Arcangelo Guglielmelli (1723) was an Italian architect and painter, active in his native
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, Italy, in a late-
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
style. He was involved in the building and reconstruction of churches, many of which had been damaged by the earthquakes of 1688 and 1694.
Biography
He was born to Marcello Guglielmelli and Caterina Vera, but grew up in the house of a painter, Onofrio de Marino, whose daughter he married in March 1677. His two sons were Marcello, also an architect who worked with his father, and Gaetano, who became a novice at Santa Maria della Vita.
Early in his career, Arcangelo helped design ephemeral decorations for the frequent festivals held in Naples, such as in 1671 for the festival of San Gennaro, and 1677 for the festival of Quarantore, held by the
Theatines
The Theatines officially named the Congregation of Clerics Regular ( la, Ordo Clericorum Regularium), abreviated CR, is a Catholic order of clerics regular of Pontifical Right for men founded by Archbishop Gian Pietro Carafa in Sept. 14, 1524. I ...
of
San Paolo Maggiore
San Paolo Maggiore is a basilica church in Naples, southern Italy, and the burial place of Gaetano Thiene, known as Saint Cajetan, founder of the Order of Clerics Regular (or Theatines). It is located on Piazza Gaetano, about 1-2 blocks north of ...
. He trained under
Dionisio Lazzari
Dionisio Lazzari (17 October 1617 – 9 August 1689) was an Italian sculptor and architect.
He was born in Naples in 1617, the son of Jacopo Lazzari and Caterina Papini. Jacopo was born in Florence, and his and Dionisio's work shows Tuscan i ...
.
In 1677, in the church of
Gesù delle Monache, Arcangelo worked on the reconstruction of the presbytery and added a small
elliptical dome
An elliptical dome, or an ''oval dome'', is a dome whose bottom cross-section takes the form of an ellipse. Technically, an ''ellipsoidal dome'' has a circular cross-section, so is not quite the same.
While the cupola can take different geomet ...
to provide light, a solution he later adopted also in the church of San Antonio delle Monache a Port'Alba, where between 1682 and 1684 he provided the stucco decoration. Arcangelo worked further on the church of ''Gesù delle Monache'' in 1692.
In 1678 he worked in
Santa Maria della Consolazione agli Incurabili and the chapel of San Biagio in
Santa Maria della Stella
Santa Maria della Stella is a church located on Via Stella 25 in the quartiere of its name in Naples, Italy.
History
The church was built in 1571, to host an icon of the Virgin, previously held in an aedicule near Porta San Gennaro. The Minims r ...
. Following the earthquake of 1688 the presbytery was expanded, and an elliptical dome was added to the small church of the Cross of San Agostino. Starting from 1694 in the same church, Arcangelo in collaboration with
Lorenzo Vaccaro
Lorenzo Vaccaro (1655 – 10 August 1706) was an Italian late-Baroque sculptor. He worked in a formalized restrained style.
He was born in Naples, the son of a lawyer. He apprenticed with Cosimo Fanzago and Dionisio Lazzari. He was a close frie ...
, provided the stucco ornamentation. In 1682, Arcangelo helped design the baroque facade
Santa Maria in Portico a Chiaia.
From 1690 to 1693, Arcangelo worked on the reconstruction of the church of
Santa Maria del Rosario alle Pigne (Rosario al largo delle Pigne). The plan there was a pseudo-Greek cross with transverse arms shorter than longitudinal nave. He also designed the atrium (1708) with statues in niches.
Starting in 1691 he worked in the Augustinian monastery of
Santa Maria degli Angeli a Pizzofalcone, where he modified
Francesco Picchiatti and
Cosimo Fanzago's original project from 1646 (construction began in 1661). Here the final plan recalls the church of
Santa Maria dell'Aiuto (where Arcangelo worked under Lazzari in 1672). Also by Arcangelo are the design of San Michele Arcangelo in
Anacapri
Anacapri () is a ''comune'' on the island of Capri, in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Italy.
