Bartolomeo Berrecci (1480

Pontassieve Pontassieve is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about east of Florence, nearby Fiesole, at the confluence of the Arno and Sieve rivers. History The first rulers of the are ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

- 1537

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

) was an

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

architect who spent most of his career in

Studies and career in Poland

He learned architecture in Florence, first through apprenticeship with his father, who was also an architect. He was then probably taught by Andrea Ferrucci, his father's fellow Florentine architect. He moved to

in 1516 at the invitation of the bishop

Jan Łaski Jan Łaski or Johannes à Lasco (1499 – 8 January 1560) was a Polish Calvinist reformer. Owing to his influential work in England (1548–1553) during the English Reformation, he is known to the English-speaking world by the Anglicised form J ...

to take over the work of rebuilding the

Wawel The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established o ...

Royal Castle in

after the death of Francesco Fiorentino, working with

Benedykt from Sandomierz Benedykt of Sandomierz (Polish: Benedykt z Sandomierza) was a Polish Renaissance architect, who together with Bartolommeo Berrecci rebuilt the Wawel Royal Castle in Kraków under the rule of Sigismund I of Poland after it burnt down in 1499. Fi ...

. The castle had burnt down in 1499, and the rebuilding was commissioned by

Sigismund I of Poland Sigismund I the Old ( pl, Zygmunt I Stary, lt, Žygimantas II Senasis; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the ...

. He also took over Florentino's workshop, with the artists Bernardino di Gianotis, Giovanni Cini from

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

, Mikołaj Castiglione, and five members of the Soli family. He worked in

Niepołomice Niepołomice (pronounced ; ) is a town in southern Poland, within the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (since 1999). It is situated on the Vistula River, on the verge of the large virgin Niepołomice Forest. There is a 14th-century hunting castle ...

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. From 1975 to 1998, it was the capital of the Tarn� ...

and most likely in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

where the Royal Palace of Lithuania was reconstructed. He became very rich in Poland, owning a number of houses in Kraków and a brickyard. He was murdered in 1537 by another jealous Italian artist in Kraków and was buried in the Corpus Christi Basilica in

Kazimierz Kazimierz (; la, Casimiria; yi, קוזמיר, Kuzimyr) is a historical district of Kraków and Kraków Old Town, Poland. From its inception in the 14th century to the early 19th century, Kazimierz was an independent city, a royal city of the ...

by Kraków.

Legacy

The most important work of Berrecci is the chapel of the last

Jagiellonians The Jagiellonian dynasty (, pl, dynastia jagiellońska), otherwise the Jagiellon dynasty ( pl, dynastia Jagiellonów), the House of Jagiellon ( pl, Dom Jagiellonów), or simply the Jagiellons ( pl, Jagiellonowie), was the name assumed by a cad ...

, the

Sigismund Chapel Sigismund's Chapel ( pl, kaplica Zygmuntowska) is a royal chapel of the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, Poland. Built as a funerary chapel for the last members of the Jagiellonian Dynasty, it has been hailed by many art historians as "the most beautifu ...

for King Sigismund I the Old at the

(1517–1533) in Kraków; It is considered to be the most beautiful piece of Italian Renaissance architecture outside of Italy. Some years later

Santi Gucci Santi Gucci (c. 1530–1600) was an Italian architect and sculptor. Biography He moved to Poland after 1550, most probably from Florence, and became the court artist of king Sigismund II Augustus of Poland, his sister Anna Jagiellonka and his su ...

built the tombs of King

Sigismund II Augustus Sigismund II Augustus ( pl, Zygmunt II August, lt, Žygimantas Augustas; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler ...

and Queen

Anna Jagiellon Anna Jagiellon ( pl, Anna Jagiellonka, lt, Ona Jogailaitė; 18 October 1523 – 9 September 1596) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania from 1575 to 1587. Daughter of Polish King Sigismund I the Old and Italian duchess Bon ...

(the son and daughter of Sigismund I) inside the chapel. His death in 1537 was the result of an infection caused by a worksite accident during work on the tomb of Piotr Tomicki. Berrecci's other works include: * rebuilding the

royal castle * extension of the

Niepołomice Castle Niepołomice Royal Castle is a Gothic castle from the mid-14th century, rebuilt in the late Renaissance style and called the ''second Wawel''. It is situated in Niepołomice, Poland and was extensively reconstructed in the 1990s. Niepołomice C ...

* baldachin for the tomb of

Władysław II Jagiełło Jogaila (; 1 June 1434), later Władysław II Jagiełło ()He is known under a number of names: lt, Jogaila Algirdaitis; pl, Władysław II Jagiełło; be, Jahajła (Ягайла). See also: Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło. ...

* tomb for the bishops Jan Konarski (died 1525) and Piotr Tomicki (died 1535) in the

Wawel Cathedral The Wawel Cathedral ( pl, Katedra Wawelska), formally titled the Royal Archcathedral Basilica of Saints Stanislaus and Wenceslaus, is a Roman Catholic cathedral situated on Wawel Hill in Kraków, Poland. Nearly 1000 years old, it is part of the ...

* tomb of Barbara Tarnowska and the tombs of the three Jans in the Cathedral in

. He is one of the characters on the famous painting by Jan Matejko, ''

Prussian Homage The Prussian Homage or Prussian Tribute (german: Preußische Huldigung; pl, hołd pruski) was the formal investment of Albert of Prussia as duke of the Polish fief of Ducal Prussia. In the aftermath of the armistice ending the Polish-Teuton ...

''.

External links

Polish

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berrecci, Bartolommeo 1480 births 1537 deaths People from Pontassieve 16th-century Italian architects Architects from Kraków Renaissance architects Italian emigrants to Poland 16th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors