Academic literature on the topic 'Galeazzo Alessi'

AbstractThis article examines drawings associated with the sixteenth-century Italian architect, Galeazzo Alessi, focusing primarily on two important collections: the 112 folios held in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan for the Milanese church of S. Maria presso S. Celso and the so-called Libro dei Misteri in Varallo's Biblioteca Civica, which contains 318 drawings for the pilgrimage site of the Sacro Monte there. By comparing Alessi's handwriting and drawing style across a variety of different letters and drawings present in archives in Genoa, Milan and Varallo, it is argued that all the drawings held in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana folder and in the Libro dei Misteri must be the work of Alessi himself. The article then moves on to a discussion of Alessi's use of drawings in his practice and the developing role of the architect in the sixteenth century , which, it is argued, was increasingly defined by the ability of the architect to invent and to draw rather than to build.

Gaetano Cattaneo (1771-1841), founder of the Numismatic Cabinet of Brera, inherited in 1815 from Giuseppe Bossi the historiographical materials that the secretary of the Brera Academy had collected with the aim to create a work dedicated to the history of Lombard art. Cattaneo also devoted himself to the project of a History of the arts and artists of the Lombard school, which never came to light, although its preparation is largely documented by his correspondence with Italian and foreign scholars, such as Cicognara, De Lazara and Passavant. A trace of Cattaneo’s work survives in an unpublished manuscript, kept in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana. In a schematic form, the document reconstructs the history of architecture in Lombardy from the Middle Ages to the sixteenth century, though it was supposed to be continued until the early nineteenth century. The information provided by Cattaneo about the origins of the different “epoche”, in which he divides the developments of Lombard architecture, as to the distinctive structural and stylistic characteristics or as to the masters and their main works offer a very interesting insight into the Milanese historiographical consciousness in the time between French domination and Restoration. The essay considers in particular the judgment on the different phases of the Middle Ages, with particular regard to the profile of Longobard architecture and the origins of the Milan Cathedral. In this case both local debates and the work of Seroux D’Agincourt are fundamental for Cattaneo. Another significant theme is the judgment on the architecture of the sixteenth century in Lombardy, which re-evaluates Leonardo, resizes Bramante and, above all, censors the protagonists of the Borromean age, from Galeazzo Alessi to Francesco Maria Richino. In this respect, the internal debate at the Brera school of architecture and the historiographical positions of Carlo Bianconi and Giuseppe Bossi played an important role, other significant latest sources such as Francesco Antonio Albuzzi and Venanzio De Pagave. The essay reports the complete edition of Cattaneo’s text according to the Ambrosian copy, which was probably made by his collaborator Carlo Zardetti.

The heritage of antiquity was the basis of Italian Renaissance architecture and inexhaustible source of inspiration for its masters. Among the facilities of par - ticular interest for architects and lovers of the epoch were the Roman thermae. Their parts and elements brought to life a variety of spatial solutions in architecture of tem - ples, villas and cathedrals. However the attempts to lit - erally build the thermae similar to Roman ones in time of Renessaince were rare to encounter. The most detailed description of Renessaince ther - mae was given by Giorgio Vasari in the life story “ On Le - one Leoni Aretino and other sculptors and architects” which involves the brief biography of Galeazzo Aless - si. It narrates, among others, about the thermae built by Galeazzo Alesssi on Grimaldi (later Sauli) villa in Bisagno nearby Genova (the building was not saved). According to Vasari, the thermae were octagonally planned pavilion with the round pool in its centre. The interior was worked in antique style. The article gives an insight into efforts to build the private thermae during Renaissance, prior to Villa Grimaldi’s pavilion, which testifies to customers’ looking to reconstruct all’antica lifestyle in private life particularly on the villa which, following an - cient men of latters was regarded as ‘temple of muses’.

