Giuliano da Sangallo

Italian family of artists. Francesco Giamberti (1404-80) was a woodworker active in the artistic circle around the Medici family in Florence in the 15th century. He was also put in charge of the education of Giulio de' Medici, the future Pope Clement VII (reg 1523-34). From Francesco descended two generations of important artists, who took the name 'da Sangallo' from his property near the San Gallo gate in Florence. (1) Giuliano da Sangallo ran a woodworking shop with his brother (2) Antonio da Sangallo (i). Their sister Maddalena Giamberti was the mother of (3) Bastiano da Sangallo and of (5) Giovan Francesco da Sangallo. Another sister, Smeralda Giamberti, married Bartolomeo di Antonio di Meo Cordiani, a cooper, and was the mother of (4) Antonio da Sangallo (ii) and (7) Battista da Sangallo, who worked closely together on some projects. (6) Francesco da Sangallo was the son of Giuliano. Bastiano, Antonio (ii), Giovan Francesco, Francesco and Battista were all members of the group of artists labelled by Vasari the Setta Sangallesca, along with Antonio Labacco, Pietro di Giacomo Rosselli and others.

The following members have entries:

• Antonio da Sangallo (i) [Antonio di Francesco di Bartolo Giamberti]
• Bastiano [Aristotile] da Sangallo
• Francesco da Sangallo

See the Abbreviations for further details.

Florentine architect, military engineer, and sculptor, born Giuliano Giamberti, son of Francesco Giamberti (1404–80), and brother of Antonio da Sangallo the Elder. Influenced by the work of Brunelleschi, he continued to work in that master's early Renaissance style well into the period dominated by Bramante and Raphael. He was in Rome in 1465 working on fortifications where he made a series of studies of Antique remains (now in the Vatican Library and in Siena). He returned to Florence in the 1470s, and built the Villa Medici, Poggio a Caiano (c.1480–c.1497), one of the very first Renaissance villas designed with conscious emulation of Antiquity in mind, notably in its arcaded terrace-platform, Ionic pedimented porch like a temple-front embedded in the façade, symmetrical arrangement, and barrel-vaulted hall. He designed the Church of Santa Maria delle Carceri, Prato (1484–91), the first realized Renaissance church constructed on a Greek-cross plan with barrel-vaulted arms and domed drum on pendentives over the crossing, although the interior owed much to Brunelleschi: it influenced Antonio da Sangallo's designs for the Church of the Madonna di San Biagio, Montepulciano (1518–34). Also influenced by Brunelleschi was the atrium of Santa Maria Maddelena dei Pazzi (c.1491–5), and the octagonal sacristy with adjoining vestibule of Santo Spirito (1489–95—with Cronaca), both in Florence. He designed the Palazzo Gondi (1490–1501), the façade of which is an elaboration on the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, and constructed a model of the Palazzo Strozzi (1489–90), later realized by da Maiano and Cronaca: that palace was very likely partly da Sangallo's design. Also by him was the Palazzo Rovere (or Ateneo), Savona (c.1494), but his hopes of preferment when his patron, Cardinal Rovere, became Pope Julius II (1503–13), came to nothing, the plum job of St Peter's going to Bramante. Under Pope Leo X (1513–21), however, he shared the responsibility for organizing the building-works at St Peter's with Raphael and Fra Giocondo, and seems to have had an influence on Michelangelo's architectural development. He made several unrealized designs that demonstrate a sound knowledge of Antique Classical composition, including plans for a Papal palace for Leo X in the Piazza Navona, Rome (1513).

Bibliography

• Bardazzi & Castellani (1981)
• Belluzzi (1993)
• S. Borsi (1985)
• Heydenreich (1996)
• Huelsen (ed.) (1910)
• Lotz (1977)
• Marchini (1943)
• Morselli & Corti (1982)
• P.Murray (1969, 1986)
• Placzek (ed.) (1982)
• Turner (1996)
• Tönnesmann (1983)

The full bibliography for this book is available to download as a pdf file.
Download the bibliography for A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (PDF: 1.2MB)

Portrait by Piero di Cosimo, c. 1500-1520.

Giuliano da Sangallo (c. 1443 – 1516) was an Italian sculptor, architect and military engineer active during the Italian Renaissance.

He was born in Florence. His father Francesco Giamberti was a woodworker and architect, much employed by Cosimo de Medici, and his brother Antonio da Sangallo the Elder and nephew Antonio da Sangallo the Younger were architects. His son Francesco da Sangallo was a sculptor. Giuliano was the preferred architect of Lorenzo de' Medici, so a significant number of his commissions came from the Medici.

During the early part of his life Giuliano worked chiefly for Lorenzo de' Medici, known as 'the Magnificent', for whom he built a fine palace at Poggio a Caiano, begun in 1485, between Florence and Pistoia, and strengthened the fortifications of Florence, Castellana and other places. Lorenzo also employed him to build a monastery of Augustinian Friars outside the Florentine gate of San Gallo, which was destroyed during the siege of Florence in 1530.

It was from this building that Giuliano received the name of Sangallo, which was afterwards used by so many Italian architects. While still in the pay of Lorenzo, Giuliano visited Naples, and worked there for the king, who sent him back to Florence with presents of money, plate and antique sculpture, the last of which Giuliano presented to his patron Lorenzo. After Lorenzo's death in 1492, Giuliano visited Loreto, and built the dome of the Basilica of the Madonna, in spite of serious difficulties arising from its defective piers, which were already built. In order to gain strength by means of a strong cement, Giuliano built his dome with pozzolana brought from Rome. Soon after this, at the invitation of Pope Alexander VI, Giuliano went to Rome, and designed the fine panelled ceiling of Santa Maria Maggiore. He was also largely employed by Pope Julius II, both for fortification walls round the Castel Sant'Angelo, and also to build a palace adjoining the church of San Pietro in Vincoli, of which Julius had been titular cardinal. Giuliano was much disappointed that Bramante was preferred to himself as architect for the new Basilica of St. Peter, and this led to his returning to Florence, where he did much service as a military engineer and builder of fortresses during the war between Florence and Pisa. Soon after this Giuliano was recalled to Rome by Julius II, who had much need for his military talents both in Rome itself and also during his attack upon Bologna. For about eighteen months in 1514-1515 Giuliano acted as joint-architect to St. Peter's together with Raphael, but owing to age and ill-health he resigned this office about two years before his death.

Giuliano's work includes:

• Villa Medici at Poggio a Caiano, near Florence (1485), noteworthy for its pedimented portico is strongly influenced by Vitruvius and Alberti
• Santa Maria delle Carceri in Prato (1485)
• Tomb of Francesco Sassetti (1485-90) in Santa Trinita, Florence
• Palazzo della Rovere at Savona (1496)

References

• This article incorporates text from the article "Sangallo" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)