Alessandro pieroni, San Giovanni Gualberto e l'uccisore di suo fratello davanti al crocifisso di San Miniato, 1580

Alessandro Pieroni (18 April 1550 in

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 ...

– 24 July 1607 in Livorno) was an Italian architect and painter. He was active mainly in a

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Ita ...

style, working for the courts of Grandukes Francesco I and

Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (30 July 1549 – 3 February 1609) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1587 to 1609, having succeeded his older brother Francesco I. Early life Ferdinando was the fifth son (the third surviving at ...

Biography

Pieroni was also known as the ''Sandrino dall' Impruneta''. He was born in Florence in 1550 where he graduated from the

Accademia del Disegno The Accademia delle Arti del Disegno ("Academy of the Arts of Drawing") is an academy of artists in Florence, Italy. Founded as Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno ("Academy and Company of the Arts of Drawing") on 13 January 1563 by ...

in 1570. He began his career as an assistant to Alessandro Allori. Allori led the team between 1587 and 1591, including Pieroni, Giovanni Bizelli, Giovanni Maria Butteri, and a young

Cigoli Lodovico Cardi (21 September 1559 – 8 June 1613), also known as Cigoli, was an Italian painter and architect of the late Mannerist and early Baroque period, trained and active in his early career in Florence, and spending the last nine years ...

in decorating the ceilings of the corridors of the

Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...

in Florence. For the chapel of San Giovan Gualberto in the Abbey of San Michele in Passignano, Pieroni painted an altarpiece of ''San Giovan Gualberto pardons the murderers of his brother before the crucifix of

San Miniato San Miniato is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pisa, in the region of Tuscany, Italy. San Miniato sits at an historically strategic location atop three small hills where it dominates the lower Arno valley, between the valleys of Egol ...

''. For the visit of Grand-Duke Ferdinand to Pisa in 1588, Pieroni completed, along with the painter

Filippo Paladino Filippo Paladino (1544 -1614) was an Italian painter. Biography He was born near Florence in Tuscany and remained there until circa 1586 when he was imprisoned and subsequently exiled to Malta. From there, he moved to Sicily where he was active ...

, a canvas for the church of the Santo Stefano dei Cavalieri, depicting scenes from the life of Santo Stefano Martire. He also helped design the facade.

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...

likely also participated in the design of the ceiling decorations. He painted an altarpiece for the Principi Chapel in the church of San Lorenzo. While serving as an artist in the court, he was commissioned works to celebrate the weddings of the Medici. In 1589, he was among the artists engaged in the elaborate decorations to celebrate the marriage of Ferdinando I and Cristina di Lorraine, painting the ''Defeat of Gian Galeazzo Visconti at Mantua''. With

Bernardo Buontalenti Bernardo Buontalenti (), byname of Bernardo Delle Girandole ( 1531 – June 1608), was an Italian stage designer, architect, theatrical designer, military engineer and artist and inventor of italian ice cream. Biography Buontalenti was born in ...

, he also made scenography for the Theater at the Uffizi, for the 1600 presentation of the comedy ''La Pellegrina'' and also made decorations to celebrate the wedding of Marie de' Medici to Henry IV of France. As an architect, he worked with

in the design of fortifications of the Belvedere in Florence and the Corsini Chapel in church of the Carmine, and the facade of Santa Maria del Fiore. In

Volterra Volterra (; Latin: ''Volaterrae'') is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its history dates from before the 8th century BC and it has substantial structures from the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval periods. History Volt ...

, he helped design the Chapel of St Paul for the Admiral Jacopo Inghirami (and paint the main altarpiece). Many of his architectural skills were focused on Livorno. When confronted by the Grand Duke about the size of the Cathedral of Livorno (built 1594-1606), he replied that public works can never be too large. He also helped design the church of the Madonna (begun in 1607), the church of the Greci Uniti (1606), and the Synagogue of Livorno (1603). He helped design porticos for the Piazza d'Armi. His son Giovanni de Galliano Pieroni was an architect; in addition, the elder Pieroni collaborated with Don Giovanni de' Medici, the illegitimate son of Cosimo who dabbled in architecture, mainly the facade of Santo Stefano dei Cavalieri in Pisa. Pieroni died on 24 July 1607 in Livorno where a street, Via Alessandro Pieroni, is named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pierono, Alessandro 1550 births 1607 deaths 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters Mannerist painters People from Impruneta