Giuseppe Valadier (April 14, 1762 – February 1, 1839) was an Italian architect and designer, urban planner and archaeologist and a chief exponent of
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...
in Italy.
Biography
The son of a goldsmith, Luigi (1726–1785), Valadier was born in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
in 1762. He also occasionally provided designs for silver, such as the "York Chalice" for
Henry Cardinal York (1800–01), the grand silver table service for Monsignor Antonio Odescalchi (1795–97) and the similar Rospigliosi-Pallavicini service, begun in 180
which he partly produced in the silver workshop he directly oversaw and partly sub-contracted to other Roman silversmiths. Valadier also designed some furniture and other decorative arts, such as the rock crystal and silver reliquary for relics of the Holy Crib in
Santa Maria Maggiore
The Basilica of Saint Mary Major ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, ; la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the larges ...
, for
Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...
. Valadier worked in Rome and elsewhere in the
Papal States
The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
, but many of his projects remained on paper. He was named official ''architetto camerale'' of the Papal States by
Pope Pius VI
Pope Pius VI ( it, Pio VI; born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to his death in August 1799.
Pius VI condemned the French Revoluti ...
in 1786. He taught architecture at the
Accademia di San Luca
The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...
was a pioneer archeologist and a restorer of monuments, such as the
Milvian Bridge (1805) and the
Arch of Titus
The Arch of Titus ( it, Arco di Tito; la, Arcus Titi) is a 1st-century AD honorific arch, located on the Via Sacra, Rome, just to the south-east of the Roman Forum. It was constructed in 81 AD by the Roman emperor, Emperor Domitian shortly aft ...
in Rome, (1819–21). He retraced the ancient line of the
Via Flaminia
The Via Flaminia or Flaminian Way was an ancient Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to ''Ariminum'' (Rimini) on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans had ...
(1805) and restored
Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola
Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola ( , , ; 1 October 15077 July 1573), often simply called Vignola, was one of the great Italian architects of 16th century Mannerism. His two great masterpieces are the Villa Farnese at Caprarola and the Jesuits' Churc ...
's neglected
Church of Sant'Andrea in Via Flaminia, which influenced his own Church of Santa Maria della Salute in
Fiumicino
Fiumicino () is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 80,500 (2019). It is known for being the site of Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, the busiest airport in Italy and the eleventh-bu ...
, the newly-establish port for Rome.
Major works
*
Villa Pianciani
''Villa Pianciani'' is a complex situated a hill that overlooking the Spoleto Valley in Umbria, Italy. The complex is the work of architect Giuseppe Valadier and comprises five buildings and a historical park.
History
The illa complex was bu ...
, Spoleto;
*Clocks with mosaic faces on top of the façade belltowers,
Basilica of Saint Peter
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...
(1786–90);
*
Villa Torlonia, Rome (1806 onwards);
*General plan for access to the
Imperial Forums
The Imperial Fora (''Fori Imperiali '' in Italian) are a series of monumental '' fora'' (public squares), constructed in Rome over a period of one and a half centuries, between 46 BC and 113 AD. The fora were the center of the Roman Republic and ...
(1811);
*General plans for
Piazza del Popolo
Piazza del Popolo is a large urban square in Rome. The name in modern Italian literally means "People's Square", but historically it derives from the poplars (''populus'' in Latin, ''pioppo'' in Italian) after which the church of Santa Maria del ...
(first plans, 1793; final plans executed 1816–20), creating its elliptical plan and linking it via stairs and terraces with the
Pincio
The Pincian Hill (; it, Pincio ; la, Mons Pincius) is a hill in the northeast quadrant of the historical centre of Rome. The hill lies to the north of the Quirinal Hill, Quirinal, overlooking the Campus Martius. It was outside the original bo ...
, including the
Casina Valadier (1816 onwards)
[Casina Valadier]
in the
Borghese Gardens
Villa Borghese is a landscape garden in Rome, containing a number of buildings, museums (see Galleria Borghese) and attractions. It is the third largest public park in Rome (80 hectares or 197.7 acres) after the ones of the Villa Doria Pamphili an ...
;
*
Teatro Valle
Teatro may refer to:
* Theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific p ...
(1819);
*
Fiumicino
Fiumicino () is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 80,500 (2019). It is known for being the site of Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, the busiest airport in Italy and the eleventh-bu ...
(1822); the first
planned suburb
Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. The evolution of forethought, the capacity to think ahead, is consi ...
of modern Rome (1823–28);
**Church of Santa Maria della Salute,
Fiumicino
Fiumicino () is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 80,500 (2019). It is known for being the site of Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, the busiest airport in Italy and the eleventh-bu ...
*Restoration of the
Arch of Titus
The Arch of Titus ( it, Arco di Tito; la, Arcus Titi) is a 1st-century AD honorific arch, located on the Via Sacra, Rome, just to the south-east of the Roman Forum. It was constructed in 81 AD by the Roman emperor, Emperor Domitian shortly aft ...
, including the outer portion of the arch, and exterior columns)(1821-1822)
*opening of
Via di Ripetta, Rome
Via di Ripetta, also called Via Ripetta, is a street in the historic centre of Rome (Italy), in the rione Campo Marzio, that links Piazza del Popolo to Via del Clementino and, with other toponyms (Via della Scrofa, Via della Dogana Vecchia), re ...
, via del Babuino, and via della Caserma (1822);
**Church of San Rocco, façade, in
Ripetta (1831)
**
Palazzo Nainer
{{Infobox building
, name = Nainer Palace
, native_name = Palazzo Nainer
, native_name_lang =
, logo =
, logo_size =
, logo_alt =
, logo_caption =
, image ...
, via del Babuino (1819–21), now a hotel.
**79, via del Babuino (1826); the architect's own home.
*General plan for the piazza of
St John Lateran
The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran ( it, Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e dei Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano), also known as the Papa ...
;
He published collections of his designs and drawings:
*Giuseppe Valadier, (Architectonic projects), Rome 1807
*Giuseppe Valadier, ''Raccolta delle più insigni fabbriche di Roma antica'', Rome 1810
*Giuseppe Valadier, ''L'Architettura pratica: dettata nella Scuola dell'insigne Accademia di San Luca'', 5 vols, Rome 1828– 1834;
References
Further reading
*Paolo Marconi. 1964. ''Giuseppe Valadier'' (Rome)
*Alvar Gonzalez-Palacios, ''Il Gusto Dei Principi'', 1993, nos. 366–368. (designs and wine-coolers from the Odescalchi service)
*''Valadier: Three Generations of Roman Goldsmiths: An exhibition of drawings and works of art.'' London: Artemis Group / David Carritt Limited, 1991.
External links
Neoclassical architect Giuseppe Valadier died on 1st February 1839 in RomeGiuseppe Valadier (1762—1839)__NOTOC__
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valadier, Giuseppe
1762 births
1839 deaths
18th-century Italian architects
19th-century Italian architects
Italian neoclassical architects
Architects from Lazio
Artists from Rome