Matteo Nigetti (ca. 1560/1570 – 1648) was an Italian architect and sculptor. He is an important Baroque architect in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

Biography

Born in Florence, he was the pupil and assistant of Bernardo Buontalenti, with whom he collaborated on the Palazzo Nonfinito (1593) (i.e. the ''unfinished palace'', which now houses the National Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology in Florence). Nigetti's masterwork is the Cappella dei Principi ("Princes' Chapel"), part of the church of

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

in Florence. It was commissioned by Grand Duke

Ferdinand I Ferdinand I or Fernando I may refer to: People * Ferdinand I of León, ''the Great'' (ca. 1000–1065, king from 1037) * Ferdinand I of Portugal and the Algarve, ''the Handsome'' (1345–1383, king from 1367) * Ferdinand I of Aragon and Sicily, '' ...

, and Nigetti spent forty years of his life, from 1604 until his death, in its completion. He was assisted by Don Giovanni de' Medici, Ferdinand's half-brother, and

Alessandro Pieroni Alessandro Pieroni (18 April 1550 in Impruneta – 24 July 1607 in Livorno) was an Italian architect and painter. He was active mainly in a Mannerist style, working for the courts of Grandukes Francesco I and Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke ...

. In parallel, Nigetti was one of the main architects, along with

Gherardo Silvani Gherardo Silvani (1579–1675) was an Italian architect and sculptor, active mainly in Florence and other sites in Tuscany during the Baroque period. Biography His son Pierfrancesco also became an architect. He worked on the Palazzo Corsini ...

, who produced the church of San Gaetano, Florence, developing an original design by Buontalenti. Nigetti also designed the original façade of the Ognissanti church. His brother Giovanni, also an architect, often collaborated with him.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nigetti, Matteo 16th-century births 1648 deaths Sculptors from Florence 17th-century Italian architects Architects from Florence Italian Baroque architects 16th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors 17th-century Italian sculptors