Giacomo della Porta facts for kids
Giacomo della Porta (1532–1602) was a famous Italian architect and sculptor. He worked on many important buildings in Rome, including the famous St. Peter's Basilica. He was born in Porlezza, a town in Lombardy, and later died in Rome.
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Life and Major Projects
Giacomo Della Porta was born into a family of sculptors in a region of Italy called the Duchy of Genoa. He learned a lot from two very famous artists: Michelangelo and Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola. Vignola was his architecture teacher. Because of these great teachers, Giacomo della Porta became one of the most important architects of the Roman Renaissance. This was a time of amazing art and building in Rome.
Working with Michelangelo's Plans
After 1563, Giacomo della Porta took over Michelangelo's plans for the Campidoglio. This is a famous public square in Rome. He finished the front and steps of the Palazzo Senatorio. He also completed the Cordonata, which are the ramped steps leading up to the main square.
Continuing Vignola's Work
When Vignola died in 1573, Giacomo della Porta continued building the Il Gesù. This church is the main church for the Jesuits, a religious group. In 1584, he changed the front of the church with his own designs.
He also worked on the Palazzo Albertoni Spinola. He changed how the building's main parts and inside walls were set up. He made the entrance hallway and the main hall line up in a special way. This created a cool visual effect that made the palace look even grander.
Building St. Peter's Dome
From 1573, Giacomo della Porta was in charge of building St. Peter's Basilica. Later, he worked with Domenico Fontana to finish Michelangelo's dome. They completed this huge dome between 1588 and 1590.
Della Porta and Fontana didn't just follow Michelangelo's drawings. They added their own smart ideas and new building techniques. They made a small change to the dome's curve, making it look more like an older, famous design by Filippo Brunelleschi. They also put strong chains inside the walls, especially in the upper part of the dome. These chains helped hold the dome together. They used excellent materials, like travertine stone and molten lead. Because of their clever work, the dome was so strong that it wasn't seriously damaged by an earthquake in 1703! They even made full-size models and drew the dome's plans on the floor of another big church, St. Paul outside the Walls.
Designing Fountains
Giacomo della Porta also completed many of Rome's beautiful fountains in the 1500s. Some of these include fountains in the Piazza del Popolo, the Fountain of Neptune, Rome, and La Fontana del Moro in the Piazza Navona. He also designed the Fontana delle Tartarughe, which is very famous in Roman stories.
He died suddenly in 1602. He was returning to Rome from Frascati, where he had been building the Villa Belvedere for the Aldobrandini family.
Selected Works
- St. Peter's Dome (1564)
- Palazzetto Inside Palazzo Albertoni Spinola Perspective (1600)
- Oratorio del SS. Crocifisso (1562-1568)
- Chiesa del Gesù (1571-1575)
- Fountains at the Palazzo Borghese (1573)
- Fountains in Piazza Colonna (1574)
- Small fountains at Piazza Navona (1574)
- One fountain at the Piazza della Rotonda
- Palazzo Senatorio at the Capitol Hill (1573-1602)
- Palazzo della Sapienza (1578-1602)
- Palazzo Capizucchi (1580)
- Santa Maria dei Monti (1580)
- Sant'Atanasio dei Greci (1581)
- Façade of San Luigi dei Francesi (1589)
- Fontana delle Tartarughe (1584)
- Santa Maria Scala Coeli
- Palazzo Marescotti (1585)
- Palazzo Serlupi (1585)
- SS. Trinità de' Monti (1586)
- Fontana di Piazza alli Monti (1589)
- Cupola of St. Peter's Basilica (1588–90)
- Fountains at the Piazza di Santa Maria in Campitelli (1589)
- Fontana di Piazza d'Aracoeli (1589)
- Fontana della Terrina (1590)
- Sculpture Christ delivering the keys of Heaven to St. Peter (1594), altar of the St. Peter chapel, church Santa Pudenziana
- Palazzo Fani (1598)
- San Paolo alle Tre Fontane (1599)
- San Nicolò in Carcere (1599)
- Palazzo Albertoni Spinola (1600)
- Villa Aldobrandini (1600–02) in Frascati
- Cappella Aldobrandini (1600–02) in Santa Maria sopra Minerva
See also
In Spanish: Giacomo della Porta para niños
