Luigi Vanvitelli (; 12 May 1700 – 1 March 1773), known in Dutch as (), was an Italian architect and painter. The most prominent 18th-century architect of Italy, he practised a sober classicising

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

Late Baroque style that made an easy transition to

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 ...

Biography

Vanvitelli was born in Naples, the son of an Italian woman, Anna Lorenzani, and a Dutch painter of land and cityscapes (

veduta A ''veduta'' ( Italian for "view"; plural ''vedute'') is a highly detailed, usually large-scale painting or, more often, print of a cityscape or some other vista. The painters of ''vedute'' are referred to as ''vedutisti''. Origins This genre ...

Caspar van Wittel Caspar van Wittel or Gaspar van Wittel (born Jasper Adriaensz van Wittel; 1652 or 1653 – September 13, 1736), known in Italian as Gaspar Vanvitelli () or (), was a Dutch painter and draughtsman who had a long career in Rome. He played a p ...

, who also used the name Vanvitelli. He was trained in Rome by the architect

Nicola Salvi Nicola Salvi or Niccolò Salvi (6 August 1697 (Rome) – 8 February 1751 (Rome)) was an Italian architect; among his few projects completed is the famous Trevi fountain in Rome, Italy. Biography Admitted to the Roman Academy of Arcadia in 1717, ...

, with whom he worked on the construction of the

Trevi Fountain The Trevi Fountain ( it, Fontana di Trevi) is an 18th-century fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy, designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini and several others. Standing high and wide, it is the larg ...

. Following his notable successes in the competitions for the facade of the

Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano 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 ...

(1732) and the facade of

Palazzo Poli The Palazzo Poli is a palace in Rome, Italy, that was altered in the 18th century to form the backdrop to the Trevi Fountain. History In 1566, Lelio dell'Anguillara, Duke of Ceri, purchased the Palazzo Del Monte. He commissionsed the Palazzo Cer ...

behind the

, Pope Clement XII sent him to the

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

to build some papal projects. At

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

in 1732, he devised the vast

Lazaretto A lazaretto or lazaret (from it, lazzaretto a diminutive form of the Italian word for beggar cf. lazzaro) is a quarantine station for maritime travellers. Lazarets can be ships permanently at anchor, isolated islands, or mainland buildings ...

, a pentagonal building covering more than 20,000 square meters, built to protect the military defensive authorities from the risk of contagious diseases potentially reaching the town with the ships. Later it was used also as a military hospital or as barracks. In Rome, Vanvitelli stabilized the dome of

St. Peter's Basilica 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 ...

when it developed cracks and found time to paint frescos in a chapel at Sant Cecilia in

Trastevere Trastevere () is the 13th ''rione'' of Rome: it is identified by the initials R. XIII and it is located within Municipio I. Its name comes from Latin ''trans Tiberim'', literally 'beyond the Tiber'. Its coat of arms depicts a golden head of a lio ...

. He also built a bridge over the

Calore Irpino The Calore Irpino or Calore Beneventano or Calore river is a river in southwestern Italy. It rises from ''Colle Finestra'' ( above sea level), a mountain saddle between Monte Acellica and the Terminio sub-group in the Monti Picentini, sub-range o ...

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

. Beginning in 1742 Vanvitelli designed (along with

) the Chapel of St.

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

for King

John V of Portugal Dom John V ( pt, João Francisco António José Bento Bernardo; 22 October 1689 – 31 July 1750), known as the Magnanimous (''o Magnânimo'') and the Portuguese Sun King (''o Rei-Sol Português''), was King of Portugal from 9 December 1706 ...

. It was built in Rome, disassembled in 1747, and shipped to Lisbon, where it was reassembled in the Church of St. Roch (

Igreja de São Roque The Igreja de São Roque (; Church of Saint Roch) is a Roman Catholic church in Lisbon, Portugal. It was the earliest Jesuit church in the Portuguese world, and one of the first Jesuit churches anywhere. The edifice served as the Society's home ch ...

