Giovanni Antonio Dosio
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Giovanni Antonio Dosio (1533–1611) was an Italian architect and sculptor.


Biography

Dosio was born in San Gimignano. A student of Ammanati, with whom he realized the
Villa dell'Ambrogiana A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...
, Dosio worked primarily in Rome (1548–75) and Florence (1575–89), with some commissions that took him to Naples. During his early years in Rome, where he arrived at the age of fifteen, Dosio produced numerous drawings of the ancient and modern city, and developed a reputation as an
antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...
while he was still a young man. He worked in the atelier of
Raffaello da Montelupo Raffaello da Montelupo (c. 1504/1505 – c. 1566/1567), born Raffaele Sinibaldi, was a sculptor and architect of the Italian Renaissance, and an apprentice of Michelangelo. He was the son of another Italian sculptor, Baccio da Montelupo. Both ...
until 1551. His first important Roman commission was the tomb for his friend, the humanist poet
Annibale Caro Fra' Annibale Caro, K.M., (6 June 150717 November 1566) was an Italian writer and poet. Biography Born in Civitanova Marche, then in the March of Ancona, Caro became tutor to the wealthy family of Lodovico Gaddi in Florence, and then secret ...
, in 1567; in the interim, he scratched out a miserable living doing restorations of fragments of
Roman sculpture The study of Roman sculpture is complicated by its relation to Greek sculpture. Many examples of even the most famous Greek sculptures, such as the Apollo Belvedere and Barberini Faun, are known only from Roman Imperial or Hellenistic "copies". A ...
. In 1562 he was carrying out an excavation on behalf of the papal ''
condottiere ''Condottieri'' (; singular ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other Europ ...
'' Torquato Conti, who had extensive contacts among humanist and antiquarian circles in Rome and knew Dosio's good friend Annibale Caro. Dosio was uncovering the fragments of the marble map of Rome made for
Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...
, the ''
Forma Urbis Romae The ''Forma Urbis Romae'' or Severan Marble Plan is a massive marble map of ancient Rome, created under the emperor Septimius Severus between 203 and 211. Matteo Cadario gives specific years of 205–208, noting that the map was based on pro ...
'' from a site near the Church of SS Cosma e Damiano. Torquato Conti had leased the excavation site from the canons of the church. Conti presented the precious fragments to his relative
Cardinal Alessandro Farnese Alessandro Farnese (5 October 1520 – 2 March 1589), an Italian cardinal and diplomat and a great collector and patron of the arts, was the grandson of Pope Paul III (who also bore the name ''Alessandro Farnese''), and the son of Pier Luigi F ...
. Conti then sent Dosio to his castello at
Poli __NOTOC__ Poli can refer to: Food * ''Puran Poli'', a poli made up of wheat flour and puran (sweet cooked gram paste) * A Marathi name for ''chapati'', a bread made up of wheat flour Organisations * FC Timişoara Romanian first league football c ...
, where Dosio executed the stucco friezes that may still be seen there in the ground-floor apartments. In 1564 a papal courier found Dosio in the Umbrian hilltown of Amelia, working on a funeral monument for a local bishop, Bartolomeo Farrattino. Immediately thereafter Dosio left to oversee the rebuilding of fortifications at
Anagni Anagni () is an ancient town and ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Latium, central Italy, in the hills east-southeast of Rome. It is a historical and artistic center of the Latin Valley. Geography Overview Anagni still maintains the appear ...
, his first work as an architect, which was interrupted in 1565 with the death of
Pope Pius IV Pope Pius IV ( it, Pio IV; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered ...
; of this work, two of the rusticated portals remain, the Porta S. Maria, and the Porta S. Francesco. The overall design of the fortifications was doubtless due to Pius's cousin,
Gabrio Serbelloni Gabriele Serbelloni, better known as Gabrio Serbelloni (also Gabriel Cerbellón in Spanish), (1509 – January 1580) was an Italian condottiero and general. A noble by birth (his family was among the noblest in Milan), he achieved an even h ...
, and the military governor, Torquato Conti, to whom Dosio owed the commission. His years in Florence are best known in part because his sole contemporary biographer, Raffaello Borghini, was Florentine himself, and described Dosio's work in Florence most fully. His Florentine years coincided with his full maturity as an architect, and the commissions were for projects that were grander than his Roman work. He was the author of ''Urbis aedificiorum illustrium quae supersunt reliquiae'' (1569).
Giovanni Battista Caccini Giovanni Battista Caccini or Giovan Battista Caccini (24 October 1556 – 13 March 1613) was an Italian sculptor from Florence, who worked in a classicising style in the later phase of Mannerism. Life Giovanni Battista Caccini was born at Mon ...
was his pupil. His place in the history of the period, according to modern art scholar Carolyn Valone (1976) is of the "second rank". From 1590 he worked for almost twenty years in Naples, where the Viceroy bestowed on him the prestigious appointment of “royal architect”. In Naples he realized the cloister of the San Martino Charterhouse, worked on a draft for the Girolamini church, while in the Cathedral of Naples he realized the Brancaccio Chapel (1598). From 1600 He worked in Caserta for the Prince of Caserta Andrea Matteo Acquaviva D’Aragona. He died in
Caserta Caserta () is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial, and industrial '' comune'' and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Ca ...
.


