454 THE BUILDING NEWS. JUNE 7, 1872. nen nnn, CRITICAL NOTES ON GREAT ITALIAN ARCHITECTS.—XIUII. By J. B. Warne. JACOPO SANSOVINO. ACOPO TATTI, descended from an e? ancient family of Lucca long settled in Florence, was born in that city, anno 1477, and having early shown a predilection for art, was placed subsequently, according to Vasari, to study sculpture under Andrea Contucci_ of Monte Sansovino, one of the greatest artists of the time, who returned to Florence from several years’ service with the King of Portugal, in 1500, and so great was the pro- gress he made that he became Andrea’s favourite pupil and assistant, and the relation between them was rather that of ‘ father and son” than masterand pupil, and he took the name of Sansovino from his teacher. It is not our intention to speak of Jacopo as a sculptor, his works are too well known to need enumeration or praise; but, certainly, both he and Andrea hold most eminent places in thatart. It is probable also that while with Andrea he came to know something of archi- tecture, since several important buildings were erected from his master’s designs, but it was Giuliano da San Gallo who took him to Rome and introduced him to Bramante. Whilst at Rome he appears to have been principally engaged in sculpture, and it is in- teresting to find that, living in the same house there with Pietro Perugino, he is described by Vasari as making models of groups in wax in full relief, from which Perugino used to work. : On the occasion of Leo X. visiting Florence in 1514, Sansovino was employed by the Medici, in company with his attached fellow student and friend, Andrea del Sarto, to make designs for some triumphal arches and the decoration of the unfinished facade of the Cathedral; this latter Sansovino made with double Corinthian columns and niches, in so handsome a manner that the Pope observed it was worthy of being permanently executed, and it was from this cause, probably, that he subsequently received an order from the Pope to furnish a design for the facade of San Lorenzo, which met with approval, and of which Baccio d’Agnolo executed a model in wood. Finally, however, Michael Angelo was employed, and Sansovino, proceeding to Rome, continued to work there as a sculptor and architect; and, besides designing various houses—amongst which may probably be cited the Palazzo Niccolini, a good example of the Roman style—was selected in competition with Raphael, Antonio da San Gallo, and Balthazar Peruzzi, to build the Church of the Florentines, which, as it now stands, is, how- ever, the work of later architects. He was also engaged to make the sepulchral monu- ments of the Cardinals of Arragon and Agen, when his labours at Rome were abruptly brought to a close by the taking and sack of the city by the Constable de Bourbon in 1527. Sansovino, amongst others, found safety in flight, intending, it is said, to pass into France, where he had been invited to enter into the service of Francis I. But, through the friendship of Doge Andrea Gritti and the Jardinal Grimani, he was induced to make Venice his home, and was at once employed in strengthening the cupolas of S. Mark, which difficult task he performed in so ingenious a manner and with such _per- fect success that the Signoria, convinced of his ability, conferred on him the highest rofessional office in the Republic, and made fo Proto-master of the Signori Procuratori of S. Mark. Sansovino entered, about the year 1529, energetically on the duties of his new Office : ** Not only, ‘‘says Vasari,” did he devote himself zealously to whatever could promote the grandeur, beauty, and ornament of the Church, the Piazza, and the whole city, to an extent never before done by any man who had held his office, but by the ingenuity of his inventions, the promptitude of his ac- tions, and the prudence of his administration,
he lessened the outlay and improved the | self, Titian, and Pietro Aretino, a fine work,
revenue.” It would be difficult to enumerate
chronologically the various important works
with which Sansovino adorned his adopted
home ;—on all he brought to bear a genius of
the very highest order, whether in architec-
ture or sculpture ;—foremost amongst them
stands the celebrated library of S. Mark,
commenced in 1536, which is so noble and
picturesque a feature of the Piazza, and which,
with its arched loggia and arcaded windows,
combined with a free yet judicious use of
excellent sculpture, is one of the noblest and
most striking examples of architectural art
existing. Nor was the interior, with its fine
staircase, halls, floors, and stucco work, with
its paintings by Paolo Veronese, Tintoretto,
and Battista Franco, unworthy of its outward
show. But even in this great work Sansovino
experienced that amare aliquid which at-
attends so many triumphs, for scarcely was
the vaulted ceiling of the library completed
when it fell in, and the architect placed at
once in prison and fined ; but, on investiga-
tion, no blame, it was declared, could be at-
tached to him; the fine was remitted, and he
resumed the duties of his office as before.
In 1536 also was commenced the Zecca, or
mint, which he constructed as nearly fireproof
as possible, principally of stone and iron; it
is a fine example of rustic work; the cortile
of this building was designed later on by
Scamozzi. For the Greeks settled at Venice
Sansovino designed, in 1532, the Church of 8.
Giorgio de Grechi, an excellent work, in
which, as he was prevented from the use of
figure sculpture, he paid particular attention
to proportion and detail, the campanile being
a clever adaptation of the type which for
centuries had been common in Venice, just
as Antonio da San Gallo adapted the Roman-
esque type at San Spirito, Trastevere. (See
“ Architectural Art in Italy and Spain,”
pl. 27.)
