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Florence
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| © 2008 |
Making the most of your time in Florence |
Updated 13 January 2008 |
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Famous Florentine Architects
- Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) was, together with Leonardo, the typical Renaissance man, a true polymath: writer, architect, poet, linguist, philosopher and cryptographer. He was the illegitimate son of a Florentine nobleman who had been expelled from Florence and a Bolognese mother. In Florence his best-known work is completion of the façade of Santa Maria Novella, where he designed the upper part, and Palazzo Rucellai.
- Bartolomeo Ammannati (1511–1592), a typical reprensentative of the Mannerist style in Florence. He was involved in the design of the Fontain of Neptune, in Piazza della Signoria. The loveliest example of his work is perhaps the Ponte Santa Trinita, with its statues of the Four Seasons, on on each corner of the bridge.
- Bernardo Buontalenti (1536–1608), the architect and sculptor, was one of the great names of Florentine Mannerism. He worked extensively for the Grand Dukes. Examples of his work are the Palazzo di Bianca Capelli, as well as the Grotto at the Boboli Gardens, the Forte di Belvedere and the park of the Villa Medicea di Pratolino (the present- day Parco della Villa Demidoff).
- Filippo Brunelleschi (Filippo di Ser Brunellesco Lippi) (1377–1446) though trained as a goldsmith, was also a sculptor and architect and is best-known for this last activity. His masterpiece is the cupola of the Cathedral in Florence. Other projects of his include the Foundling Hospital, perhaps the first truly Renaissance-style building, and the Church of Santo Spirito.
- Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652–1737), the architect and scultor. His best work is in the Corsini Chapel, in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, In Florence. He also designed Galileo's tomb, in Santa Croce.
- Giotto (Giotto di Bondone) (ca 1267–1337), considered as the precursor of the Renaissance, painting in a much more relaxed and natural manner, was born just outside Florence. He left many magnificient frescoes, the principal ones being at the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, at the Basilica of St Francis, in Assisi, as well as at the Bardi Chapel in Santa Croce, in Florence. In 1334 he was appointed chief architect of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. The bell tower, which he planned and began but never completed, bears his name: Giotto’s Bell Tower.
- Giovanni Michelazzi (1879–1920), the Art Nouveau architect, left planned many famous buildings in Florence, the most famous being the Casa-Galleria Vichi, in Borgo Ognissanti.
- Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi (1396–1472) was the architect of Palazzo Medici, in Via Larga, now Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, in Via Cavour.
- Matteo Nigetti (ca 1560-70–1648) was an important Baroque architect. His masterpiece being the Cappella dei Prinici, in the Church of San Lorenzo.
- Niccolò di Raffaello di Niccolò dei Pericoli, (Il Tribolo) (1500–1550) was above all a landacape architect, working on the layout of some of Florence's most famous gardens. He was the first to work on the Boboli Gardens, but died before he made much progress. He also designed the garden in the Villa di Castello, also projecting the famous Grotto of the Animals, that houses statues by Giambologna. He considered as one of the creators of the Italian formal garden.
- Simone del Pollaiolo (1457–1508), nicknamed "il Cronaca", was the brother of the more famous painter, Antonio. He was the architect who finished Palazzo Strozzi.
- Zanobi del Rosso (1724–1798) is best remembered as the architect of the Kaffeehaus, in the Boboli Gardens.
- Gherardo Silvani (1579–1675) was one of the most important representatives of the Florentine Braroque, a much more sober interpretation of the style than the one prevalent in Rome. Some examples of his work are the Church of San Michele and Gaetano and the Palazzo Corsini al Prato.
- Pier Francesco Silvani (1620 – 1685), son of the above, was, together with his father, one of the principal exponents of the Baroque style in Florence. Hew worked on the Church of San Michele and Gaetano.
- Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574), painter and architect, born in Arezzo, was also a writer, leaving us some of the first biographies of contemporary artists, though he was often apt to mix fact and reality. As an architect he has left us the Uffizi and the Corridoio Vasariano, connecting Palazzo Vecchio, the Uffizzi and the Giardino dio Boboli, passing over Ponte Vecchio, while as a painter, he left many works in Palazzo Vecchio (some apparently covering earlier work by Leonardo) and on the cupola of the cathedral.
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