Main works

*Figure of ''Hope'' on the tomb of Giulio del Vecchio, Rome, ca. 1556 (demolished) *Wall monument for Bartolomeo Farrattino, Amelia, c. 1559/62–64. *Portals and city walls, Anagni, 1564–66. *Palazzo Conti (now Palazzo Pubblico), Pola, for Torquato Conti; stucco friezes *Tombs of Annibale Caro (1567) and Giovanni Pacini in the church of
San Lorenzo in Damaso The Minor Basilica of St. Lawrence in Damaso (Basilica Minore di San Lorenzo in Damaso) or simply San Lorenzo in Damaso is a parish and titular church in central Rome, Italy that is dedicated to St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr. It is incorporated ...
, Rome; *Tomb of Antonio Massa da Gallese in
San Pietro in Montorio San Pietro in Montorio (Saint Peter on the Golden Mountain) is a church in Rome, Italy, which includes in its courtyard the ''Tempietto'', a small commemorative '' martyrium'' (tomb) built by Donato Bramante. History The Church of San Pietro in ...
, Rome *Tomb of the marchese di Saluzzo in
Santa Maria in Aracoeli The Basilica of St. Mary of the Altar of Heaven ( la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae de Ara coeli in Capitolio, it, Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara coeli al Campidoglio) is a titular basilica in Rome, located on the highest summit of the Campidoglio. ...
, Rome *Church of
Girolamini, Naples The Church and Convent of the Girolamini or Gerolamini is a church and ecclesiastical complex in Naples, Italy. It is located directly across from the Cathedral of Naples on via Duomo. The facade is across the homonymous piazza and street ( Vi ...
*interiors of the
Certosa di San Martino The (" Charterhouse of St. Martin") is a former monastery complex, now a museum, in Naples, southern Italy. Along with Castel Sant'Elmo that stands beside it, this is the most visible landmark of the city, perched atop the Vomero hill that comman ...
, Naples. *Gaddi Chapel in
Santa Maria Novella Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy, situated opposite, and lending its name to, the city's main railway station. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the city's principal Dominican church. The ch ...
, Florence (1575–77); Michelangelesque * Villa di Bellosguardo, Florence *Palazzo Giacomini Larderel, in via Tornabuoni, Florence; *Niccolini Chapel in Santa Croce, Florence (begun in 1582), with revetment of polychrome marbles. *The Archbishop's Palace, Florence; it was modified in the 19th century. *Palazzo del Boschetto, CasertaA.Marciano, Giovanni Antonio Dosio e la committenza Acquaviva D'Aragona, PHD Thesis IUAV 2001


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dosio, Giovanni Antonio 1533 births 1611 deaths People from San Gimignano Architects from Tuscany 16th-century Italian architects 17th-century Italian architects 16th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors 17th-century Italian sculptors