Pirro Ligorio

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Ligorio, Pirro (c.1513–1583). Italian architect, archaeologist, librarian, and painter, he settled in Rome in 1534 after which he explored and recorded antiquities and remains, and began to collect material for his huge encylopedias of Classical artefacts. He brought out a volume on Roman antiquities in 1553, the only publication in his lifetime disseminating his vast knowledge. In this respect, his work is an invaluable source of information on what Antique remains were known at the time. In 1549 he was appointed archaeologist to Cardinal Ippolito d'Este (1509–72), and for him carried out major works at the old Franciscan monastery, Tivoli, creating the Villa d'Este and its gardens (1550–72), greatly influenced by the nearby Villa Adriana which Ligorio had recorded. The fountains, cascades, and waterworks at the Villa d'Este contributed to the making of one of the finest C16 European gardens. In 1558 he began work on a summer-house for Pope Paul IV (1555–9) in the Vatican Gardens: work on this resumed in 1560 after the election of Pope Pius IV (1559–65), and by 1562 the exquisite Casino di Pio IV, one of the most affecting creations of Mannerism, was complete. Jacob Burckhardt (1818–97), the Swiss art-historian, called it the most beautiful ‘afternoon retreat’ ever created. It drew on the type of the Antique diaeta, or auxiliary building used for the otium (rest or leisure time). At the same time Ligorio began work on Bramante's Belvedere Court at the Vatican, with the addition of curved seating at the lower terrace's south side, making changes to the exedra to the north so that it formed an enormous niche. He also designed the astylar rusticated Lancellotti Palace (c.1560), restored the Pantheon (1561), and built the Cenci Palace (c.1564), all in Rome. He succeeded Michelangelo as Architect of San Pietro in 1564, but in the following year was accused of fraud and theft, thus ending his Papal career. Once more he turned his attention to the gardens at Tivoli, supervising the works and designing several fountains. In 1569 he moved to Ferrara, where he was placed in charge of the important collection of antiquities belonging to the Duke.

Bibliography

Ackerman (1954);
D. Coffin (1960, 1979, 2004);
Dernie & and Carew-Cox (1996);
Gaston (ed.) (1988);
Heydenreich (1996;
Lamb (1966);
Lazzaro (1990);
Lotz (1977);
Mandowsky & Mitchell (eds.) (1963);
Placzek (ed.) (1982);
G. Smith (1977);
Jane Turner (1996)

Ligorio, Pirro (b Naples, c.1513; d Ferrara, 26 Oct. 1583). Italian architect, antiquarian, draughtsman, designer, and painter, active mainly in Rome, where he settled in about 1534. He began his career as a fresco painter, but very little remains of his activity in this field, and he is more important for his excavations and antiquarian research, which bore fruit in his Antichità di Roma (1553). In addition to this book he left a large body of manuscript writings on antiquities, now divided among several libraries in Italy and elsewhere. His best work as an architect is the richly ornamented Casino (summer house) built for Pius IV in the Vatican gardens (begun 1559), which has been described by Jacob Burckhardt as ‘the most beautiful afternoon retreat that modern architecture has created’. Ligorio also designed the Villa d'Este at Tivoli (begun c.1560) for Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este and was the mastermind behind the villa's spectacular gardens, which are among the most famous in Europe. In 1564 he was appointed Michelangelo's successor as architect to St Peter's, but in the following year he was imprisoned on suspicion of defrauding the papacy both in his architectural work and in regard to the purchase of antiquities. He was soon released, but in 1569 he left Rome and settled in Ferrara, where he again worked for the Este family, notably as court antiquarian to Duke Alfonso II and as a designer of festivities.