Giovanni Simonetti

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Detail of the stucco ceiling in a hall of the Köpenick Palace, Berlin 1965

Giovanni Simonetti (* 1652 in Roveredo in the Swiss canton of Graubünden ; † November 4, 1712 in Berlin ) was a Swiss builder and plasterer . He is considered the leading plasterer of the early and high baroque in Central Germany and was one of the most busy plasterers of his time. Little has been preserved of his work due to the war.

Life

Born as the son of the master mason Simone Simonetti in Roveredo, Canton of Graubünden (Switzerland) in 1652, Giovanni Simonetti learned the plastering trade, like several members of his family - among whom his brother Giulio Simonetti is particularly worth mentioning - probably in Italy. His first professional mention describes him in 1668 as a journeyman bricklayer in Prague. From 1680 he worked as a plasterer in the construction of the Elisabeth chapel of the Breslau cathedral until in 1682 Elector Friedrich Wilhelm appointed him to the court of Brandenburg . From 1683 to 1690 he stuccoed in collaboration with the Dutch master builder Cornelis Ryckwaert in Frankfurt (Oder) , including 1683 and again 1688–90 in the Junkerhaus (Frankfurt (Oder)) , around 1685 in the Oranienbaum Palace in Anhalt-Dessau. From 1684 to 1690 he created the stucco ceilings in Köpenick Castle together with Giovanni Battista Garove . In 1689 he received the guild privilege as a plasterer in Berlin . One of his main works was created in 1687, the magnificent ceiling of the Leipzig Trade Exchange . Between 1693 and 1696 he stuccoed ceilings and chimneys in Zerbst Castle . From 1698 to 1706 he played a key role in what was then the most important project in Brandenburg-Prussia, the renovation of the Berlin residential palace under the direction of Andreas Schlüter , based on whose designs he carried out numerous stucco work in the interior. After further work on Oranienburg Castle , he was appointed court mason and in 1699 court architect in Anhalt-Zerbst , where he was succeeded Cornelis Ryckwaert in 1694.

From 1701 to 1708 he built the Evangelical Reformed New Church in Berlin, also known as the German Cathedral , designed by Martin Grünberg as a master builder . 1705 to 1708 he directed the construction of the west wing of Zerbst Castle . He then worked in Magdeburg until 1714 , where he managed the construction of the Dompropstei on Domplatz , in which he also carried out stucco work. The Royal Palace is also said to have been built under his leadership.

Other interior fittings in sacred buildings include those of the Zerbst Trinitatiskirche (completed in 1696; altar restored after being damaged in World War II), as well as the altar he designed in the Marienkirche in Torgau (completed in 1697). The baptismal font made in 1701 is attributed to him in the town church of St. Nikolai in Coswig (Anhalt) .

A special gem is the half-timbered house at Zerbster Str. 40 in Coswig (Anhalt), the so-called "Simonetti House", which has been secured and restored by a citizens' association since 2007. It was built in 1699 by the presumed alchemist Johann Friedrich Freiherr von Meder from Berlin. Out of the original nine, seven strongly sculptural, figurative stucco ceilings with motifs from Greek mythology have been preserved, which are attributed to Giovanni Simonetti due to stylistic and temporal parallels.

Despite his activities in other places, Simonetti had a permanent residence in Berlin, where he also owned several houses and died in 1716. He had been married to Euphrosine Hoffkuntz, a merchant's daughter from Sagan , from around 1683 . The marriage had at least nine children, including the son Christian Ernst Simonetti .

literature

  • Hermann Heckmann : Builder of the Baroque and Rococo in Brandenburg-Prussia , Verlag Bauwesen, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-345-00631-6 .
  • Guido Hinterkeuser: The Berlin Palace. The renovation by Andreas Schlueter . Berlin 2003, pp. 222-226.
  • Wilhelm van Kempen: The stuccator and master builder Giovanni Simonetti . In: Anhaltische Geschichtsblätter , Berlin 1925, pp. 77–87.
  • Heinz Ladendorf: Andreas Schlueter . 2nd Edition. 1937; the same: Simonetti, Giovanni . In: Ulrich Thieme / Felix Becker: General Lexicon of Visual Artists from Antiquity to the Present , 31st vol. Leipzig 1937, p. 72 f.
  • German gender book . Volume 104, 1939, p. 650.
  • Christian Nülken : Frankfurt on the Oder. The "Junker House" in the 17th century . In: Brandenburgische Denkmalpflege , 1992/2, pp. 57–68.
  • Nikolaus Pevsner: Leipzig Baroque. The architecture of the baroque period in Leipzig. Unchanged reprint of the 1928 edition. VEB EA Seemann, Leipzig 1990, p. 16 f.
  • Matthias Prasse: Arcadia on the Elbe River. Palaces and gardens between Wittenberg and Dessau Herrenhaus-Kultur-Verlag, Dresden 2010, ISBN 978-3-00-030860-4 , p. 52 ff.
  • Mario Titze: Unknown stucco ceilings by Giovanni Simonetti in Coswig. In: Preservation of monuments in Saxony-Anhalt. 1994, pp. 58-63 ISSN  0949-3506 ; the same: Baroque stucco ceilings in Oranienbaum Castle. In: Oranienbaum / Huis van Oranje. A princely palace in Anhalt is awakened. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 2003, pp. 60–69.
  • Cesare Santi: Giovanni Simonetti. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . June 25, 2013 , accessed March 4, 2020 .
  • Arnoldo Marcelliano Zendralli: Graubünden master builders and stucco workers in Germany during the Baroque and Rococo periods . Zurich 1930, pp. 126-131.

See also

  • Palace in Sorau (Niederlausitz)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Simonetti House. In: Denkmalschutz.de. German Foundation for Monument Protection, accessed on August 26, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Simonetti, Giovanni
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Simonetti, Johann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss builder
DATE OF BIRTH 1652
PLACE OF BIRTH Roveredo , Switzerland
DATE OF DEATH November 4, 1716
Place of death Berlin