Misplaced Pages

#962037

58-562: Rossellino was born into a family of farmers and quarry owners in the mountain village of Settignano , Italy, overlooking the Arno Valley and the city of Florence . His uncle, Jacopo di Domenico di Luca del Borra Gamberelli may have given him his first lessons in stonemasonry. By 1420, Bernardo was certainly down in Florence and apprenticed to one of that city's better-known sculptors, perhaps Nanni di Bartolo , called "il Rosso (the redhead)". Such

116-597: A date after 1455. There is, however, nothing in its design that would preclude the earlier dating. In fact the Bruni Tomb seems a logical continuation of the classicizing manner which Bernardo recently had displayed in his design for the Concistoro door frame in Siena. Accordingly, the Bruni Tomb might best be dated to the years 1446–48. Bernardo Rossellino's Bruni Tomb consisted of a shallow wall niche framed by pilasters and topped by

174-486: A deft, if somewhat awkward, combination aimed at achieving the Renaissance goal of unified harmony. He also clearly displayed, in this initial effort at both sculpture and architecture, a genius for the sort of creative eclecticism that became a major feature of the "Rossellino manner". Bernardo Rossellino was back in Florence in 1436 to establish his own workshop and to join a crew of stonemasons already at work constructing

232-422: A garden front of three tiers of loggias from which a splendid panorama might be viewed. At Pienza Cathedral he affixed a classicizing exterior to a Teutonic " hall church " within the cathedral, the elegant Altar of St. Andrew and the ornate baptismal font in the lower church serve as reminders of the continuing sculptural output Bernardo's Florentine workshop. The real significance of Pienza, however, lies not in

290-412: A recognizable view of Siena and its countryside. In the allegorical representation of Good Government, the prosperous townspeople are trading and dancing in the streets. Beyond the city walls is a lush countryside in which crops are harvested. In the allegory of Bad Government , crime is rampant and diseased citizens roam a crumbling city; the countryside suffers from drought. Many of the frescoes in

348-427: A relationship might explain the nickname of "Rossellino (the little redhead) given to Bernardo and applied to his brothers, Antonio, Domenico, and Giovanni. Curiously, there is no record of Bernardo's entry into Florence's Guild of Stone and Woodworkers, although matriculation information exists for his brothers. More than from any single master, Bernardo learned from the experimental atmosphere that suffused Florence in

406-478: A semi-circular arch. The effect suggests a triumphal arch leading to both the immortal fame desired by the humanist scholar and spiritual deliverance sought by the pious Christian. Bruni's sarcophagus is placed within the niche and it, in turn, supports a brocade-draped bier upon which rests Bernardo's portrait effigy of the statesman. A tondo containing the Madonna and Child flanked by half-length angels appears within

464-570: A systematic grid. Documents indicate that Bernardo assumed a more decisive role at the suburban monastery of Santa Maria alle Campora whose cloister (1436) challenges that of Michelozzo at San Marco as the first such structure to have been erected in accordance with a Renaissance aesthetic. In 1444, he received a commission to sculpt two altar figures for the oratory of the Annunciation in the church of St. Stephen in Empoli. In these two representations of

522-606: A throne; the Judge reflects the tradition in the Christian Last Judgment to have God or Christ judging the saved on the left and the damned on the right. While classified as medieval or proto (pre)-renaissance art, these paintings show a transition from earlier religious art. Flanking the Allegory are two other paintings on perpendicular walls: Effects of Good Government and Effects of Bad Government . Both these frescoes depict

580-461: A unifying front of stonework to its public face along the Via Vigna Nuova. It is this facade, divided into bays by three tiers of classically inspired pilasters rising above a base of mock stonework opus quadratum and topped by an abbreviated entablature, that sets this building apart from all other Florentine townhouses. While there is evidence pointing to Bernardo's involvement in constructing

638-622: A villa about 1/4 of a mile from the entrance to the Villa Gamberaia. We were told that the Gamberaia had been headquarters for the Nazi command in Florence, and that the owner of our villa had been a collaborator with the Germans and thus was a persona non grata in the village. In 1955--10 years after the end of WWII--it was still possible to find large fragments of burned maps lying in the olive groves below

SECTION 10

#1732859405963

696-584: Is a frazione on a hillside northeast of Florence , Italy. The little borgo of Settignano carries a familiar name for having produced three sculptors of the Florentine Renaissance , Desiderio da Settignano and the Gamberini brothers, better known as Bernardo Rossellino and Antonio Rossellino . The young Michelangelo lived with a sculptor and his wife in Settignano—;in a farmhouse that

