Giorgio Vasari

“ Now this work does certainly merit to be celebrated as the best which Antonio ever performed, and that not without reasonable cause, for while he who constructs an entirely new building, erecting it from its foundations, has full power to raise or lower it at his pleasure, and to bring it to such perfection as he will or can, without impediment of any kind; he, on the contrary, who has to rectify or restore the edifice commenced by others, but who have succeeded badly, either by misfortune or by the inability of the artist, finds himself to possess none of these advantages ”

“ After speaking of Antonio’s return from Parma to Florence, Vasari proceeds to say: “And so, as it chanced that he looked about him in the streets as one does after a long absence on returning to the native place, he espied a young girl of most beautiful aspect, with whom for her beauty and her grace he forthwith fell in love; when conferring with his kindred respecting a marriage with this girl, they discouraged that purpose greatly, but in despite of all, and much to the discontent of his brother, he persisted in his intention, and fulfilled his wishes. ”

“ For what, of all the vast outlay made by the ancient Romans when at the topmost summit of their glory, what other has remained to us, upholding the eternal splendour of the Roman name, what but those relics of buildings which we honour almost as something holy, and labour incessantly to imitate as the sole erections really beautiful? ”

“ And if this masterpiece of care and prudence were upon the earth instead of being hidden as it is beneath it, the work would cause the boldest genius to stand amazed, for which cause the name and fame of this admirable artist must ever retain a place among those most distinguished in the domain of art. ”

“ Pope Paul III., while he was still Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, had already brought that fabric to a considerable height, the first floor in the principal front was in process of construction, the inner hall and one side of the court-yard were likewise erected, but the building had not proceeded to such extent as to display the perfection of its details, when the Cardinal, being elected. Pontiff, Antonio changed the whole plan, since it appeared to him that he had no longer to erect the palace of a Cardinal, but of a Pope. ”

“ At the death of Antonio Sangallo, there remained behind him his brother, Battista Gobbo, a man of considerable ingenuity, who had devoted nearly the whole of his time to the buildings of his brother, but was not treated very well by him. This Battista did not live many years after Antonio, and when he died he left all that he possessed to the Florentine Brotherhood of the Misericordia in Rome, but with the condition that they should cause to be printed a book of Remarks on Vitruvius, which he had written. ”

“ Antonio had meanwhile already acquired the reputation of possessing considerable ability in architecture, and was reputed to give evidence of a very good manner in building; this caused Alessandro, who was first Cardinal Farnese, and afterwards Pope Paul III., to conceive the idea of restoring, by his help, the old palace in the Campo di Fiore, in which he dwelt together with his family; and Antonio, anxious to put himself forward, prepared numerous designs in different manners. ”

“ It was nevertheless a great mistake to bring the fabric so close to the river, and their having done so proves that there was but little discretion in those who were then chief of the Florentine nation in Rome. It is certain that architects should never be permitted to found a church of such extent in a river so violent, for the mere sake of obtaining some twenty braccia of length, thereby casting away so many thousands of scudi for no better purpose than that of having ever afterwards to maintain an eternal combat with the waters. ”

“ It is manifest therefore, that architects, and all else who have to do with the erection of buildings, should think much and well of the end, taking every thing carefully into consideration, before they lay hands on a work of importance. [10]
But to return to Antonio: this architect restored the Fortress of Monte Fiascone, which had been constructed by Pope Urban, and for the restoration of which he received commission from the Pontiff, who took him to those parts one summer in liis train. ”

“ This model, by which San Gallo acquired a very great increase of fame, was engraved and published after his death, together with the ground-plan of the whole edifice, by Antonio Labacco, who proposed thereby to make known the extent of ability possessed by San Gallo, and also to the end that all men might learn what had been the real opinions and intentions of that architect, seeing that new orders of a totally opposite character had been given by Michelagnolo, and out of these changes and new arrangements there had arisen many disputes and contentions, as will be related in the proper place. ”

“ He laid out many streets also in the same place, and prepared designs for numerous houses and palaces by commission from the citizens thereof. His Holiness then caused the bastions of Rome, which are of great strength, to be constructed, and the Gate of Santo Spirito being included among these works; this last was built after the design and under the direction of Antonio, by whom it was adorned with decorations of Travertine, in the rustic manner. This work unites so much strength with its extraordinary magnificence, that it may well bear comparison with the labours of antiquity. ”

