Giuseppe Sardi (1680 – documented until 1768) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

architect active in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. He was born at Sant'Angelo in Vado, Marche which was then part of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

. Known primarily for his church of Santa Maria del Rosario in Marino outside Rome, his name has been linked with the design of the façade of the church of

Santa Maria Maddalena The Santa Maria Maddalena is a Roman Catholic, Catholic church in Rome, Italy dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene. It is the conventual church of the adjacent General Curia of the Clerks Regular, Ministers to the Sick (Camillians), the world headqu ...

in Rome although his involvement with this and with some other building projects remains uncertain. He is not to be confused with the Swiss Italian architect, Giuseppe Sardi (1624–1699), who was active in Venice.

Career

In contemporary sources, Sardi is described more often as acting in the capacity of a ''capomastro'' or master builder rather than as an architect. He designed and executed only one church from scratch, that of Santa Maria del Rosario in 1712 in the

Colonna family The House of Colonna is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It played a pivotal role in Middle Ages, medieval and Roman Renaissance, Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope (Pope Martin V, Martin V), 23 cardinals and many ot ...

fiefdom of Marino, in the

Alban Hills The Alban Hills () are the caldera remains of a quiescent volcanic complex in Italy, located southeast of Rome and about north of Anzio. The high Monte Cavo forms a highly visible peak in the centre of the caldera, but the highest point is ...

outside Rome. The interior is centrally planned and has an unusual and elaborately decorated dome. This is also his first known work. His work as ''capomastro'' is documented on the building sites of

Santa Maria in Trastevere The Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere () or Our Lady in Trastevere is a titulus (Roman Catholic), titular minor basilica in the Trastevere district of Rome, and one of the oldest churches of Rome. The basic floor plan and wall structure of the ...

(where he worked under the direction of Recalcati in 1714), Santa Maria in Monticelli (where he worked under the direction of Sassi in 1715, about six years before his conjectured work on

San Paolo alla Regola San Paolo alla Regola, a church in the Regola area of Rome, was made a titular church#Cardinal-deaconries, cardinalate deaconry by Pope Pius XII in 1946. Its present Cardinal-Deacon, since 21 November 2010, is Francesco Monterisi, archpriest eme ...

, located around the corner) and at Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini (under the direction of

Francesco de Sanctis Francesco de Sanctis (28 March 1817 – 29 December 1883) was an Italian literary critic, scholar and politician, leading critic and historian of Italian language and literature during the 19th century. Biography De Sanctis was born in the so ...

in 1722 - 23). Sardi is also credited with one other minor work, the refurbishment of the baptistery of

San Lorenzo in Lucina The Minor Basilica of St. Lawrence in Lucina ( or simply ; ) is a Roman Catholic parish, titular church, and minor basilica in central Rome, Italy. The basilica is located in Piazza di San Lorenzo in Lucina in the Rione Colonna, about two blocks ...

, executed between 1713 and 1721.

Although Sardi's name has been connected with several churches in and around Rome, one of the mostly securely attested of his commissions is the addition of a new façade to the church of

Santa Maria in Cosmedin The Basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin (; Latin: Santa Maria ''de Schola Graeca'') is a minor basilica, minor basilican churches of Rome, church in Rome, Italy, dedicated to the Mary, mother of Jesus, Virgin Mary. It is located in the rione (neig ...

in the Foro Boario in Rome. This façade was erected in place of the previous Romanesque façade in 1718, and destroyed in 1896 – 1899 but its appearance is recorded in

Giuseppe Vasi Giuseppe Vasi (27 August 1710 – 16 April 1782) was an Italian engraver and architect, best known for his ''Veduta, vedute''. Biography He was born in Corleone, Sicily and later, around 1736, moved to Rome. After a period of intense visits and ...

's ''Magnificenze di Roma'' (Plate 56) as well as in photographs . Also confirmed is Sardi's authorship of the façade of the

Trastavere Trastevere () is the 13th of Rome, Italy. It is identified by the initials R. XIII and it is located within Municipio I. Its name comes from Latin (). Its coat of arms depicts a golden head of a lion on a red background, the meaning of which i ...

church of Santi Quaranta Martiri (also known as San Pasquale Baylon) (1736–39). This façade appears to have been modelled on that by Francesco Fontana for the church of Santa Maria ad Nives, Rome (Santa Maria delle Neve), located near the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an Ellipse, elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphi ...

, and erected around 1708. More contentious are Sardi's contributions to two other churches that had new (or renovated) façades finished in the period between 1720 and 1740. The first of these projects was the construction of a new façade for

, a church which had been erected around 1687 to a design of Father Giovanni Battista Bergonzoni (called Borgognone), a teacher of theology at the college attached to the church. Vasi claims that the façade was the design of Giovanni Battista Conti, while Titi attributes it to 'Ciacomo Ciolli’ (Giacomo Cioli) and Sardi jointly. In sum, there is no scholarly consensus on how exactly the work should be divided. A similar problem concerns the attribution to Sardi of the facade of

which is significant as one of a limited number of facades in Rome displaying the

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

style, The facade was begun in the late seventeenth century and was still unfinished in 1734. Rossini's ''Mercurio errante'' (1741) and the 1745 edition of Roisecco's guide book do not mention the designer, although they do draw attention to the façade. The first mention of Sardi's involvement is in the 1750 edition of Roisecco's guide book. Scholars have long been undecided who should be credited with this design which has also been attributed to Emanuele Rodriguez Dos Santos. Too little of Sardi's work survives to permit attribution on stylistic grounds.Scholars have noted similarities between the style of the decoration of this façade and some cabinet work of roughly the same period, particularly the organ case of S. Maria Maddalena (designer unknown) and the armoires of the sacristy of S. Maria Maddalena, attributable to Domenico Barbiani. Alessandra Marino has recently suggested that the decoration of the façade should be attributed to Barbiani and that Emanuele Rodriguez dos Santos (architect of SS Trinità dei Spagnoli) should be credited as the architect of the façade Marino, 1992. In Marino's view, Sardi acted in his usual capacity of ''capomastro'' (master builder )

Career

References

Further reading