Anacapri is located higher on the island than Capri (about higher on average)http://www.capritourism.com/imgg/download/capri_map_en.pdf —the Anc ...
(1698) and
Santa Maria delle Grazie, in Piazzetta Mondragone (begun 1715). This last one was likely completed with the intervention of Guglielmelli's main pupil,
Giovanni Battista Nauclerio. Arcangelo was also the author of restorations after 1688 of the cathedrals of
Amalfi
Amalfi (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic c ...
and
Salerno
Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...
.
After the 1688 earthquake, he was involved in the reconstruction of the
Cathedral of San Gennaro
The Naples Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Napoli; nap, Viscuvato 'e Napule), or Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary ( it, Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta, links=no), is a Roman Catholic cathedral, the main church of Naples, southern Italy, and the s ...
. For example, he helped restore the ancient basilica of Santa Restituta, adjacent to the Cathedral. Some of his restorations, including this one, cause some grief because the updating obscured the original architecture. For example, Arcangelo added stucco decoration around the Angevin gothic arches. His reconstruction obscured many of the original elements of the church.
The second major earthquake that struck Naples in 1694, increased the commissions for restorations. he worked on
Santa Maria Donnalbina
Santa Maria Donnalbina is a church located on the street of the same name in Naples, Italy.
A church at the site existed in the 9th century, but was reconstructed in the 17th century by Bartolomeo Picchiatti, and the Baroque style church underwen ...
, where Arcangelo added a chancel with a dome (the contract of 1695) and then, at the turn of the century, the completion of the Church of
San Carlo all'Arena
San Carlo all'Arena is a district of Naples, the regional capital of Campania, located north-east of the historic centre of the city. This quarter (''quartiere'') is named after the Church of San Carlo all'Arena and it constitutes - together wit ...
.
The ancient basilica of
San Giorgio Maggiore
San Giorgio Maggiore ( vec, San Zorzi Mazor) is one of the islands of Venice, northern Italy, lying east of the Giudecca and south of the main island group. The island, or more specifically its Palladian church, is an important landmark. It ha ...
, also required restoration, retaining today only the apse triforium with columns and pilasters. Here Fanzago had begun reconstruction in 1640 after the plague, work interrupted by the plague of 1656. Work was not completed until the early eighteenth century.
In 1693, Arcangelo succeeded architect
Giovanni Battista Contini
Giovanni Battista Contini (1641–1723) was an Italian people, Italian architect of the Baroque architecture, Baroque period.
He trained in Rome under Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, but imbibed the influence of Francesco Borromini. He designed churche ...
as architect for the
abbey of Montecassino
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The conce ...
, where he built and restructured the hostel and infirmary, as well as renovated the medieval basilica (1694). In the church (already by then with a remodeled presbytery and altar by Fanzago), Arcangelo and his son Marcello, completed the decoration. Between 1689 and 1696, Arcangelo helped restore the facade of the church of
San Paolo Maggiore
San Paolo Maggiore is a basilica church in Naples, southern Italy, and the burial place of Gaetano Thiene, known as Saint Cajetan, founder of the Order of Clerics Regular (or Theatines). It is located on Piazza Gaetano, about 1-2 blocks north of ...
.
From 1677 onward, Arcangelo had worked for the Jesuits in the church of
Gesù Nuovo
Gesù Nuovo ( it, New Jesus) is the name of a church and a square in Naples, Italy. They are located just outside the western boundary of the historic center of the city. To the southeast of the spire, one can see a block away the Fountain of Mont ...
, but only after 1688, did he succeed as main architect from
Dionisio Lazzari
Dionisio Lazzari (17 October 1617 – 9 August 1689) was an Italian sculptor and architect.
He was born in Naples in 1617, the son of Jacopo Lazzari and Caterina Papini. Jacopo was born in Florence, and his and Dionisio's work shows Tuscan i ...
