palazzo Gondi, and the Church of San Gallo. Instead, his legacy is largely based on more abstract concepts. Sangallo's legacy remains through his Sienese Sketchbook.[14] This sketchbook provides an intimate look into Sangallo's mind. It includes ideas he had for concepts ranging from new forms of artillery to cathedral domes to sculptures. Many of these designs were accompanied by measurements and technical details. Additionally, the sketchbook features drawings Sangallo did of already existing structures that he saw on his travels throughout Italy and Europe. Based on this, it appears that Sangallo was also interested in the study of medieval architecture as well as classical architecture.
In addition to the sketchbook, the name Sangallo came to be associated with high quality architecture, because of Giuliano's impressive career. After his reputation grew, other architects of the time adopted Sangallo as a name to try and associate themselves with Giuliano's skill and ability.
References
- ^ a b c d e f Murray, Peter (1963). The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance. London: B. T. Batsford.
- ^ ISBN 0300111584.
- ISBN 0131882473.
- ISBN 0824032276.
- ^ Chisholm 1911.
- ^ S2CID 146621587.
- ^ ISBN 0415267099.
- ^ a b c Vasari, Giorgio; DeAngelis, Adrienne. Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
- ISBN 1580970621.
- ^ JSTOR 880762.
- ^ JSTOR 27655331.
- ^ ISBN 9781931112604.
- ISBN 0-19-283410-X.
- ^ "Sangallo's Sienese Sketchbook". World Digital Library. 1490. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
Sources
- Silvia Guagliumi, Giuliano da San Gallo architettore, Tau Editrice, Giugno 2016.
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 148–149.
External links
- Leonardo da Vinci, Master Draftsman, exhibition catalog fully online as PDF from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Giuliano da Sangallo (see index)