Giovanni de Galliano Pieroni (1586–1654) was a military engineer specialized in erecting fortifications,

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

who gained particular fame in his day as also as author of horoscopes. Early in his life, he became friendly with the astronomer, mathematician and physicist

Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He wa ...

(1564-1642) – like Pieroni, Galileo also wrote on constructing fortifications, and the two shared interest in mathematics and astronomy. He was also a contemporary and friend of Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) while both spent time in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

Biography

Ljubljana - Giovanni Pieroni - Google Cultural Institute

Pieroni was born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

on 5 March 1586. His childhood and education was privileged because his father Alessandro Pieroni (1550-1607) was an architect at the court of the Medici. After studying law, he was awarded a doctorate in law in Pisa in 1608. He studied under Bernardo Buontalenti (1531-1608). During that time he befriended Galileo, who served then the Tuscan Grand Duke, Cosimo II di Medici. The two corresponded for many years, even after Pieroni left Florence. He spent a lot of time working for general

Albrecht of Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the T ...

(1583–1634), in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

, fixing up fortifications of castles and in that vein, of palace and park grounds, particularly the

Wallenstein Palace Wallenstein Palace ( cs, Valdštejnský palác) is a Baroque palace in Malá Strana, Prague, that served as a residence for Imperial Generalissimo Albrecht von Wallenstein and now houses the Senate of the Czech Republic. History The original ...

, collaborating with great baroque Italian artists and architects. His young assistant in both cities was Baccio del Bianco, who memorably described Pieroni as an "astrological architect". In 1635, Pieroni was granted Wallenstein' former estate Dubenec, first as administrator and since 1650 as possessor. Since 1639, he documented the state of fortifications in Croatia and along the

Military Frontier The Military Frontier (german: Militärgrenze, sh-Latn, Vojna krajina/Vojna granica, Војна крајина/Војна граница; hu, Katonai határőrvidék; ro, Graniță militară) was a borderland of the Habsburg monarchy and ...

on behest of the

Hofkriegsrat The ''Hofkriegsrat'' (or Aulic War Council, sometimes Imperial War Council) established in 1556 was the central military administrative authority of the Habsburg monarchy until 1848 and the predecessor of the Austro-Hungarian Ministry of War. Th ...

, the Imperial war council. Based on his studies, he wrote the treatise ''Trattato delle fortificazioni moderne''. After the end of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

, Pieroni was in charge of the repair and expansion of Prague's fortifications under the city commanders Innocentio Conti and

Jan van der Croon Jan van der Croon (c. 1600 – 6 November 1665), also called ''Jan della Croon'', ''Johann de la Corona'', or ''von der Cron'', was a Dutch professional soldier and military commander in Spanish and Imperial service who reached the rank of lieutena ...

. He was assisted by the builders and architects

Carlo Lurago Carlo Lurago (also spelled Luraghi) (1615 – 22 October 1684) was an Italian architect, who was most active in Prague. He was born in Pellio Superiore in the Val d'Intelvi, near Como. At the age of 23, as an already an accomplished plasterer, ...

and Santino Bossi. Van der Croon and Pieroni also took responsibility for constructing the defensive walls of

Náchod Náchod (; german: Nachod) is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 19,000 inhabitants. It is known both as a tourist destination and centre of industry. The town centre with the castle complex is well preserved ...

castle for its owner

Ottavio Piccolomini Ottavio Piccolomini, 1st Duke of Amalfi (11 November 1599 – 11 August 1656) was an Italian nobleman whose military career included service as a Spanish general and then as a field marshal of the Holy Roman Empire. Early life Ottavio was bor ...

References

Bibliography

*''Science in Contact with Art: Astronomical Symbolics of the Wallenstein Palace in Prague,'' Alena Hadravová (Research Centre for the History of Science and Humanities of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Charles University), Petr Hadrava (Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences), published in: ''Science in contact at the beginning of scientific revolution'', Ed. J. Zamrzlová, ''Acta historiae rerum naturalium necnon technicarum'', New series, Vol. 8 (2004), pp. 173 – 210.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pieroni, Giovanni de Galliano 17th-century Italian astronomers Italian astrologers 17th-century astrologers Italian Baroque architects 17th-century Italian mathematicians Military personnel from Florence 1586 births 1654 deaths Engineers from Florence Architects from Florence