Baccio Pontelli (c. 1449 – c. 1494) was an Italian architect and worker in wood inlays, who designed the

Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel ( ; ; ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the pope's official residence in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), it takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who had it built between 1473 and ...

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

. Baccio is an abbreviation of Bartolomeo. Pontelli was 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 ...

; in 1459 his father declared he was ten years old. He trained in artistic woodwork such as

marquetry Marquetry (also spelled as marqueterie; from the French ''marqueter'', to variegate) is the art and craft of applying pieces of wood veneer, veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns or designs. The technique may be applied to case furn ...

in the workshop of Giuliano and Benedetto da Maiano in Florence, and was influenced by

Francesco di Giorgio Martini Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439–1501) was an Italian architect, engineer, painter, sculptor, and writer. As a painter, he belonged to the Sienese School. He was considered a visionary architectural theorist—in Nikolaus Pevsner's terms ...

during a trip to Urbino (1480–1482), where he worked on the Studiolo of Duke Federico de Montefeltro, in the Palazzo Ducale, Urbino. He worked in Florence and later in Urbino on inlays. Acting as an architect in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, he participated in the pope

Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV (or Xystus IV, ; born Francesco della Rovere; (21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 until his death in 1484. His accomplishments as pope included ...

's urban renewal. His exact contributions are unclear; he was perhaps given more work supervising construction than designing. The tendency of

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 ...

to attribute most Papal building commissions in the period to his fellow-Florentine has rather confused matters. That said, his projects included: Santa Aurea and fortifications in Ostia; the

Ponte Sisto Ponte Sisto is a bridge in Rome's historic centre, spanning the river Tiber. It connects Via dei Pettinari in the Rioni of Rome, Rione of Regola (rione of Rome), Regola to Piazza Trilussa in Trastevere. History The construction of the current bri ...

in Rome; the hospital of

Santo Spirito in Sassia Church of the Holy Spirit in the Saxon District (Italian language, Italian: ''La chiesa di Santo Spirito in Sassia'') is a 12th-century Titular church, titular church in Rome, Italy. It is in ''Borgo Santo Spirito'', a street which got its name fr ...

; the church Sant'Agostino; the facade of Santa Maria del Popolo; San Pietro in Vincoli; Santi Apostoli and design for the

. In the last years of his life he worked in the

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

region on the military fortresses of Acquaviva Picena

Jesi Jesi () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Ancona, in the Italian region of Marche. It is an important industrial and artistic center in the floodplain on the left (north) bank of the Esino river, before its mouth on the Adria ...

Osimo Osimo is a town and ''comune'' of the Marche region of Italy, in the province of Ancona. The municipality covers a hilly area located approximately south of the port city of Ancona and the Adriatic Sea. History The oldest archaeological evide ...

and

Senigallia Senigallia (or Sinigaglia in Old Italian; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and port town on Italy's Adriatic Sea, Adriatic coast. It is situated in the province of Ancona, in the Italian region of Marche, and lies approximately 30 kilometres nor ...

. In 1494 he is recorded working at various places in the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

. He died at

Urbino Urbino ( , ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, southwest of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially und ...

and is buried in the church of St Dominic it there, where a nephew placed an epitaph in 1577.Gritti

Notes

References

*Gritti, Jessica
"Pontelli, Bacio"
''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 84 (2015)'' (online at Traccani, in Italian) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pontelli, Baccio 15th-century Italian architects Architects from Florence Italian Renaissance architects 1449 births 1494 deaths