Francesco Sabatini (1721 – 19 February 1797), also known as Francisco Sabatini, 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 ...

who worked in Spain.

Biography

Born in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, he studied

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

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, ...

. His first contacts with the

Spanish monarchy The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish monarchy is constitu ...

was when he participated in the construction of the

Palace of Caserta The Royal Palace of Caserta ( ; ) is a former royal residence in Caserta, Campania, north of Naples in southern Italy, constructed by the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies as their main residence as Kingdom of Naples, kings of Naples. The complex ...

for the King of

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, Charles VII, the future King

Charles III of Spain Charles III (; 20 January 1716 – 14 December 1788) was King of Spain in the years 1759 to 1788. He was also Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Charles I (1731–1735); King of Naples, as Charles VII; and King of Sicily, as Charles III (or V) (1735� ...

. When he was raised to the Spanish throne, he called Sabatini to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

in 1760, where he was positioned above the most outstanding Spanish architects of the time. He was appointed as Great Master of Royal Works, with the rank of lieutenant colonel at the Engineers Corps, simultaneously designated also as an honorary academician of the Academia Real de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. Sabatini's works are all encompassed within the neoclassical tradition, but he was not inspired fundamentally by

ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

and Rome, but by Italian

Renaissance architecture Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

. His talent as an architect and the king's support king resulted in many commissions and professional recognition. He was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

of the Engineers Corps, was granted the degree of Knight of the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; ) is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the patron saint of Spain, ''Santiago'' ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgrims on the Way of S ...

, and had direct access to the innermost royal circle after his designation as ''gentilhombre de camara'' (Gentleman of the Royal Chamber). The Sabatini Gardens (located in front of the north facade of the Royal Palace of Madrid, between the Bailén street and the hill of San Vicente) were not designed by him; they were created in the 1930s on the site formerly occupied by the

stables A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...

constructed by Sabatini. Furthermore, Sabatini was responsible for building the Arms Factory of Toledo, the headquarters for the Walloon Guards in Leganés (presently part of the

Charles III University of Madrid University Charles III of Madrid () (UC3M) is a public university in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Established in 1989, UC3M is an institution with a distinctly international profile. It offers a broad range of master's and bachelor's degree p ...

), a convent in

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

(Santa Ana) and another one in

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

(Comendadoras of Santiago) and the well-known Chapel of the Immaculate in the

Burgo de Osma Cathedral The Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in El Burgo de Osma, Spain. It was built in the Gothic architecture, Gothic architectural style, and was constructed on an area previously occupied by a Romanesque chur ...

. He died in Madrid on February 19, 1797.

Works

Among his numerous works the most important were: *Works of the Royal Palace of Madrid until its conclusion (1760–1764). *Planning of the

sewage Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewerage, sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged fro ...

system of Madrid, which was paved with stones and cleaned (1761–1765) for the urban reform of the city of Madrid. * Royal Customs House in the Alcala Street (1761–1769), present seat of the Ministry of Property. *Tombs of

Ferdinand VI of Spain Ferdinand VI (; 23 September 1713 – 10 August 1759), called the Learned (''el Prudente'') and the Just (''el Justo''), was King of Spain from 9 July 1746 until his death in 1759. He was the third ruler of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty. He was the ...

and Bárbara de Braganza, located in the Church of Santa Barbara of the

Convent of the Salesas Reales The Convent of the Salesas Reales is an 18th-century architectural complex in central Madrid, Spain. Formerly a convent, specifically the convent of the Visitación de Nuestra Señora (Visitation (Christianity), Visitation of Our Lady), it was cons ...

, with Francisco Gutiérrez Arribas. * Convent of San Pascual, in

Aranjuez Aranjuez () is a city and municipality of Spain, part of the Community of Madrid. Located in the southern end of the region, the main urban nucleus lies on the left bank of the Tagus, a bit upstream of the discharge of the Jarama. , the munici ...

(1765–1770). *Renovation of Cuesta de San Vicente (1767–1777). *Prolongation of the Southeastern wing of the Royal Palace begins (1772). *Reconstruction of the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

of the Comendadoras of Santiago (1773). * Puerta de Alcalá (1774–1778). *Direction of works of the Basilica of San Francisco el Grande (1774–1784). * Puerta de San Vicente (1775). *Casa de los Secretarios de Estado y del Despacho, also known as the Palace of the Marquess de Grimaldi and Palace of Godoy (1776). *Continuation of the works of the General Hospital that José de Hermosilla had initiated (1776–1781) during the reign of Ferdinand VI (at the present time the

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía The ''Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía'' ("Queen Sofía National Museum Art Centre"; MNCARS) is Spain's national museum of 20th-century art. The museum was officially inaugurated on September 10, 1992, and is named for Queen Sofía. I ...

) *Convent of Franciscan of San Gil in the Prado de Leganitos (1786–1797), recently transformed by Manuel Martín Rodriguez. *Change of the direction of the main stairs of the Royal Palace by desire of

Charles IV of Spain Charles IV (; 11 November 1748 – 20 January 1819) was King of Spain and ruler of the Spanish Empire from 1788 to 1808. The Spain inherited by Charles IV gave few indications of instability, but during his reign, Spain entered a series of disa ...

. *Reconstruction of the Plaza Mayor de Madrid after the 1790 fire, together with Juan de Villanueva. *The project of creating a military base in Leganés. Sabatini planned Cuartel de Saboya's construction. However, the person in charge of building this military complex was José de Hermosilla, who finished it in 1783. Currently, this place belongs to the

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabatini, Francesco 1721 births 1797 deaths Architects from Palermo Italian neoclassical architects 18th-century Italian architects Italian expatriates in Spain