“ But what can, or should great men and princes do the most effectually to profit by the various endowments of those who serve them, and to maintain the memories of such men and of themselves in perpetual duration, if not to erect great and magnificent edifices? ”

“ Antonio enlarged and increased the strength of the piers in the above-named church of San Pietro, to the intent that the weight of the tribune might repose securely thereon, he also filled in all the scattered parts of the foundations with solid material, and thereby rendered the whole so strong, that there is now no cause of fear lest the fabric should display further cracks, nor is there any chance of its being in danger of falling as was the case in the time of Bramante. ”

“ To this hall the master added a magnificent staircase, forming the communication between the Sistine Chapel and the church of San Pietro: this also is so beautiful and commodious an erection, that nothing better has ever been seen, whether among the ancients or moderns. The Pauline Chapel, wherein the sacrament is deposited, is likewise by Antonio Sangallo, and is a building of singularly beautiful and attractive character ”

“ Over these chambers, moreover, Antonio raised others, which were exceedingly commodious, although the construction thereof was a very difficult undertaking by reason of the new foundations required for the same. On this point Antonio was of a truth very skilful, his buildings never show a crack, nor has there ever been one among the architects of modern times who has proved himself to be more cautious, or who has displayed greater prudence in the execution of masonry. ”

“ It was under the direction of the same architect, that almost the whole of the foundations beneath the Apostolic Palace were strengthened and restored; many parts besides those we have mentioned, being in great danger of ruin, more particularly on one side of the Sistine Chapel, that whereon are the works of Michelagnolo namely, and on the façade also. This Antonio effected in such a manner, that not the slightest cleft or crack was afterwards perceptible; a work in which there was more danger than honour. ”

“ Thus it happened one morning, while the Pontiff was at breakfast in the Belvidere, that these collected designs were laid before his Holiness in the presence of Antonio, the masters proposing these plans being Perino del Yaga, Fra Bastiano del Piombo, Michelagnolo Buonarroti, and Giorgio Vasari, who was then very young and in the service of the Cardinal Farnese, by commission from whom and from the Pope, he had prepared not one only but two designs of different character for that work. ”

“ The unfortunate arts were already beginning to suffer great wrong from Adrian’s modes of thinking, when Heaven, taking pity upon them, decreed that by the death of one man thousands should receive new life ”

“ It appeared to Michelagnolo and to many others also, by whom the model of Antonio Sangallo has been examined, and who have seeri such portions of the work as were executed by him, that he has injured the effect of the whole, and diminished its force, by the many ressaults and divisions which he has adopted, and by members which are too small, as are the columns for example, and those arches above arches and cornices over cornices with which he has loaded his work. ”

“ We find that even as early as the times of the ancient Romans, the dwellers in Terni and the men of Narni were ever at the bitterest enmity with each other, and so does it remain with those people to the present day ”

“ For the labour he had given to this model of his and for various designs presented by him, Antonio was adjudged by the superintendents who were over the fabric of San Pietro to receive a sum of fifteen hundred scudi, and of these he was at once paid a thousand, but he never received the remainder, seeing that shortly after he had completed such model he passed to the other life. ”

“ San Gallo had his disciple Labacco to assist him in this work, and Pier Francesco da Viterbo, a very skilful engineer, was also there, as was the Veronese architect Michele da San Michele; when all together they brought the designs for those fortifications to perfection. Antonio then left the others remaining there and returned to Rome. [14] Here he received a commission from the Pope to build certain apartments in the Papal palace, where there was but little convenience in respect to the chambers ”

“ The edifice was commenced accordingly; a certain portion being regularly constructed every year.
The church of Santa Maria di Loreto in Lome, which is situate at the Macello de’ Corbi, near the Column of Trajan, was at this time in course of erection, and was finished by Antonio with decorations of the utmost beauty; [4] soon after the completion of this work, Messer Marchionne Baldassini caused a Palace to be erected near Sant’ Agostino, after the designs and under the direction of Antonio. ”