Sanmicheli, Michele (
c.1487–1559). Italian architect and military engineer. Born in Verona, he studied the
Antique remains there, and went to Rome in the early 1500s where he fell under the influence of
Bramante's work which demonstrated how
Classicism might suggest something of the grandeur of Ancient Rome. In 1509 he became Superintendent of the Works at Orvieto Cathedral and built fortifications at Parma and Piacenza in 1526 before returning to Verona. With the
Sangallos he is credited with the evolution of massive triangular
bastions and enormous
curtain-walls in military architecture. He applied his expertise to fortifying Verona, where he constructed the bastion of the Maddalene and many other impressive structures including the
rusticated gateways with the
Doric Order much in evidence. The best examples of these gates are the Porta Nuova (1533–51), Porta San Zeno (1547–50), and the Porta del Palio (1548–59), the last a masterpiece of
Mannerism, with its severe Roman Doric Order
in antis engaged with a rusticated wall-layer behind which are three recessed rusticated walls into which the gateways are set. The influence of
Giulio Romano's Palazzo del Tè, Mantua, is clear. He also designed the Forte di Sant'Andrea di Lido, Venice (1535–71). All these works were not only strong, but looked impregnable, as did the façade of his Church of Santa Maria in Organo, Verona (1547–59).
Sanmicheli's early palazzi show influences from Bramante,
Raphael, and
Serlio. The Palazzo Pompei, Verona (
c.1527–57), for example, has a rusticated ground-floor acting as a
podium for the engaged Doric Order of the
piano nobile, a variant on Bramante's ‘House of Raphael’ in Rome, but with the central bay wider and
pier-
pilasters terminating the façade at both ends, thus giving the design greater serenity. At the Palazzo Canossa, Verona (begun
c.1533), the Palazzo del Tè was again the influence in the rusticated base, with its triple arched openings in the centre, while Bramante's work affected the piano nobile with its paired pilasters and paraphrased
serlianas. Much richer is the Palazzo Bevilacqua, Verona (late 1530s), with a rusticated Doric podium, the
triglyphs of which project forward as brackets supporting the piano-nobile balcony over which is an elaborately complex façade designed as a series of three overlapping
triumphal arches. His Palazzo Grimani, Venice (from 1556, completed by others), employed the triumphal- arch motif in the centre of the lowest storey, while above, the perceived
naked of the wall was virtually dissolved, and the areas framed by columns and
entablatures contained complicated systems of
fenestration.
He did some ecclesiastical work, including the charming circular domed Cappella Pellegrini (begun 1527) at the Church of San Bernardino, Verona, clearly influenced by the
Pantheon in Rome. It features columns with twisted or spiral fluting which he also employed at the Palazzo Bevilacqua. Outside Verona he designed the circular Pilgrimage Church of the Madonna di Campagna (from 1559), the drum pierced by a rhythm of 3 windows, 2
blind arches, then 1 window, then 2 blind arches, and then 3 windows, demonstrating Sanmicheli's ability to surprise.
Bibliography
H. Burns et al. (1995);
C. Frommel (ed.) (1995);
Gazzola (1960);
Heydenreich (1996);
Langenskiöld (1938);
Lotz (1977);
P. Murray (1969, 1986);
Placzek (ed.) (1982);
Li Puppi (1971);
Jane Turner (1996)
