Antonio Da Sangallo The Younger

Place: Florence

Born: 1484

Death: 1546

Biography:

Antonio da Sangallo the Younger and the Church of Santa Maria Maddalena in the Farnese town of Gradoli. He also designed fortifications for Capo di Monte and Caprarola; the latter eventually became a country estate, the Villa Farnese.
In addition to the Farnese family, Sangallo had a number of patrons in Rome. He designed the Palazzo Baldassini near the Basilica of Sant'Agostino for Melchiore Baldassini; he designed a tomb for the Cardinal Jaume Serra i Cau in San Giacomo degli Spagnoli. Sangallo was also one of several artists hired to design the Villa Madama by Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, the future Clement VII; he was personally responsible for the final design of the building itself. Through these projects, Sangallo acquired the reputation of a master architect in the city of Rome; when Bramante died in 1514, Sangallo, along with Raphael and Giovanni Giocondo, was appointed to oversee the construction of St. Peter's Basilica by Pope Leo X. Sangallo was hired extensively by Leo X, not only as an architect, but also as an engineer tasked to restore and save a number of buildings.
Some time later, Sangallo was hired to build the foundation for the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini on the bank of the Tiber. Jacopo Sansovino's design called for the church to extend into the river, a difficult task given the unstable bank. Sangallo successfully completed the foundation, although at such great expense that there was no longer enough money to build the church. Thus the model that Sangallo designed for the church was not built, and construction to the designs of Giacomo della Porta was not begun until 1583.
Another project was the Basilica della Santa Casa in Loreto. The church had not been built particularly well, with cracking vaults and an unstable foundation. Sangallo redesigned the church and shored up the foundations; Vasari claims the church to be ″the best that Antonio ever executed″ despite the challenges innate in rebuilding a church as opposed to building a new one from the ground up. Sangallo was also hired to do similar work on the Vatican loggias, which had shown signs of weakness due to poor construction; his reinforcements stand today.
Sangallo was also a noted military architect, working on the fortifications of numerous cities such as Parma, Piacenza, Ancona and Orvieto. In Orvieto, he was also tasked by Pope Clement VII with building a well, called Saint Patrick's Well, noted as a marvel of engineering. Its double helix ramps around a central open shaft allowed oxen carrying water to go down via one of the ramps and up via the other without having to turn around; despite its 175-foot depth, the ramps are well lit through windows cut into the center section. Possibly an inspiration for the design was the Well of Joseph in the Cairo Citadel, also featuring a double spiral staircase.
His last project was the draining of the Rieti Valley, which had been commissioned to him by Pope Paul III; in the insalubrious marshy environment Sangallo contracted malaria and died before finishing his work.

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