Girolamo Sartonio, also known as Hieronimo Sartorio and Geronimo Sartorio (died April 1707 in Venice), was an innovative Italian architect and engineer who worked mainly the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

cities of

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

and

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

. His designs were based on

Palladian architecture Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

. He was a noted expert in the installation of stage equipment and theatrical machinery and also worked as a builder or consulting architect on the construction of various opera houses, such as the

Oper am Gänsemarkt The Oper am Gänsemarkt was a theatre in Hamburg, Germany, built in 1678 after plans of Girolamo Sartorio at the Gänsemarkt square. It was the first public opera house to be established in Germany: not a court opera, as in many other towns. ...

in Hamburg. He is also credited with the beginnings of

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 ...

in Leipzig and the construction of the opera house in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

.Melania Bucciarelli, Norbert Dubowy, Reinhard Strohm:
Italian Opera in Central Europe
'. Vol 1. Berlin: Berliner-Wissenschafts-Verlag, 2006. p. 84

Family

Born in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, Girolamo was the brother of Venetian composers

Antonio Sartorio Antonio Sartorio (1630 – 30 December 1680) was an Italian composer active mainly in Venice, Italy, and in Hanover, Germany. He was a leading composer of operas in his native Venice in the 1660s and 1670s and was also known for composing in o ...

(1630–1680) and Gasparo Sartorio (1625–1680). In 1673 he married Emerantia Gertrud von Wintheim, the daughter of Erich von Wintheim, in Hanover and he became a citizen of the principality in 1674.

Life and work

Between 1667 and 1685 Sartorio was the Building Administrator in the service of

John Frederick, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg John Frederick (; 25 April 1625 in Herzberg am Harz – 18 December 1679 in Augsburg) was duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He ruled over the Principality of Calenberg, a subdivision of the duchy, from 1665 until his death. The third son of George, ...

and then

Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg Ernest Augustus (; 20 November 1629 – 23 January 1698), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, was Prince of Principality of Calenberg, Calenberg from 1679 until his death, and father of George I of Great Britain. He was appointed as the ninth prince-ele ...

. During his time he led significant construction projects that beautified the city, including the expansion of the

Herrenhausen Gardens The Herrenhausen Gardens (, ) of Herrenhausen Palace are located in Herrenhausen, an urban district of Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. Dating to the era of the King of Hanover, Kings of Hanover, they comprise Great Garden (), Ber ...

and

Leineschloss The Leine Palace (), situated on the Leine in Hanover, Germany, is a former residence of the Hanoverian dukes, electors and kings. It is now the seat of the parliament () of Lower Saxony. The first building on the site was a Franciscan friar ...

Palace, where he installed a theater and worked on external decorations, the Kapuzinerflügel wing and the court chapel. He also designed the bridge from the Leineschloss across the

Leine The Leine (; Old Saxon ''Lagina'') is a river in Thuringia and Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Aller and the Weser and is long. The river's source is located close to the town of Leinefelde in Thuringia. About downriver ...

River and the Neustädter Kirche, built 1667 to 1670 as an early

aisleless church An aisleless church () is a single-nave church building that consists of a single hall-like room. While similar to the hall church, the aisleless church lacks aisles or passageways on either side of the nave and separated from the nave by col ...

. He presented a model for the Parnaßbrunnen fountain on the Neustädter Markt in 1671. During his time in Hanover he wrote a report for the construction of a library in

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel (district), Wolfenbüttel Distri ...

, on a request of

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in addition to ...

, then a librarian there. Sartorio was then called to design the first public opera house in Germany and first opera house in Hamburg, the

, and construct the stage. It opened in 1678. In 1692/93 he was in Leipzig, where he established the first opera theatre of the city on the Brühl, opened in 1693. From 1696 he worked in

as Oberbaumeister, responsible for military buildings from 1704.

Literature

* Wilhelm Rothert, A. Rothert, M. Peters: ''Hannoversche Biographie'', vol. 3: ''Hannover unter dem Kurhut, 1645–1815'', Hannover 1912, p. 514 * Eduard Schuster: ''Kunst und Künstler in den Fürstentümern Calenberg und Lüneburg in der Zeit von 1636–1727'', Hannover 1905, p. 204 * Helmut Zimmermann: ''Zur Herkunft italienischer Kunsthandwerker im norddeutschen Barock'', in: ''Niederdeutsche Beiträge zur Kunstgeschichte'', vol. 34 (1995), p. 150f * Bernd Adam: ''Neue Funde zum barocken Ausbau der Schlossanlage in Hannover-Herrenhausen'', in: ''Niederdeutsche Beiträge zur Kunstgeschichte'', vol. 40 (2001), p. 61–66

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sartorio, Girolamo Republic of Venice architects 1707 deaths 17th-century Italian architects Italian expatriates in Germany Year of birth missing Engineers from Venice Architects from Hanover