Antonio Niccolini (architect)
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Antonio Niccolini (21 April 1772 – 8 May 1850) was an Italian architect, scenic designer, and engraver.


Biography

Niccolini was born in San Miniato al Tedesco,
Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...
. He grew up in the
Grand Duchy of Tuscany The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (; ) was an Italian monarchy located in Central Italy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1860, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In the 19th century the population ...
, where his father, who worked as a
prison guard A prison officer (PO) or corrections officer (CO), also known as a correctional law enforcement officer or less formally as a prison guard, is a uniformed law enforcement official responsible for the custody, supervision, safety, and regulation ...
, was interested in architecture and encouraged his son when, at the age of 14, he began to make drawings of buildings 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 ...
and to study the treatises of
Vitruvius Vitruvius ( ; ; –70 BC – after ) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled . As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissan ...
, Alberti and
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 ...
. He painted frescoes of architectural views in the workshop of the painter Pasquale Cioffi and was introduced to the art of theatrical design by Francesco Fontanesi. Niccolini was greatly drawn to the culture and art of central Europe and was undoubtedly influenced also by the circle of the dramatist
Vittorio Alfieri Count Vittorio Amedeo Alfieri (, also , ; 16 January 17498 October 1803) was an Italians, Italian dramatist and poet, considered the "founder of Italian tragedy." He wrote nineteen tragedies, sonnets, satires, and a notable autobiography. Early l ...
who had founded an academic theatre in the Palazzo d’Albany, Florence, for which Niccolini painted the
scenery Theatrical scenery is that which is used as a setting for a theatrical production. Scenery may be just about anything, from a single chair to an elaborately re-created street, no matter how large or how small, whether the item was custom-made or ...
. He was also engaged in restoring and designing sets for a number of other Tuscan theatres, and his reputation for this work soon spread outside the Grand Duchy. In 1807, he was summoned to direct the stage design of the royal theatres in Naples, where he spent the rest of his life. He became a colleague of Antonio De Simone and of the French architect Étienne-Chérubin Leconte (1761–1818). Niccolini established his influence on the Neoclassical style in Naples when he was appointed director (1822–49) of the Istituto di Belle Arti and effected its reform. He very soon became involved with architecture and, to some extent, with urban planning. His fame is based essentially on the remodelling (1810–16) of the
Teatro San Carlo The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is a historic opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and a ...
and the radical enlargement of the
Villa Floridiana The Villa Floridiana is a monumental house located amid a large park in the Vomero quarter in Naples, southern Italy. It overlooks the western Neapolitan suburbs of Chiaia and Mergellina. History Construction of a villa at the site was begun by ...
(1817–19). The theatre was reconstructed in two phases, the second (1816) after a fire, and it is considered to be the supreme example of Neoclassical architecture in Naples. Its
façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...
is composed of an Ionic loggia above a rusticated five-arched
portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...
from which it is divided by a full-width balcony; the whole is crowned by a shallow pediment. The originality of this arrangement can be seen in the freedom with which Niccolini integrated and combined motifs from
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
sources with
archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
, scenographic and contemporary influences. The effect of the rustication was intended to be primarily visual. It extends as far as the springing of the arches and then becomes progressively less pronounced until towards the top it becomes almost flat
ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...
-work. The rebuilding of the Villa Floridiana and the layout of the gardens confirmed the qualities but also the limits of his work. The treatment of the grounds around the villa reveals his appreciation of the late 18th-century English Picturesque garden. The general proportions and formal characteristics of the villa and the accentuation of the central part of the façades show a personal elaboration in the manner of Palladio. Furthermore the motif of the broad axial staircase, which leads the eye up to the south façade and to a view of the whole, betrays a distinctly theatrical approach. The north façade has a projecting Doric portico and a pediment made wider to crown the entire central part of the façade. The upper storey is articulated with the
Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...
. Niccolini’s urban planning projects seldom progressed beyond the design stage, as was the case with various schemes he drew up between the years of French rule (1806–15) and 1848 for the area around the royal palace. One project that was realized was the staircase (1836) of the Villa di Capodimonte; it is theatrically disposed at the end of a road laid out during the Napoleonic period and is laden with Neoclassical and neo-Egyptian references. In his numerous stage designs, such as those for
Giacomo Tritto Giacomo Domenico Mario Antonio Pasquale Giuseppe Di Tritto (2 April 1733 – 16 September 1824) was an Italian composer, known primarily for his fifty-four operas. He was born in Altamura, and studied in Naples; among his teachers were Nicola ...
’s
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
''Cesare in Egitto'' (1810), and in his temporary architectural structures, such as those designed for the funeral of King Ferdinand I, the vocabulary of Neoclassicism was intertwined with Egyptian architectural motifs. Niccolini justified this combination, which was in line with European developments but without precedent in Naples, by reference to the
Hellenistic period In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...
in which Attic culture was enriched by the majestic forms of Egyptian Civilization. Niccolini was fully aware that in his time architecture was expected not only to display good formal characteristics but also to have a theoretical basis. Thoroughly up to date with the theories of his time, he affirmed that unity, variety, order, symmetry, proportion and the consonance of the parts should come together to form a balanced whole in which majesty, richness and intelligence were combined with a Greek elegance and simplicity. In the manuscript that accompanied the designs for the first project (1809) for the Teatro San Carlo, he identified the four immutable principles of architecture as solidity, beauty, convenience and economy and carefully demonstrated how they were closely adhered to in his scheme. As director of the Istituto di Belle Arti, the Scuola di Scenografia (founded 1816) and a school for artisans (founded 1825), Niccolini influenced the development of a large number of architects, stage designers and craftsmen. He also wrote essays on several different subjects, including art history and archaeology. Indefatigable, gifted and versatile, he found himself burdened with many tasks. Thus he made a formal request in 1826 to be excused from attending to the administrative duties of the works planned and directed by him and that ‘another person’ should be assigned to the job of ‘measuring, calculating and estimating the building costs’. In consequence, the designs for the completion of the royal palace at Capodimonte (1832–8) are now known to be by Niccolini, although Tommaso Giordano was in charge of the works and the accounts. In his last years, with the assistance of his son Fausto Niccolini, the architect Francesco Maria Del Giudice and a team of artists, he modernized the interior of the Teatro San Carlo (1841–4). Niccolini died in Naples, aged 78.


Writings

Niccolini published a number of treatises on architecture from
Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...
and
Herculaneum Herculaneum is an ancient Rome, ancient Roman town located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under a massive pyroclastic flow in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Like the nearby city of ...
, including: * * *


References


Bibliography

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Niccolini, Antonio 1772 births 1850 deaths 19th-century Italian architects Italian scenic designers Painters from Naples People from San Miniato Architects from Tuscany