da Sangallo, Antonio (the Younger) (1484–1546)
da Sangallo, Antonio (the Younger) (1484–1546)
This renowned architect was the nephew of two well-known men, Giuliano da Sangallo and Antonio da Sangallo the Elder, also an architect. He was born in Florence and studied as a young man in Rome under Donato Bramante, the architect of Saint Peter's Basilica. One of his early commissions was a palace for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (later Pope Paul III). This imposing structure, now known as the Farnese Palace, would be completed by Michelangelo Buonarroti and become one of the great Renaissance monuments of Rome. After 1520 Sangallo succeeded Bramante as the chief architect of Saint Peter's. His busy workshop in Rome produced designs for churches, monuments, and villas throughout Italy, and influenced Italian architecture for the next two centuries. Sangallo's most notable works are the church of Santa Maria di Loreto; the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, built along the Tiber River; and the Paolina Chapel in the Vatican. After Rome was occupied and sacked by the forces of the Holy Roman Emperor in 1527, Sangallo left the city and was hired as a military architect. He designed fortifications for Florence, Perugia, Rome, and the city of Ancona, on the Adriatic coast, and Saint Patrick's well at Orvieto. He also helped to complete the Villa Madama, commissioned by Giulio de' Medici in Rome from the artist Raphael. In 1539 he began work on a large and detailed wooden model of Saint Peter's Basilica, a work that survived as one of the most famous possessions of the Vatican Museum.