Francesco Laparelli
Francesco Laparelli (born April 5, 1521 in Cortona , † October 26, 1570 in Crete ) was an Italian engineer and builder .
Life
Francesco Laparelli was a student of Michelangelo . When he took over the construction management of St. Peter's Basilica in 1547 , he entrusted Laparelli with the building supervision.
He was also the fortress architect of Cosimo I de 'Medici . In Cortona he built the fortress Fortezza Medicea o del Girifalco (1549–1556) and the bell tower of the Cathedral (Duomo) St. Margherita.
A fortress was to be built on Malta by Bartolomeo Genga in 1558 and by Baldassare Lanci in 1562 . From May to September 1565, starting from the height of Monte Sciberras , the siege of Malta by the Ottoman fleet took place.
At the end of 1565, Pope Pius IV († December 9, 1565) sent him to Malta, where he arrived on the last days of the year. On January 3, 1566, he presented his first report. The fortresses of Birgu, Senglea and St. Elmo were so badly damaged that it would take 4 months, with 4,000 workers, to rebuild the ramparts to the point where they would be an obstacle to the enemy. He therefore proposed that the Sciberras peninsula be fortified. It wasn't a detailed plan yet, but this option seemed feasible in the short time available. In the next report on January 10th, he contradicted this. He feared the Ottomans would return during the construction. He therefore proposed a fortress at the height of Monte Sciberras , from which the area could be covered with cannons. On March 14th it was officially decided to build the new city of Valletta , named after Grand Master Jean de la Valette , and two weeks later the foundation stone was laid. In June he presented the final plans to the Grand Master.
One of his assistants was the Maltese Gerolamo Cassar .
In 1569 he left Malta. Since the Turks wanted to conquer Cyprus , Laparelli had offered his services to the Venetians , but died of the plague shortly after his arrival in Crete in 1570 .
literature
- Filippo dè Venuti: Vita del capitano Francesco Laparelli da Cortona. Accademia Etrusca, Cortona 1979.
- Gerardo Doti: Laparelli, Francesco. In: Mario Caravale (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 63: Labroca-Laterza. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2004.
- Thomas Jäger: The Art of Orthogonal Planning: Laparelli's Trigonometric Design of Valletta . In: Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians , Vol. 63, No. 1 (March 2004), pp. 4-31, ISSN 0037-9808 ( JSTOR 4127990 ).
- Laparelli . In: Heinrich August Pierer , Julius Löbe (Hrsg.): Universal encyclopedia of the present and the past . 4th edition. tape 10 . Altenburg 1860, p. 121 ( zeno.org ).
- Edoardo Mirri (Ed.): Francesco Laparelli: Cortonese architect at Malta . Tiphys Edizioni, Cortona 2009, ISBN 978-88-902943-3-4 .
- Pier Lodovico Occhini: Un grande italiano del cinquecento. Francesco Laparelli in Malta.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gerardo Doti: Francesco Laparelli. In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI).
- ↑ cortonaweb.net
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Laparelli, Francesco |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian engineer and builder |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 5, 1521 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cortona |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 26, 1570 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Crete |