(who had taken the post from Fanzago in 1678). He rebuilt, between 1692 and 1693, the fallen dome (1629–35) of Giuseppe Valeriano, but Arcangelo's dome also developed flaws, and was demolished in 1775. Arcangelo also restored the chapels of St Francis Xavier and St Ignatius, and with Bartolomeo and Pietro Ghetti overlaid a rich baroque decoration into the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
style entry portal.
Work after 1690
From 1691 onward, the Dominicans commissioned a number of works from Arcangelo, including enlarging the church of Sanità a Barra, but here, in 1703he was replaced by the rising
Francesco Solimena
Francesco Solimena (4 October 1657 – 3 April 1747) was a prolific Italian painter of the Baroque era, one of an established family of painters and draughtsmen.
Biography
Francesco Solimena was born in Canale di Serino in the province of ...
. He had been replaced in his work at San Paolo Maggiore by Solimena in 1701. Meanwhile, in 1699, Arcangelo completed the rebuilding of the Angevin church of St. Antonio Abate (or di Vienna), providing new windows, nave ceiling, and altar. Also for the Dominicans, Arcangelo helped design a home of the congregation of St. Vincent Ferrer being founded in the grounds of the convent of
Santa Maria della Sanità, Naples
The Basilica of Santa Maria della Sanità is a basilica church located over the Catacombs of San Gaudioso, on a Piazza near where Via Sanità meets Via Teresa degli Scalzi, in the Rione of the Sanità, in Naples, Italy. The church is also calle ...
(1705). In the apse of the church at that site, he created an ornamented altar to contain a statue of the ''Madonna and Child'' by
Michelangelo Naccherino
Michelangelo Naccherino (Florence, March 6, 1550 – Naples, February, 1622) was an Italian sculptor and architect, active mainly in the Kingdom of Naples, Italy.
He supposedly was a pupil of Giambologna in Florence, but due to disagreemen ...
.
After the death of Lazzari, Arcangelo also took over the building studios of the Gerolamini. With the collaboration with Nicola de Marino, he completed the interior of the church of
San Filippo Neri (1703), work left unfinished by Lazzari. Arcangelo had already built the chapel of the Immaculate Conception in 1697, and in 1699 that of the Blessed Sacrament, where he worked as a
quadratura
Illusionistic ceiling painting, which includes the techniques of perspective ''di sotto in sù'' and ''quadratura'', is the tradition in Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo art in which ''trompe-l'œil'', perspective tools such as foreshortening, an ...
painter, assisted by
Giacomo del Po Giacomo is an Italian name. It is the Italian version of the Hebrew name Jacob.
People
* Giacomo (name), including a list of people with the name
Other uses
* Giacomo (horse), a race horse, winner of the 2005 Kentucky Derby
* ''Giácomo'' (film) ...
. Luigi Lanzi cites Arcangelo as one of the quadratura painters in Naples. Arcangelo also designed the main altar. In the monastery of this church, Arcangelo and his son also directed construction of the library from 1723 to 1727. Arcangelo and his son Marcello reconstructed in 1709 church of
Sant'Angelo a Nilo
Sant'Angelo a Nilo is a Roman Catholic church located on the Decumano Inferiore (Spaccanapoli street) in Naples, Italy. It stands diagonally across from San Domenico Maggiore in Naples. It is known for containing the monumental Renaissance-st ...
.
For the neighboring monastery of
San Giuseppe dei Ruffi, Arcangelo and
Giovanni Domenico Vinaccia (another pupil of Lazzari), had already begun in 1689, reconstruction of the monastery. Work on the cloister and church were completed by his son Marcello in 1721.
References
Entry by Mauro Venditti in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 60 (2003)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guglielmelli, Arcangelo
1723 deaths
17th-century Neapolitan people
Painters from Naples
17th-century Italian architects
18th-century Italian architects
Italian Baroque architects
Architects from Naples
Year of birth uncertain
18th-century Neapolitan people