Francesco De Marchi (architect)

Francesco De Marchi ( Rijksmuseum Amsterdam )

Francesco De Marchi also Francesco de Marchi (born in early 1504 in Bologna ; died February 15, 1576 in L'Aquila ) was an Italian courtier , architect, engineer and author of the Renaissance . He was particularly concerned with fortress architecture. He gained notoriety posthumously through the first ascent of the 2912 m high Corno Grande , the highest point of the Gran Sasso massif .

Life

De Marchi came from a family of wood carvers from Crema who settled in Bologna in the mid-15th century. Around 1520 he left his hometown for unknown reasons, to which he never returned for the rest of his life. Nevertheless, he had a lot in common with Bologna, from which the mother of his two illegitimate children, Marc'Antonio and his beloved daughter Cleopatra, came. After gaining fame, he was inducted into the civil role of Bologna in 1558 .

Little is known about his life until 1530. There are only indications in his writings that he witnessed some significant historical events during the Italian wars , without specifying his role in them. There are indications of a participation on the part of Emperor Charles V in the Battle of Pavia in 1525, in the fall of Castello Sforzesco in Milan after its months-long siege in 1526, or the triumphant entry of the Emperor into Bologna in 1530 during the conflict against the Holy League of Cognac . De Marchi was also present at the siege of Florence (October 1529 - August 1530) by the Imperialists.

In 1531 he found himself in the service of the Florence regent Alessandro de 'Medici called "il Moro". The years at the court of the Medici proved very instructive for the thirsty De Marchi. In 1535 he went to Rome on behalf of the Medici and stayed there for 16 years. In Rome he studied architecture and fortress architecture. In the same year he gained fame for the first time when he with the help of a rudimentary diving bell at the bottom of Nemi of the Roman emperor, the relics of two magnificent ships Caligula , later known as Nemi ships tried to salvage. He described the company in detail in his later published notes.

In 1536, in the wake of the Medici, he took part in his wedding to the illegitimate daughter of Charles V, Margaret of Parma . After the murder of "Moro" and the marriage of his widow to Ottavio Farnese in November 1538, De Marchi also switched to the Farnese's service . With the help of the Farnese he was able to nourish his almost inexhaustible thirst for knowledge. On behalf of or in the wake of the Farnese, he traveled extensively, made observations, and kept records. He was particularly interested in ancient and modern buildings. At the same time he frequented artists, intellectuals and scientists from all countries in Rome who were in the service of Pope Paul III. , also a Farnese, were active. Between 1542 and 1548 he took part in the planning and construction of the new city walls of Rome. At the same time he helped the architect Leonardo Bufalini with the creation of the first city map of Rome, which went to press in 1551. From 1542 until his death he worked on an extensive work on architecture based on the model of the work of Vitruvius and Leon Battista Alberti , which, however, remained unfinished. In 1543 he became a member of the Accademia dei Virtuosi al Pantheon . During his time in Rome, he focused his studies and work on fortress architecture. Even if his drawings stand out due to the self-taught artist's clumsy execution, they show innovative solutions in fortress construction for the time, which he zealously defended against the competition as his own work. Against his stay in Rome, he was accepted into the role of citizen by the Pope.

In 1550 he followed Margarethe to Parma , and in 1551 was awarded the title of Capitano (Italian for captain) for his services to fortress architecture. In Parma he was an artillery commissioner and advised on the modernization of the city fortifications. His main task, however, was the expansion of the ducal gun park. At the court of Margarethe he also met her half-brother Philip II , who showed interest in De Marchi's writing, which De Marchi had made on the artillery. In 1559 he moved to Brussels following Margaret's entourage , who had been appointed governor of the Habsburg Netherlands by Philip II, now King of Spain . Before her departure, Margarethe had appointed him a year earlier as "Supreme Commissioner" of the Farnese Ducal Palace in the conquered city of Piacenza .

During his eight-year stay in Flanders , he had extensive correspondence with the secretary of the Duke of Parma, from which much can be learned about his unpolished character. In the letters, however, he also reported extensively on the openly swelling conflicts between Protestants and Catholics in Flanders, and thus made a not insignificant source contribution to research into the conflict. The correspondence also shows his role as courtier at the court of Margarethe, who barely received enough money to buy paper for writing and drawing. In Flanders he asked in vain to be used in the artillery, even a job as a simple gunner would have been right for him. Margarethe did not release him from his duties at court and only granted him a few projects in the area of ​​fortress architecture. At this time he also experienced his greatest disappointment as a fortress architect, when in 1567 he presented several projects to Philip II for the construction of the citadel of Antwerp , but the king preferred that of his friend Francesco Paciotto . Many of his projects, including those in engineering, stayed on paper. He achieved a certain degree of success with the design of the wedding carriage by Alessandro Farnese, Margaret's son, who married Maria of Portugal in Brussels in 1565 . With this he introduced the fashion of the Italian state carriages in Belgium.

In 1568 Margarethe and with her De Marchi returned to Italy. Exhausted from her exhausting work in Flanders, she withdrew with her farm to her lands in Abruzzo . Despite his age, De Marchi suffered from the isolation. He would have loved to return to Rome. Nevertheless, he did not let himself be stopped in his thirst for action and so he was the first person to climb the Corno Grande, the highest point of the almost 3000 m high Gran Sasso massif, in August 1573 at the age of 69 in a little more than five hours, accompanied by some companions . The next day he also explored a grotto over 80 m deep at the foot of the massif. The first ascent of Gran Sasso was not officially recognized until 1938.

De Marchi died on February 15, 1576 after more than 42 years of service at the court of Margaret of Parma and was buried in the now defunct Church of St. Francis in L'Aquila.

Fonts

• Della Architettura Militare, del Capitanio Franc. de 'Marchi, Libri Tre. Nelli Qvali Si Descrivono Li Veri Modi, del fortificare, che si usa a 'tempi moderni con cento sessanta piante di città e fortezze. Con un Breve, Et Utile Trattato del modo di fabricar l'Artigliaria & la pratica di adoperarla, da quelli che hanno carico di essa . Rome 1546.

Posthumously:

• Trattato di architettura civile e militare in seven volumes from the 17th century.
• Cento lettere del capitano Francesco Marchi, bolognese, conservate nell'archivio governativo di Parma, ed ora per la prima volte recate in luce . Deputazione di storia patria, Parma 1864.

literature

• Daniela Lamberini:  De Marchi, Francesco. In: Massimiliano Pavan (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 38:  Della Volpe-Denza. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1990.
• Girolamo Bianconi: Le opere di Francesco Marchi nella Biblioteca Comunale di Bologna (1824) n.d., n.d. PDF

Web links

Commons : Francesco De Marchi  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Daniela Lamberini:  Francesco De Marchi. In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI).
2. ↑ Francesco De Marchi: primo esploratore della Grotta a Male del Gran Sasso il 20-08-1573. In: eneafiorentini.it. Retrieved May 22, 2020 (Italian). 
3. ↑ Francesco De Marchi Ingegnere militare da Bologna: Il Corno Monte - Cronaca della prima ascensione sulla vetta del Gran Sasso d'Italia effettuata il 19 agosto 1573 dal versanta aquilano. In: vecchiegloriedelgransasso.it. Retrieved May 22, 2020 (Italian).