The fine church of San Francesco della
Vigna was also designed by Sansoyino, and
the first stone laid in 1554, but is mainly due
in its present state to Palladio; and the
churches of San Giuliano, in the Merceria
of Santo Spirito, ‘‘a graceful and pleasing
work ;” and San Gemignano, ‘“ which gives
splendour to the Piazza,” and in which
Sansovino was buried, were also designed by
him, but the two last are now destroyed. It
is especially as a designer of civic architecture
that we should regard Sansovino, and his
talents were employed on a remarkable series
of palaces, which gave a new character to
Venice. Such, besides those we have men-
tioned, are the Palazzo Cornaro on the Grand
Canal, built in 1532, still one of the most
stately palaces in Venice, and the Palazzo
Manin, as well as others which are mentioned
by Vasari, but cannot be easily identified.
The Fabbriche nuove di Rialto are also by
him, and the well-known loggia of the
Corinthian order, richly ornamented with
sculpture and coloured marble, which sur-
rounds the base of the great campanile. This
work, though very effective in its way, is open
tomuch criticism ; it, indeed, appears confused
and little in the mass, and is better regarded
in detail; it is in keeping, however, with
the colour and carved work of the cathedral to
which it is adjacent, and formed a sumptuous
station indeed for the Corps de Garde, for
whose use it was originally intended. In a
style as plain as this is ornamental remains
to be noticed the Church of S. Martin, also
designed by him.
Of Sansovino’s works in sculpture we can-
not enter into detail: but it is remarkable
that, although so busily engaged in his duties
at Venice, he produced there a number of
fine works—some of the highest order of
merit—such as his marble bas reliefs on the
Chapel ‘del Santo,’ Padua; the colossal
marble statues of Mars and Neptune on the
“Giants’” staircase of the Ducal Palace,
executed when he was past seventy years of
age; and the bronze door of the Sacristy of
5. Mark, containing portraits in relief of him-
on which he is stated to have been engaged
for twenty years ; to say nothing of numerous
others in marble and bronze, scattered
throughout the churches of Venice. Thus
employed in adorning Venice with fine works
of art, fora period of just forty years, ‘held
in esteem by artists, nobles, and people,” and
firm in his affection to the Republic which
had shielded and employed him—so much so
as to resist most tempting offers of work
from the Popes, the Medici, and Phillip of
Spain—Sansovino passed quietly away. ‘This
master, so renowned in sculpture, and so
great in architecture, had lived by the grace
of God, who had endowed him with that
ability which rendered him illustrious.” At the
age of ninety-three, ‘ feeling himself some-
what weary of body, lay down on his bed to
repose himself,” but he became weaker and
weaker, and died, in ‘the pure course of
nature,” in the year 1570.
As a sculptor Sansovino holds a very high
position, as an architect his style is dis-
tinguished by a massive richness and a
pictorial effect which have seldom been
surpassed. Bringing with him from Rome
the best examples of the great masters in
their adaptation of the antique, he combined
what was good and fitting with the orna-
mental style and arcaded system of openings
of the local Venetian school, giving up
entirely the straight-headed openings of
the Roman school. He did not bind himself
strictly to rules, and when he departed from
them it was boldly and with judgment, as
witness his great frieze of the Library,
an innovation which would quite have
frightened his old master Bramante. Vasari
states that he left upwards of sixty designs
for buildings at Venice, of which some were
in progress of being published when he
wrote. He may be regarded as the founder
of a new school of art in the Venetian State,
and a great number of good sculptors are to
be counted as his pupils or assistants, such
as Danese Cattaneo, Girolamo of Ferrara,
Tribolo, and Solosmeo, Jacopo Colonna,
Lancia, Alessandro Vittoria, Jacopo de’Medici,
and Bartollomeo Ammanati, whose works
in architecture and sculpture are of great
excellence.
Sansovino had by no means the monopoly
of architectural work in Venice, although his
style is that which is now specially known as
Venetian; he appears to have acted only as
consulting architect to the Signoria in many
cases: ‘* No work in sculpture or architec-
ture being undertaken in his time at Venice
without his advice and concurrence.” It is
in this sense that he, probably, acted for the
Scuola of the Misericordia, apparently that of
San Rocco, which Vasarisays he erected; but
which is always attributed, on good authority,
to other hands. Palladio was employed on
several buildings during his term of office, as
well as Scamozzi, who, after his death, com-
pleted the side of the Piazza adjoining the
Libraria Nuova, with the Procuratie Nuove,
begun by Sansovino, which we shall have
occasion to consider in our notice of Secamozzi,
who will form the subject of our next article.
—
THE GREAT BUILDING TRADE
DISPUTE IN LONDON.
O-DAY at three o’clock a general meeting
of the Master Builders’ Association is to
be held at the Freemasons’ ‘Tavern, and the
Committee, it is stated, intend to reeommend
a general lock-out, unless the men who have
struck at Messrs. Jackson & Shaw's and Mr.
Brass’s return at once to work. Perhaps we
can hardly do better service either to the
masters or the men than by reminding them
of the course of incidents which ushered in
the great strike of 1859. As early as 1853
the agitation for shorter hours was commenced
by the masons, who were soon joined by the
carpenters and joiners, both trades, however,
eventually agreeing to a proposal made by the
