Luca Fancelli (c. 1430 – c. 1502) was an Italian

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 ...

and

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

Biography

Fancelli was born in Settignano, a fraction of

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 ...

. Much of his life and work is an enigma; what is known for sure is that he trained as a stonecutter and mason and studied under Brunelleschi.

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...

, the 16th-century Florentine artist and biographer of the artists, is responsible for many doubts pertaining to the authenticity of works attributed to Fancelli. While Fancelli likely designed the

Palazzo Pitti The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present ...

, the Florentine residence of the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mu ...

's friend, and supposed rival,

Luca Pitti Luca Pitti (1398–1472) was a Florentine banker during the period of the republic presided over by Cosimo de' Medici. He was awarded a knighthood, and received lavish presents from both the Signory of Firenze and the Medici family as a reward ...

; Vasari attributes the design to Brunelleschi, who had died several years before work began. The

palazzo A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

is not in Brunelleschi's style, and considered by many to be by a lesser hand. Fancelli has also been credited also with the design of the tribune of SS. Annunziata in Florence, but this too is disputed. In 1450 Fancelli moved to

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

, where he was employed in the court of Marquis Ludovico III. Mantua under the Gonzagas was artistic center, employing Pisanello, Mantegna,

Perugino Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil. Ea ...

Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sens ...

Leon Battista Alberti Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer; he epitomised the nature of those identified now as polymaths. H ...

Giulio Romano Giulio Romano (, ; – 1 November 1546), is the acquired name of Giulio Pippi, who was an Italian painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the sixteenth-cent ...

, and Rubens. At Mantua, Fancelli became clerk of works and supervisory architect for the churches of San Sebastiano (1460), and

Sant'Andrea Sant'Andrea is the Italian language, Italian name for List of saints named Andrew, St. Andrew, most commonly Andrew the Apostle. It may refer to: Communes in Italy *Castronuovo di Sant'Andrea, Basilicata *Cazzano Sant'Andrea, Lombardy *Mazzarrà ...

(1472) while the plans for both churches were drawn by Alberti himself, Fancelli's input was large, especially at the church of Sant'Andrea, which was begun only shortly before Alberti's death. The Marquess of Mantua Federico I began work on a new royal palace in the city, and Fancelli received the commission to design a complex of rooms for new palace centred on its clock tower, this wing known as the ''Domus Nova'' ("New House"). Fancelli worked on from 1478 to 1484, but the palace itself remained incomplete until the 17th century. The final years of Fancelli's life are characteristically enigmatic; he disappears from all written references from 1494.

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fancelli, Luca 1430s births 15th-century deaths 15th-century Italian architects Architects from Florence Renaissance architects