754-525: Is damaged by Lorenzetti's circular map of the world. Siena was decimated by the Black Death in 1348; approximately half of its population died in the plague. The republic's economy was destroyed and the state quickly declined from its position of prominence in Italy. The Franciscan religious order rose to power in the city. The stagnation over the following centuries meant that while Siena did not develop during

812-399: Is now the "Villa Michelangelo"— where his father owned a marble quarry. In 1511 another sculptor was born there, Bartolomeo Ammannati . The marble quarries of Settignano produced this series of sculptors. Roman remains are to be found in the borgo which some have claimed was named after Settimio or Septimius Severus —in whose honor a statue was erected in the oldest square in

870-425: Is titled in its place, so there is no doubt about what each figure represents. The meaning of this fresco is clear: good government will make the people prosper. The allegory carries a strong social message of the value of the stable republican government of Siena. It combines elements of secular life with references to the importance of religion: Justice resembles Mary, Queen of Heaven, the patron saint of Siena, on

928-523: Is traditionally attributed to Simone Martini , although there is debate on the subject. The wall has circular markings left by the circular wall-mounted (now lost) map of the world by Ambrogio Lorenzetti . Hidden underneath this fresco is the New Fresco, plastered over and partly painted over. This fresco depicts two men standing alongside a town on a hill. The fresco is in poor condition from being painted over and its origin and intent remain unknown. It, also,

986-509: The Fraternita di Santa Maria della Misericordia to complete the facade of the Misericordia's headquarters. His first job presented a considerable challenge. The lower storey of this palace had been completed a half century earlier in the, then, popular Gothic style. Thus the problem confronting Bernardo was similar to that which Alberti encountered a quarter century later when asked to complete

1044-647: The Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower in the Edgbaston campus of the University of Birmingham , which was completed in 1908. The upper-story windows of the Palazzo are heavily ornamented trefoil arches, typical of Sienese architecture. The pointed arches of all of the windows are a clear example of Gothic influence. Nearly every major room in the palace contains frescoes. These were unusual for

1102-566: The 1420s. He seems to have been captivated by the "new wave" approaches being put into practice by Brunelleschi , Donatello , Ghiberti , and Masaccio . Perhaps more faithfully than their other followers, Bernardo Rossellino embraced and held true to the classical revival in both sculpture and architecture. Celebrated for his sculpture (the Leonardo Bruni Tomb , Empoli Annunciation group), he achieved particular distinction through his expanding role as an architect, achieving lasting fame for

1160-575: The 1440s. One, undertaken in the Palazzo Pubblico of Siena called upon him to design a grand entry way into the Sala del Concistoro. This richly decorated and gracefully classical doorframe is arguably the finest example of the type done in the first half of the fifteenth century and it is certainly one of the most sumptuously elegant of the entire Renaissance. Another project was the triumphal arch wall tomb erected in Florence's church of Santa Croce for

1218-509: The 16th century, destroyed in 1944— though habitation here long preceded the Roman emperor. The name may be a corruption from the term Fundus Septimianus . Settignano was a secure resort for estivation for members of the Guelf faction of Florence. Giovanni Boccaccio and Niccolò Tommaseo both appreciated its freshness, among the vineyards and olive groves that are the preferred setting for even

SECTION 20

#1732859405963

1276-507: The Aranci Cloister of the Badia. Payment records, supported by stylistic evidence, indicate that his principal contributions (1436–38) to this project included a handsome stone doorframe and an unusual cross window, both of which are identifiable today. It also is possible that he proposed the addition of the pilaster strips which divide the surfaces of the loggias of the two-storey courtyard into

1334-505: The Bruni tomb apart and established it as the "standard" upon which so many subsequent later Renaissance tombs were based (including that for Carlo Marsuppini executed a few years later for Santa Croce by Bernardo's probable pupil, Desiderio da Settignano ) was its sense of unity. By any estimation, these two works (the Siena portal and the Bruni Tomb) stand out as highpoints in the evolution of

1392-726: The Early Renaissance were forced to deal with townplanning on a theoretical basis, Bernardo was given the rare opportunity to actually put his ideas into practice. The result was one of the most pleasing and harmonious cityscapes in the history of urban design. Final projects included designs for the Piccolomini-Todeschini Palace in Siena , a bell tower for the church of San Pietro in Perugia (modeled after that in Pienza), and possibly for

