
His Tempietto (San Pietro in Montorio) marked the beginning of the High Renaissance in Rome (1502) when Pope Julius II appointed him to build a sanctuary over the spot where Peter was buried. Bramante was born under the name Donato d'Augnolo, Donato di Pascuccio d'Antonio, or Donato Pascuccio d'Antonio in Urbania near Urbino.
What is the Tempietto in Montorio?
In a small courtyard next to the church of San Pietro in Montorio stands one of the architectural masterpieces of the Renaissance. T he so-called Tempietto (small temple) by Donato Bramante (1444-1514) marks what was once believed to be the site of St Peter’s execution.
What did Bramante do in Rome?
In Rome, Bramante served as principal planner of Pope Julius II’s comprehensive project for rebuilding the city. St. Peter’s Basilica, of which he was the chief architect, was begun in 1506. Other major Roman works were the Tempietto at San Pietro in Montorio (1502) and the Belvedere court in the Vatican (begun c. 1505).
What makes Bramante’s Temple of Tempietto unique?
Similar to his use of circular proportions in the dome of the Tempietto and in the composition of the building itself to create a square, Bramante also takes from the classical creation of columns within the construction of his temple.
Who was Donato Bramante?
Other major Roman works were the Tempietto at San Pietro in Montorio (1502) and the Belvedere court in the Vatican (begun c. 1505). Donato Bramante was born of a family of well-to-do farmers. In his childhood, says the 16th-century biographer and artist Giorgio Vasari, “besides reading and writing, he practiced much at the abacus.”
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What was Bramante's main activity in the 1490s?
Bramante’s activities in the 1490s, before he left Milan finally for Rome, are sporadically documented. It has been conjectured that in the summer of 1492 he was in Florence studying the work of Brunelleschi, in view of the emphatic Brunelleschian character of the Sant’Ambrogio canonica. In 1493 he made a report on certain fortifications on the Swiss border for Ludovico.
What was the first architectural work by Bramante?
The first architectural work that can be definitely attributed to Bramante is a design: a print made in 1481 by a Milanese engraver, Bernardo Prevedari, from a Bramante drawing representing a ruined temple with human figures. About the same time, Bramante was working on the church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro, the first structure definitely attributed to him. Along with a certain adherenceto local taste, this church shows traces of the influence of Alberti, Mantegna, Brunelleschi, and the Urbino school. This last influence is particularly evident in its choir, which was painted in perspectiveto give an illusionof a much larger space. Perhaps from the same period (c.1480–85) is Bramante’s decoration of a room in Casa Panigarola in Milan (fragments in the Brera, Milan) that consists of architectural settings and the figures of men at arms rendered by means of illusionistic perspective. Similar experiments, perhaps also in the same years, seem to have been carried out by Bramante on the facades of buildings, such as Casa Fontana, later called Silvestri, in Milan.
What is the only written evidence of Bramante's ideas on architecture?
The only written evidence of Bramante’s ideas on architecture goes back to this time (1490) and consists of a report on the tiburio problem. Bramante examined various solutions (among them one of his own, a square plan), demonstrating a conception of architecture remarkably like that of Alberti.
What was Bramante's job?
Little is known of Bramante’s life and works before 1477. He probably served as an assistant to Piero della Francescain Urbino, which, under the nobleman Federico da Montefeltro (died 1482), had become a humanistcentre of considerable importance. In 1477 Bramante was working in Bergamo as a painter of illusionistic murals of architecture. He probably derived his training not only from the works of artists active in Urbino but also from those of other artists he may have observed in his travels, such as those of Leon Battista Alberti(in Rimini and Mantua), Andrea Mantegna(in Mantua and Padua), Ercole de’Roberti(in Ferrara), and Filippo Brunelleschi(in Florence).
Where did Bramante live?
By 1477 Bramante had left Urbino for unknown reasons and settled in the northern Italian province of Lombardy. He worked on frescoes for the facade of the Palazzo del Podestà (later altered) in Bergamo showing Classical figures of philosophers in a complex architectural setting.
Who was responsible for the reconstruction of the canonica?
Starting in 1492, Bramante was entrusted by Ludovico and Ascanio Sforza with the reconstruction of the canonica (rectory) of Sant’Ambrogio in Milan. The work was interrupted by the fall of Ludovico, and, though it was resumed in the 16th century, only one side of the building was executed.
Who was Bramante asked to draw up a new plan for the Cathedral of Pavia?
In 1488 Bramante, along with a number of other architects, was asked by Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, brother of Ludovico Sforza and bishop of Pavia, to draw up a new plan for the cathedral of Pavia.
What is the meaning of "inter duas metas"?
According to one source, St Peter was crucified 'inter duas metas' ('between two metas'), the structures that marked the ends of the spina of a classical circus. A meta was a cross between an obelisk and an elongated pyramid. The Pyramid of Cestius was once known as the Meta of Remus and another building near the Vatican as the Meta of Romulus. It was calculated that this site lay equidistant between the two points.
What is the Tempietto?
The Tempietto is, in fact, a circular c hapel dedicated to the martyrdom of St Peter. Its correct name is the Cappella della Crocifissione di San Pietro Apostolo (Chapel of the Crucifixion of St Peter the Apostle).
What is Bramante's temple?
Bramante chose as his model a classical temple of Hercules Victor, which was excavated during the reign of Pope Sixtus IV (r. 1471-84). This is the only surviving example in Rome of a round temple and is made up of 16 columns.
How many columns are there in Bramante's tempietto?
Perfectly proportioned, Bramante's Tempietto, which dates back to the first decade of the 16th century, is made up 16 granite columns and sits on a plinth above three circular steps.
