1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Barocchio, Giacomo

BAROCCHIO (or Barozzi), GIACOMO, called Da Vignola (1507–1573), Italian architect, was born at Vignola in the Modenese territory on the 1st of October 1507. His early work was conducted at Bologna, Piacenza, Assisi and Perugia, until he was summoned to Rome as papal architect under Pope Julius III. In 1564 he succeeded Michelangelo as the architect of St Peter’s, and executed various portions of that fabric, besides a variety of works in Rome. The designs for the Escorial were also supplied by him. He is the author of an excellent work on the Five Orders of Architecture (Rome, 1563), and another work on Practical Perspective (Rome, 1583). To his extensive acquirements and exquisite taste were superadded an amenity of manners and a noble generosity that won the affection and admiration of all who knew him. He died in Rome on the 7th of July 1573. He was an eminent upholder of the classic style at a period when the style known as baroque was corrupting the architecture of Italy. The term baroque owes its origin to the Spanish word barrueco or berrueco, an imperfectly round pearl, and is not derived from the architect Barocchio, whose name so much resembles it. Yet it is curious that it was much used to describe a debased form of architecture encouraged by the Jesuits whose church in Rome was built by Barocchio.