1450-618: The Florentine church of San Miniato al Monte which, in its multiplicity of artistic elements and multi-media impact, seems to predict the Baroque (i.e., Bernini 's Cornaro Chapel ). His involvement with the Tomb of Orlando de' Medici in Santissima Annunziata was more personal but its conception is more architectural than sculptural. Among those Florentine building projects with which Bernardo

1508-456: The Gamberaia. We visited the famous gardens once; most of the trees and shrubs were dead, and the statuary broken". Settignano houses the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta with its artworks. 43°47′N 11°19′E  /  43.783°N 11.317°E  / 43.783; 11.317 Palazzo Pubblico The Palazzo Pubblico ( town hall ) is a palace in Siena , Tuscany , central Italy . Construction began in 1297 to serve as

1566-534: The Palace, including these, are badly damaged potentially due to salt once stored in the basement of the building. It is theoretically possible that the salts wicked moisture down from the walls, causing the plaster to dry excessively and the frescoes to flake off. Other frescoes include that of Guidoriccio da Fogliano at the siege of Montemassi , located in the Great Council Hall ( Sala del Mappamondo ). The fresco

1624-460: The Piccolomini Palace built alongside the thermal pool at Bagno di Vignoni. Bernardo died in Florence on 23 September 1464. His pupils/assistants included his younger brother Antonio, Desiderio da Settignano , Matteo Civitale , Buggiano , Mino da Fiesole . The workshop continued under the leadership of Antonio but accepted only commissions for sculpture. Settignano Settignano

1682-555: The Renaissance style. Even before his trip to Rome in the 1450s and his contact with Alberti , Bernardo demonstrated a thorough appreciation for the nature of the antique revival that was so fundamental to the Renaissance movement. His understanding of the essential elements of antiquity is also apparent in the finest architectural achievement of Bernardo's early years, the Spinelli Cloister at Santa Croce in Florence (1448–51). No documents exist to connect Bernardo with this project but

1740-522: The Rucellai facade, the name of Alberti has most usually been connected with its design. In any case, Bernardo Rossellino's artistic prominence was recognized when he was appointed capomaestro (chief architect) of the Florence Cathedral in 1461 (by that time, largely an honorific title). Despite his previous accomplishments, the true measure of Bernardo Rossellino's architectural place in history lies in

1798-609: The Spinelli Cloister (doorframes, capitals and corbels, entry portal) are stylistic signatures of the "Rossellino manner" and are unique to his workshop. Bernardo's style is also to be found in the tabernacle he executed (1449–51) for the Florentine church of Santa Maria Nuova (since relocated to Sant'Egidio ). In 1451, his shop received an important sculptural commission for a tomb for the Beata Villana in Santa Maria Novella (now dismembered and in fragmentary state). Its execution

Bernardo Rossellino - Misplaced Pages Continue

1856-618: The Villa Porziuncola. Near Settignano are the Villa Gamberaia , a 14th-century villa with an 18th-century terraced garden, and secluded Villa I Tatti , the villa of Bernard Berenson , now a center of Italian Renaissance studies run by Harvard University . In 2019 Carolyn McPherson said: "My family lived in Settignano in 1955 and 1956; I was 10. Many houses in the village were badly damaged, apparently by explosives. We were able to rent

1914-643: The Virgin Annunciate and of the Archangel Gabriel, we find a further development of the artist's decoratively graceful and classical style as well as a recognition of the sculptural styles of Donatello, Ghiberti, and Michelozzo. Although the stock in trade of the Rossellino shop would have been the supply of building material and simple tasks of stonemasonry, several projects, combining sculptural and architectural features, were of particular significance during

1972-637: The ancient city and its environs. Giorgio Vasari 's mid-sixteenth century biography of the artist greatly exaggerated Bernardo's actual role in most of the projects. Although his retainer exceeded that of all other stonemasons in the papal employ, he is documented at only two projects: as furnishing hoists for the large round tower at the Vatican Palace and in doing restoration work at the early Christian church of San Stefano Rotondo (window and door frames, vaulting, stone paving). His primary task in Rome, apparently,

2030-480: The arch above the bier, while two large angelic putti , bearing Bruni's coat-of-arms ascend the archivolt . Bernardo drew upon a variety of sources in arriving at his design for the tomb, including 14th-century wall tombs in Rome done by members of the so-called Cosmati school, as well as the recently executed Tomb of Baldassare Coscia (Antipope John XXIII) by Donatello and the Brancacci tomb by Michelozzo. What sets