). It was completed in 1750, although the mosaics in it were not finished until 1752. Built of many precious marbles and other costly stones, as well as gilt bronze, it was held to be the most expensive chapel in Europe up to that time.For a detailed study of this chapel, see Sousa Viterbo and R. Vincente d’Almeida, ''A Capella de S. João Baptista Erecta na Egreja de S. Roque''... (Lisbon, 1900; reprinted 1902 and 1997); and more recently, Maria João Madeira Rodrigues, ''A Capela de S. João e as suas Colecções'' (Lisbon, 1988), translated as ''The Chapel of Saint John the Baptist and its Col ctions in São Roque Church, Lisbon'' (Lisbon, 1988).

Reggia di Caserta

Vanvitelli's technical and engineering capabilities, together with his sense of scenographic drama led Carlo VII of Naples (later King Carlos III of Spain) to commission the grand

Palace of Caserta The Royal Palace of Caserta ( it, Reggia di Caserta ) is a former royal residence in Caserta, southern Italy, constructed by the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies as their main residence as kings of Naples. It is the largest palace erected in Euro ...

, intended as a fresh start for administering the ungovernable

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

Charles VII of Naples it, Carlo Sebastiano di Borbone e Farnese , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Philip V of Spain , mother = Elisabeth Farnese , birth_date = 20 January 1716 , birth_place = Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Spain , death_da ...

desired a palace which would rival the Palace of Versailles and therefore commissioned Vanvitelli to create the most beautiful palace in Europe. Of all the royal palaces in the world, Caserta is by far the largest in terms of volume, with more than 2 million m³. Included in the Reggia di Caserta was the fan-shaped ''Vigna del Ventaglio'' vineyard. Planted on sloping terrain in the

San Leucio San Leucio is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Caserta, in the region of Campania in southern Italy. It is most notable for a resort developed around an old silk factory, named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. It is located 3.5 km n ...

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

'' near the palace, the vineyard was planted in a

semicircle In mathematics (and more specifically geometry), a semicircle is a one-dimensional locus of points that forms half of a circle. The full arc of a semicircle always measures 180° (equivalently, radians, or a half-turn). It has only one line of ...

design subdivided into 10 segments (or "fan blades") each planted to a different grape variety. Among the varieties known to have been planted in the ''Vigna del Ventaglio'' were native Campanian varieties

Pallagrello bianco Pallagrello bianco is a white Italian wine grape variety that is grown in Campania. The grape has a long history in the region and was one of the varieties planted in 1775 by architect and engineer Luigi Vanvitelli in the fan-shaped ''Vigna del Ven ...

and

Pallagrello nero Pallagrello nero is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown in Campania. The grape has a long history in the region and, like the similarly named Pallagrello bianco, was one of the varieties planted in 1775 by architect and engineer Luigi Va ...

.J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pgs 761-762 Allen Lane 2012 Vanvitelli worked on the project for the rest of his life, for Charles and for his successor Ferdinand IV. In Naples, he designed the city's

royal palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa * Abdin Palace, Cairo * Al-Gawhara Palace, Cairo * Koubbeh Palace, Cairo * Tahra Palace, Cairo * Menelik Palace * Jubilee Palace * Guenete Leul Palace * Imperial Palace- Massa ...

(1753) and some aristocratic palaces, and churches such as the new church and monastery for the Missione ai Vergini. His engineering talents were exercised as well: for Caserta, he devised the great aqueduct system that brought water to run the cascades and fountains. CarolingianAcqueduct

Luigi Vanvitelli died at Caserta in 1773.

Notes

References

External links

*Riccardo Cigola
brief biography of VanvitelliArchitectural and ornament drawings: Juvarra, Vanvitelli, the Bibiena family, & other Italian draughtsmen
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Vanvitelli (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vanvitelli, Luigi 1700 births 1773 deaths 18th-century Neapolitan people People from Caserta Italian people of Dutch descent Architects from Naples 18th-century Italian architects 18th-century Italian painters