Pirro Ligorio

Pirro Ligorio (* 1514 in Naples, † October 30, 1583 in Ferrara) was an Italian painter, antiquarian, architect and landscape architect of Mannerism.

Work

Painter

Pirro Ligorio first worked for the family Caraffa in Naples. About possible works from his early period is his first biographer, Giovanni Baglione (Le vite de'pittori, Scultori, architetti, Rome 1642), no information. In 1534 he came to Rome. The only work of his painting, which has been preserved until today, is the fresco created after 1542 with the presentation of dance of Salome in the Roman Confraternity of S. Giovanni Decollato. Ligorio studied in Rome the ancient ruins and sculpture as well as ancient coins and utensils. With the entry into the service of Cardinal Ippolito II d' Este in 1549 his painting faded into the background. He started on behalf of the Cardinal with excavations at the Villa of Emperor Hadrian in Tivoli.

Architect

In his work as an architect, he first created the Palazzo Torres (now Lancellotti ) at Piazza Navona in Rome ( 1553 ). A collaboration with the designs for the villa of Vicino Orsini in Bomarzo with the, also known as Sacro Bosco Parco dei Mostri is presumed over again. From 1557/58, at times Pope Paul IV ( 1555-1559 ), he appears in documents as papal architect. For Pope Pius IV (1559-1565), he designed the Casino di Pio IV in the Vatican Gardens. He was an employee of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, under the direction of Michelangelo. After the death of Michelangelo in 1564 he was appointed to his succession to the chief architect of St. Peter. His co-worker was the Vignola. This prestigious office had Ligorio but held only a year. Through a slander he came in the summer of 1565 for a short time in prison and was released in November from the papal service. 1567 he returned to Tivoli and designed for Ippolito d' Este, the garden of the villa ( Villa d' Este in Tivoli), whose fountains he supplied with the redirected tributary of the River Aniene. After the death of Cardinal Ligorio went to the court of the Este family in Ferrara. There he worked in the service of Duke Alfonso II d' Este, among others, as a hydraulic engineer and built the flood protection of the city against floods by the Po.

Antiquarian

In addition to the artistic works Ligorio left behind an extensive convolute of manuscripts, which today are located in different archives and libraries (including the Bodleian Library in Oxford, Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, Biblioteca Nazionale in Naples, Archivio di Stato in Turin). In it, he carried the knowledge of his time together at many areas of archeology, often supplemented by our own observations of the ancient ruins in Rome. His drawings in these volumes and single sheets, which he created from the ruins of ancient Rome and from the excavations of ancient buildings and artefacts in Tivoli, are for research of great value if it also in the 19th century, some forgeries, especially in, have been proven field of epigraphy. His additions and reconstructions of ancient statue fragments, which he helped on the paper to its former perfection and beauty, one evaluates become much more positive than in the archaeological research of the 19th century: Realizing this is a proof of the " unbridled imagination " of the forger Ligorio ( Christian Huelsen 1901) and condemned his drawings as "completely tasteless inventions" whose descriptions " are used entirely from the air " ( Hermann Dessau 1883), it can be seen today in its attempt reconstructions of the artist, from the close observation of ancient fragments to get in touch with the philological studies of new knowledge about the ancient world. 1987, a National Committee was founded in Rome, which is devoted to the study of the works Pirro Ligorio in its activities. This is the comprehensive artistic, architectural, historical and antiquarian activity Ligorio be made better known. In 1989, the Comitato Nazionale per l' founded Edizione Nazionale di Pirro Ligorio, which has the publication of all manuscripts Ligorio in 24 volumes to the target.

Buildings

  • Nymphaeum of Villa Giulia in Rome,
  • Exedra in the Cortile del Belvedere of the Vatican ( remodeling )
  • Garden of the Villa d' Este at Tivoli, 1565
  • Sacro Bosco Bomarzo near Viterbo
  • Casina di Pio IV in the Vatican Gardens, Rome, 1559-1562
  • Fountain of the Villa Lante in Bagnaia

Writings

  • Il libro delle antichità. Handwriting. MS Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Cod ital 1129.
  • Delle antichità di Roma: Circi, amphitheatri con numerose tavole e pianta cinquecentesca di Roma, Rome 1989 ( reprint of the edition Libro di Pyrrho Ligorio Napolitano delle antichità di Roma, Venice: Tramezzino, 1553)
  • Il Libro di Disegni di Pirro Ligorio all'Archivio di Stato di Torino, Rome 1994
  • Libro dell'Antica città di Tivoli e di alcune splendid ville, ed. v. A. Ten, Rome 2005
  • Libri degli eroi e uomini illustri dell'antichità, ed. v. B. Palma Venetucci, Rome 2005
  • Libro di diversi terremoti, ed. v. E. Guido Boni, Rome 2005
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