2088-416: The construction or renovation of palaces and townhouses for several cardinals and members of the papal court, and a quantity of houses for the citizens of this transformed community. For the Piccolomini Palace, a massive three-storey block set about a spacious courtyard, he designed three articulated facades resembling the front of the Rucellai palace (which the Piccolomini Palace may well predate) and opened up

2146-537: The entry portal is clearly a simplified version of his Siena door frame and his authorship of the Spinelli Cloister may be accepted. The rhythmic beauty of the cloister, perhaps the loveliest of the early Renaissance, is due to a carefully formulated series of mathematical ratios and Euclidean relationships that echo those employed by Brunelleschi at the Hospital of the Innocents . The crisply executed architectural sculptures of

2204-400: The extraordinary project he undertook for Pope Pius II at Pienza between 1459 and 1464. There, in a sweeping transformation of a rural community, Bernardo erected an imposing family palace, a grand cathedral, town hall, bishop's palace and canons' house, all set compactly about a trapezoidal square and bringing together the architectural tastes of Florence, Siena, and Rome. He also supervised

2262-452: The facade of Santa Maria Novella . Bernardo's solution for the unfinished second storey was a three bay design which used a typically Gothic mixed-element frame in the central bay flanked by classical paired pilasters and aediculae , the features of which were taken from the most progressive sources available. Set within the Gothic frame of this second storey is a relief of the Madonna of Mercy,

2320-498: The frescoes. The most famous of the secular frescoes are three panels in the series on government in the Hall of the Nine (also known as Sala della Pace) by Ambrogio Lorenzetti . These frescoes are collectively known as The Allegory of Good and Bad Government . The Allegory of Good Government depicts the personification of Justice as a woman. She gestures to the scales of balance, held by

2378-577: The historian and humanist scholar Leonardo Bruni (died 1444), who had served as the State Chancellor of Florence. No documentation survives for the tomb, but two early 16th-century sources credit Bernardo Rossellino for the project and his authorship generally has been accepted. There, however, has been debate concerning the dating of the tomb, with some supporting a date in the late 1440s and others, believing that Bernardo could not have conceived its classical character prior to his stay in Rome, preferring

Bernardo Rossellino - Misplaced Pages Continue

2436-442: The largest figure in the image, a judge located in the center right. The judge is surrounded by additional personifications including Peace, who is represented as a fashionable, white-clad contemporary female figure with elaborate blonde hair . Concordia joins the cords of peace and welfare that she receives from Justice and gives it to the citizens, who pull this rope together to bind the wrist of Sovereignty. Each personified virtue

2494-518: The merits of the individual units, but in Bernardo Rossellino's ability to see the various projects as an urban totality. The trapezoidal, or Quattrocento form would later influence architect Michelangelo in his grand renovation of the piazza del campidoglio in Rome. The inspiration for Pienza may have come from the Albertian atmosphere of his earlier experience in Rome. While other architects of

2552-532: The most formal Italian gardens. Mark Twain and his wife stayed at the Villa Viviani in Settignano from September 1892 to June 1893. While there, Twain wrote 1,800 pages including a first draft of Pudd'nhead Wilson . He said the villa "afford[ed] the most charming view to be found on this planet". In 1898, Gabriele d'Annunzio purchased the trecento Villa della Capponcina on the outskirts of Settignano, in order to be nearer to his lover Eleonora Duse , at

2610-512: The outwards curve (convex) of the Piazza del Campo , Siena's central square , of which the Palace is the focal point. At the top of this facade is a huge round flat bronze plate [Christogram], the symbol used by Saint Bernardino. It was placed there by the government in 1425 in gratitude to the great preacher, a native Sienese, for his sermons aimed at quelling social and political factionalism and unrest. The campanile or bell tower, Torre del Mangia ,

2668-402: The personification of Wisdom floating over her throne. On the viewer's left, a convicted criminal is beheaded; on the right, figures receive the rewards of justice. At Justice's feet, the personification of Virtue, also, unusually for the time, portrayed as a female figure, passes virtue among 24 faithfully rendered and recognizable images of prominent male citizens of Siena. The men face towards

