Alessandro Galilei
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Alessandro Maria Gaetano Galilei (25 August 1691 – 21 December 1737) was an Italian mathematician,
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 theorist, and a distant relative of
Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...
.


Biography

Born in
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
to the patrician Galilei family, he received architectural and engineering training from , an outstanding figure of the Accademia dei Nobili, who lectured and wrote a treatise on perspective, fortifications and artillery. With him young Galilei worked on the study of building techniques, stereometry, hydraulics.


Visit to England

Visiting English ''
milord ''Milord'' () is a term for an Englishman, especially a Nobles, noble, traveling in Continental Europe. The term was used in both French and English from the 16th century. It derives ultimately from the English phrase "my lord", which was lingui ...
''s were impressed with the classicism of his early designs, and he was invited by a party of English to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in 1714. There he participated in a variety of architectural projects, most notably collaborating with the civic engineer Nicholas Dubois. The only other notable Italian architect in London at the time was
Giacomo Leoni Giacomo Leoni (; 1686 – 8 June 1746), also known as James Leoni, was an List of Italian architects, Italian architect, born in Venice. He was a devotee of the work of Florence, Florentine Renaissance architecture, Renaissance architect Leon Ba ...
. The two architects shared a classicising bent that appealed to the English but was at odds with current
Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
architectural practice in Italy. Nevertheless, aside from a funerary monument, no major commissions were forthcoming.


Visit to Ireland

In May 1717, Robert, Viscount Molesworth wrote to his wife Letitia that 'I will carry with me the best architect in Europe'. He later brought Galilei to Ireland in 1718 for approximately 6 months. There, when William Conolly, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons and the richest man in Ireland was just beginning to build Castletown House, near
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
in County Kildare, he met Galilei. Galilei designed the façade of the main block of Castletown, the grandest Palladian house in Ireland, but returned to Italy in 1719 and was not associated with the actual construction of the house, which was begun in 1722 and carried through by the young Anglo-Irish architect
Edward Lovett Pearce Edward Lovett Pearce (1699 – 7 December 1733) was an Irish architect, and the chief exponent of Palladianism in Ireland. He is thought to have initially studied as an architect under his father's first cousin, Sir John Vanbrugh. He is best ...
, who met Galilei in Florence while he was making drawings of
Palladio Andrea Palladio ( , ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one ...
's villas on his tour of Italy. and would introduce
Neo-Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Republic of Venice, Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetr ...
architecture in Ireland. A portrait of Galilei by Giuseppe Berti, signed and dated 1735, has recently been purchased for Castletown House. He returned to England later in the year.


Return to Florence

Once more in Florence after 1719, Galilei was appointed ''Ingegnere delle fortezze e fabbriche di corte'' ("Engineer of court buildings and fortresses") of the
Grand Dukes of Tuscany This is a list of grand dukes of Tuscany. The title was created on 27 August 1569 by a papal bull of Pope Pius V to Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo I de' Medici, member of the illustrious House of Medici. His coronation took pl ...
, Cosimo III and Gian Gastone de' Medici, last of the Medici grand dukes, neither of whom, however, could provide him with architectural projects suited to his talents. Galilei's projects during this period included a renovation of the choir of Cortona Cathedral that featured a severely classical triumphal arch motif, additions to the Villa Venuti, at Catrosse, near Cortona, for Domenico Girolamo Venuti, and a design (1724) for the oratory of the Church of the Madonna del Vivaio (since rebuilt) in
Scarperia Scarperia is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' (municipality) of Scarperia e San Piero, located in the Metropolitan City of Florence, in Tuscany, Italy, about north of Florence. It was an independent comune until 1 January 2014. Main sights * Ch ...
, Tuscany. In 1730 the Florentine patrician Lorenzo Corsini was elected as
Pope Clement XII Pope Clement XII (; ; 7 April 16526 February 1740), born Lorenzo Corsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 July 1730 to his death in February 1740. Clement presided over the growth of a surplus in the papal ...
and called Galilei to Rome in 1731 to build his family's chapel, the ''Cappella Corsini'' in the
Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano The Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran (officially the ''Major Papal, Patriarchal and Roman Archbasilica, Metropolitan and Primatial Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in Lateran, Mother and Head of A ...
(completed 1732). During the next six years, Galilei created all of his most notable works, which were executed in a Classical, anti-
Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
style. The most notable of these was the façade of San Giovanni in Laterano, a commission awarded after a competition (1733–1736). The monumental severity and
palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...
character of the façade caused a scandal in Roman artistic circles but was admired later in the century by French and British neoclassicists. Galilei also built the more conventionally Baroque façade for
San Giovanni dei Fiorentini The Basilica of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini ("Saint John of the Florentines") is a minor basilica and a titular church in the Ponte (rione of Rome), Ponte ''Rioni of Rome, rione'' of Rome, Italy. Dedicated to St. John the Baptist, the protector ...
(1734), where the cornice between lower and upper stages breaks forward at center and ends, and niches between engaged
Corinthian columns The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order, which was the earliest, ...
and sculptural detail all provide the Baroque light-and-shade. He died in Rome.


Notable works


Ireland

* Drumcondra House, Dublin (1727) - likely had some input into the design of the south facade and temple folly * Castletown House, County Kildare (1718) - drawings which were later partially executed by
Edward Lovett Pearce Edward Lovett Pearce (1699 – 7 December 1733) was an Irish architect, and the chief exponent of Palladianism in Ireland. He is thought to have initially studied as an architect under his father's first cousin, Sir John Vanbrugh. He is best ...
. * St. Werburgh's Church, Dublin (1715) - designed a church for the site without a tower, elements of this design were later incorporated into the finished building *
St. Ann's Church, Dawson Street St. Ann's Church on Dawson Street in Dublin, Ireland is a Church of Ireland church, constructed originally around 1720 following the establishment of the local Anglican parish in 1707. In the early 21st century the church presents itself as ...
(1719) - completed drawings of a proposed entrance elevation for the church which were later completed by Isaac Wills of Thomas Burgh's office


Italy

*
San Giovanni dei Fiorentini The Basilica of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini ("Saint John of the Florentines") is a minor basilica and a titular church in the Ponte (rione of Rome), Ponte ''Rioni of Rome, rione'' of Rome, Italy. Dedicated to St. John the Baptist, the protector ...
(1734) - baroque facade * St. John Lateran, Rome (1735)


References


External links


''Catholic Encyclopedia'':
"Alessandro Galilei"

(photograph) Death date in inscription.

(photographs) {{DEFAULTSORT:Galilei, Alessandro 1691 births 1737 deaths Architects from Florence 18th-century Italian mathematicians Scientists from the Grand Duchy of Tuscany Scientists from Florence Alessandro