Alessandro Pieroni (18 April 1550 in

Impruneta Impruneta is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence, in the Italian region of Tuscany. The population is about 15,000. Name and production The name Impruneta is derived from ''inprunetis'' meaning "within the pine woods", and ...

– 24 July 1607 in

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

) was an Italian architect and painter. He was active mainly in a

Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

style, working for the courts of Grandukes Francesco I and

Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (30 July 1549 – 17 February 1609) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1587 to 1609, having succeeded his older brother Francesco I, who presumably died from malaria. Early life Ferdinando was the ...

Biography

Pieroni was also known as the ''Sandrino dall' Impruneta''. He was born in Florence in 1550 where he graduated from the

Accademia del Disegno The Accademia delle Arti del Disegno ("Academy of the Arts of Drawing") is an academy of artists in Florence, in Italy. It was founded on 13 January 1563 by Cosimo I de' Medici, under the influence of Giorgio Vasari. It was initially known as ...

in 1570. He began his career as an assistant to Alessandro Allori. Allori led the team between 1587 and 1591, including Pieroni, Giovanni Bizelli, Giovanni Maria Butteri, and a young

Cigoli Lodovico or Ludovico Cardi (21 September 1559 – 8 June 1613), also known as Cigoli, was an Italian painter and architect of the late Mannerist and early Baroque period, trained and active in his early career in Florence, and spending the last ...

in decorating the ceilings of the corridors of the

Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery ( ; , ) is a prominent art museum adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one of th ...

in Florence. For the chapel of San Giovan Gualberto in the Abbey of San Michele in Passignano, Pieroni painted an altarpiece of ''San Giovan Gualberto pardons the murderers of his brother before the crucifix of

San Miniato San Miniato is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pisa, in the region of Tuscany, Italy. San Miniato sits at a historically strategic location atop three small hills where it dominates the lower Arno valley, between the valleys of the E ...

''. For the visit of Grand-Duke Ferdinand to

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

in 1588, Pieroni completed, along with the painter Filippo Paladino, a canvas for the church of the Santo Stefano dei Cavalieri, depicting scenes from the life of Santo Stefano Martire. He also helped design the facade.

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ideol ...

likely also participated in the design of the ceiling decorations. He painted an altarpiece for the Cappella dei Principi in the church of San Lorenzo. While serving as an artist in the court, he was commissioned works to celebrate the weddings of the Medici. In 1589, he was among the artists engaged in the elaborate decorations to celebrate the marriage of Ferdinando I and Cristina di Lorraine, painting the ''Defeat of Gian Galeazzo Visconti at Mantua''. With

Bernardo Buontalenti Bernardo Timante Buonacorsi ( – June 1608), known as Bernardo Buontalenti () and sometimes by the nickname "Bernardo delle Girandole", was an Italian Scenic design, stage designer, architect, theatrical designer, Military engineering, military ...

, he also made scenography for the Theater at the Uffizi, for the 1600 presentation of the comedy ''La Pellegrina'' and also made decorations to celebrate the wedding of

Marie de' Medici Marie de' Medici (; ; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV. Marie served as regent of France between 1610 and 1617 during the minority of her son Louis XIII. Her mandate as rege ...

to Henry IV of France. As an architect, he worked with

in the design of fortifications of the Belvedere in Florence and the Corsini Chapel in church of the

Carmine Carmine ()also called cochineal (when it is extracted from the Cochineal, cochineal insect), cochineal extract, crimson Lake pigment, lake, or carmine lake is a pigment of a bright-red color obtained from the aluminium coordination complex, compl ...

, and the facade of Santa Maria del Fiore. In

Volterra Volterra (; Latin: ''Volaterrae'') is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its history dates from before the 8th century BC and it has substantial structures from the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval periods. History ...

, he helped design the Chapel of St Paul for the Admiral Jacopo Inghirami (and paint the main altarpiece). Many of his architectural skills were focused on Livorno. When confronted by the Grand Duke about the size of the Cathedral of Livorno (built 1594-1606), he replied that public works can never be too large. He also helped design the church of the Madonna (begun in 1607), the church of the Greci Uniti (1606), and the Synagogue of Livorno (1603). He helped design porticos for the Piazza d'Armi. His son Giovanni de Galliano Pieroni was an architect; in addition, the elder Pieroni collaborated with Don Giovanni de' Medici, the illegitimate son of Cosimo who dabbled in architecture, mainly the facade of Santo Stefano dei Cavalieri in Pisa. Pieroni died on 24 July 1607 in Livorno where a street, Via Alessandro Pieroni, is named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pierono, Alessandro 1550 births 1607 deaths 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters Italian Mannerist painters People from Impruneta