Ce projet de thèse, développée en co-tuelle entre l’université de Malaga et l’EPHE, est centré les mutations des langages architecturaux telles qu’elles se profilent en Italie et en Espagne, particulièrement en Andalousie, au milieu du XVIème siècle. Vis-à-vis de l’Italie, l’assimilation des principes vitruviens par les architectes espagnols est tardive et s’appuie sur des traités. Dès les années trente fut publié celui de Diego de Sagredo, Las medidas del romano, centré sur les proportions du corps humain et les ordres architecturaux. En 1552, eut lieu traduction du Quatrième et Troisième Livre de Sebastiano Serlio par Francisco de Villalpando, suivi par deux traductions du traité de Vitruve, rédigées d’une part par Miguel de Urrea en 1568, mais éditée seulement en 1582, et d’autre part celle de Lazaro de Velasco, entre 1554 et 1564. C’est en Andalousie que l’on peut observer un processus d’assimilation des règles provenant de l’Antiquité dans l’œuvre d’Andres de Vandelvira comme la Sacrée Chapelle du Sauveur et la sacristie de Cathédrale de Jaén, l’un des témoignages les plus remarquables de la Renaissance espagnole. Dans le domaine profane, Pedro Machuca avait instauré déjà vers 1527 au palais de Charles V à Grenade des ordres vitruviens avec lesquels il s’était familiarisé pendant un séjour à Rome en 1517-1520. Le long chantier de ce monument révèle la manière dont les spécificités du vocabulaire changent dans les décennies suivantes, en passant d’un classicisme sincère vers un classicisme ornemental. Ce travail propose d’analyser de manière détaillée l’influence de ces traités sur l’évolution des langages architecturaux, en se concentrant sur un choix de monuments des deux pays représentatifs des mutations qui se profilent durant cette période. Ces analyses éclairciront la manière dont se conjuguent les modèles importés et les traditions locales dans de nouvelles synthèses. Une attention particulière sera prêtée aux savoir-faire techniques qui, dans le cas de l’Espagne, restent étroitement liée aux corporations et aux chantiers des cathédrales tardo-médiévales. En-dehors d’une confrontation des modes d’assimilation dans les deux pays, nous allons également suivre la mise au point d’un processus codification des langages dans les deux pays qui se met progressivement en place, selon des rythmes différents, sans toutefois unifier le répertoire formel. Nous allons procéder par une étude détaillée de monuments, particulièrement de Vandelvira et d’Alessi, fondée sur une analyse archéologique et archivistique. L’objectif est de s’éloigner des concepts généralement admis comme celui du maniérisme en faveur d’une analyse ciblée des témoignages. Après avoir détecté les modèles provenant des traités qui ont été adoptés, nous allons nous interroger sur les modalités d’assimilation, sur le plan formel et technique. Une étude du contexte historique dans lequel se place cette adoption révélera la signification du prototype, souvent lié à des légitimations politiques. Ce parallélisme entre l’Italie et l’Espagne révélera l’importance que revêtent les traditions autochtones lors de ces mutations progressive. D’autre part, notre réflexion cherchera aussi à mettre en évidence la persistance de principes classiques instaurés pendant cette période, dont certains garderont une actualité pendant plusieurs siècles. Ce travail assurera une meilleure compréhension du classicisme des années 1550-1560 en Espagne, appuyée sur une mise en parallèle avec l’Italie. Il permettra de dégager clairement le rôle joué par les traditions locales et la manière dont ces dernières forment de nouvelles synthèses avec des modèles provenant des traités
This thesis project, developed under the tutorship shared by Málaga University and L’EPHE, focuses on the transformations which the architectural languages experience in Italy and Spain, particularly in Andalusia, during the second half of the sixteenth century. In comparison to Italy, the Spanish architects’ assimilation of the Vitruvian principles occurred later in time and it was based on the treatises. During the thirties decade, Diego de Sagredo’s treatise The Roman’s Measures was published, which deals with the human body proportions and the architectural orders. The translation of Sebastiano Serlio’s Quarto and Terzo Libro, by Francisco de Villalpando, happened in 1552, and subsequently two more translations of the Vitruvian treatise were written by Miguel de Urrea in 1568, though published in 1582, and Lázaro de Velasco, between 1554 and 1568. In Andalusia we may observe the process of assimilation of Antiquity principles in Andres de Vandelvira’s works, as in the Sacred Chapel of the Saviour and in the Sacristy of Jaén’s Cathedral, one of the most remarkable testimonies of the Spanish Renaissance. In the profane architecture domain, Pedro Machuca, in the Palace of King Charles the Fifth, circa 1527, had already incorporated the Vitruvian principles that he had acquired during his voyage to Rome between 1517 and 1520. The the long building process of this monument shows the manner in which the specificities of the architectural vocabulary changed in the following decades, evolving from a more honest Classicism to a more ornamental one. This project proposes a detailed analysis of the influence of artistic treatises on the evolution of architectural languages, concentrating on a classification of the most representative works in this period in Jaén and Geneva. This study will elucidate the manner in which imported models merge with local traditions. We devote especial attention to the technical craftsmanship that, in the case of Spain, is narrowly linked to the stonemasons’ skill and the building system for the later medieval cathedrals. We proceed through a detailed study of the monuments, mainly works of Vandelvira and Alessi, based on architectural and archival research. The objective is distance our conclusions from generally assumed concepts, like Mannerism, in favour of an analysis determined by testimonies. Once we identity the models that emerge from the adapted treatises, we question ourselves about the way those models are assimilated at a formal and technical level. The study of the historical context in which this adaptation develops will reveal the significance of the models, often related to political legitimizations. This parallelism between Italy and Spain shows the importance that local traditions gain in the event of these progressive transformations. On the other hand, we will evince in our reflection the persistence of the classical principles established during this period, some of which would endure for centuries. This project ensures a better understanding of Classicism between 1540 and 1575 in Spain, supported by a parallelism with Italy. Thus we may clarify the role local traditions play and the way they produce a new synthesis with the models extracted from the artistic treatises