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Gerolamo Frigimelica Roberti (10 January 1653 - 15 November 1732) was an
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
, Exhibition: ''The Triumph of Baroque Architecture in Europe: 1600-1750''. Also important to Frigimelica was his work as a
Gerolamo Frigimelica Roberti (10 January 1653 - 15 November 1732) was an Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
architect, librettist, and poet.
Biography
Born inPadua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
to a father who had married into the noble Robert family, thus gaining a title of Count for his son. Gerolamo acquired a broad humanist education and from 1691 to 1720 was curator of the public library of Padua and admitted as member to its ''Accademia galileiana di scienze, lettere ed arti'' or ''Accademia dei Ricovrati''.
In 1721, he moved to Modena. He was now active mainly as an architect, designing palaces and churches in Padua, Vicenza
Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan.
Vicenza is a thr ...
, and Modena. He worked on the ''Cappella del Santissimo'' at the Basilica di Sant'Antonio di Padova and made designs for the churches of Santa Maria del Torresino and Santa Lucia at Padua. He also made designs for the church of San Gaetano in Vicenza, and the palaces Mussato and Buzzacarini in Padua; and the enlargement for the Palazzo Pisani a San Stefano in Venice.
He is known for having produced an initial plan in 1716 for Villa Pisani
Villa Pisani at Stra refers to the monumental, late-Baroque rural palace located along the Brenta Canal ( Riviera del Brenta) at Via Doge Pisani 7 near the town of Stra, on the mainland of the Veneto, northern Italy. This villa is one of the lar ...
at Stra, however, the densely detailed design, with a central pavilion cramped with columns, was rejected by the patron Alvise Pisani. The design for the central pavilion seemed more apt for a Venetian Palazzo. Instead a more sober, Neoclassical design was adopted after his death by Francesco Maria Preti., Exhibition: ''The Triumph of Baroque Architecture in Europe: 1600-1750''. Also important to Frigimelica was his work as a
librettist
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...
for opera. His first 11 texts were written for the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo
The Teatro Malibran, known over its lifetime by a variety of names, beginning with the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo (or Crisostomo) after the nearby church,Lynn 2005, pp. 101—103 is an opera house in Venice which was inaugurated in 1678 with a ...
of Venice, and set to music between 1694 and 1708 by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo
Carlo Francesco Pollarolo (ca. 1653 – 7 February 1723) was an Italian composer, organist, and music director. Known chiefly for his operas, he wrote a total of 85 of them as well as 13 oratorios. His compositional style was initially indebted t ...
, Alessandro Scarlatti, Antonio Caldara
Antonio Caldara (ca 1670 – 28 December 1736) was an Italian Baroque composer.
Life
Caldara was born in Venice (exact date unknown), the son of a violinist. He became a chorister at St Mark's in Venice, where he learned several instruments, ...
, and Luigi Mancia. Later works were produced mainly for the Teatro Obizzi of Padua.
He worked in a style of opera seria similar to Apostolo Zeno, Francesco Silvani, and Adriano Morselli Adriano Morselli was a Venetian librettist active between 1679 and 1691. His libretti have been set to music by composers like Antonio Vivaldi, Alessandro Scarlatti, Giacomo Antonio Perti, Bernardo Sabadini, Carlo Francesco Pollarolo and Domenico ...
. His libretti consisted of five acts and were about historic and mythologic subjects, and were called tragedies or tragic-comedies. he also wrote the text for seven musical oratorios, performed between 1697 and 1702. He died in Modena.
His relationship to Antonio Frigimelica Roberti, an 18th-century academic, or Francesco Frigimelica il Vecchio, a painter, is unclear.
References