Gherardo Silvani (1579–1675) was an Italian architect and sculptor, active mainly in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

and other sites in

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

during the Baroque period. Palazzo 2

Biography

His son Pierfrancesco also became an architect. He worked on the Palazzo Corsini al Prato,

Palazzo Capponi-Covoni The Palazzo Capponi Covoni is a Baroque architecture palace in Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy. There are apparently three other palaces once associated with the Capponi family: * Palazzo Capponi. * Palazzo Capponi-Vettori. * Palazzo Capponi all ...

(1623), Palazzo Fenzi (1634), Palazzo Pallavicini, Palazzo di San Clemente. He also helped design and construct the altar of the Basilica di Santo Spirito. He helped in the reconstruction of the churches of San Frediano, Santi Simone e Giuda, Sant'Agostino, and the Chiesa di Santa Maria Maggiore (Florence), among others. He helped design the façade of the Basilica of Santa Maria at

Impruneta Impruneta is a town and '' comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany. The population is about 15,000. Name and production The name Impruneta is derived from ''inprunetis'' meaning "within the pine woods", and ...

. His model for the façade of the

cathedral of Florence Florence Cathedral, formally the (; in English Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower), is the cathedral of Florence, Italy ( it, Duomo di Firenze). It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally ...

was not adopted. His masterpiece remains the church and façade of San Gaetano (built 1604–1648) in front of Piazza Antinori in Florence. The work was commissioned by the Cardinal Carlo de Medici, and dedicated to the founder of the

Theatine 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 ...

order. The building work was shared with

Matteo Nigetti Matteo Nigetti (ca. 1560/1570 – 1648) was an Italian architect and sculptor. He is an important Baroque architect in Florence. Biography Born in Florence, he was the pupil and assistant of Bernardo Buontalenti, with whom he collaborated on ...

. The church is also known as the Church of ''San Michele and San Gaetano'', because it was built on the site of a Romanesque church of San Michele Bertelde. The façade with its sculptural decorations is highly atypical for Florentine churches, which had a predilection for iconoclastic geometrically ornamented façades.

References

* 1579 births 1675 deaths Architects from Florence Italian Baroque architects Italian Baroque sculptors Sculptors from Florence Catholic sculptors {{Italy-architect-stub