2726-550: The protectress of Arezzo, spreading her mantle out over the community's citizenry. She is flanked by the kneeling saints Laurentius and Persentinus. Bernardo received his final payment for the project in June 1435, specifically for the two free standing figures of Saints Gregory and Donatus which occupy the aediculae on either side of the Misericordia relief. Rossellino's solution for the Arezzo palace facade fused Gothic and Renaissance elements in

2784-521: The seat of the Republic of Siena 's government, which consisted of the Podestà and Council of Nine, the elected officials who performed executive functions (and judicial ones in secular matters). The palace is of medieval and Gothic architecture, and the interior is lined with frescoes--most importantly, the collection known as The Allegory of Good and Bad Government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti . The outside of

2842-497: The street (the Via della Vigna nuova) to a new courtyard and loggia for which he also was responsible. Evidence of Bernardo's presence may found in one of the corbels in this corridor which is identical to those used in the Spinelli Cloister and was a probable "leftover" from that project. Bernardo's career took an important turn when he traveled to Rome in 1451 to join the vast architectural team then engaged by Pope Nicholas V to revitalize

2900-413: The structure is an example of Italian medieval architecture with Gothic influences. The lower story is stone while the upper crenellated stories are made of brick. At a time when brick as a finished face was rare, Siena preferred it to stone because it was cheaper; this allowed architects to use more expensive detailing elsewhere. The facade of the palace is curved slightly inwards (concave) to reflect

2958-424: The talented hands of Antonio Rossellino , together with his other brothers, Domenico and Giovanni, all of whom concentrated upon the sculptural side of the stonemasonry business. Once back in Florence, Bernardo assumed his oversight of the workshop's production but increasingly turned his attention to more lucrative architectural matters. Thus, those sculptural projects often associated with the Rossellino name such as

SECTION 50

#1732859405963

3016-493: The time in that they were commissioned by the governing body of the city, rather than by the Church or by a religious fraternity. They are also unusual in that many of them depict secular subjects instead of the religious subjects which are overwhelmingly typical of Italian art of this era. Although these frescoes are secular in origin and overall theme, the ideas are expressed within a religious framework: scriptural verses are quoted on

3074-727: The tombs for Giovanni Chelini in San Domenico, San Miniato al Tedesco, for the Beato Lorenzo da Ripafrata and for Filippo Lazzari, both in San Domenico, Pistoia , for Geminiano Inghirami in San Francesco, Prato , and for the Beato Marcolino, San Giacomo, Forlì , likely involved only his overall approval and not his chisel. This probably also was the case with the mortuary chapel and tomb monument for Cardinal James of Portugal constructed at

3132-466: The work done or planned in Rome for Pope Nicholas V and, especially for the rebuilding of the town of Pienza for Pope Pius II . Part of his artistic importance also lay in his entrepreneurial skills which enabled him to assemble a large and highly successful workshop that dominated the stoneworking field in Florence during the 1450s and 1460s. In 1433, Bernardo is recorded as being in Arezzo , employed by

3190-530: Was built between 1325 and 1344; its crown was designed by the painter Lippo Memmi . The tower was designed to be taller than the tower in neighboring rival Florence ; at the time it was the tallest structure in Italy. It was fitted with a mechanical clock during the mid-14th century. Its design has been used as the basis for several other campaniles, including the Dock Tower in Grimsby , England, constructed in 1852 and

3248-541: Was involved in this last phase of his career was the amalgamation of several buildings into a palace for his former patron at the Santa Croce monastery, Tomasso Spinelli. The unifying facade of the Spinelli Palace utilized the cost-saving technique of faux stonework incised into plaster but the entry corridor is remarkable for its use of illusionary perspective. Bernardo also returned to Giovanni Rucellai's palace to apply

3306-434: Was left in the hands of Bernardo's brother, Antonio and other members of the workshop (including Desiderio da Settignano ) due to Bernardo's departure for Rome. During these same years, Bernardo was employed by the wealthy banker Giovanni Rucellai to remodel several old dwellings into a new family palace. This initial work for Rucellai involved internal systemization, the construction of a cross-vaulted passage leading from

3364-569: Was to draw up plans, likely under the supervision of Alberti, for rebuilding the Vatican and the Basilica of St. Peter's , projects which, due to the death of the pope in 1455, were never carried out. In spite of this, Bernardo's long sojourn in Rome had significant meaning for him, solidifying his commitment to reviving the spirit of antiquity in his works and exposing him to the concepts of Alberti. During Bernardo's long absence his workshop had been left in

#962037