Matteo Alberti

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Matteo Alberti

Matteo Graf Alberti , also Matteo d'Alberti (born November 18, 1647 in Venice , † December 23, 1735 ibid), was an Italian architect and engineer.

Life

Matteo Alberti was born on November 18, 1647 as the eldest son of Francesco Alberti (1619–1687) and his wife Isabetta. The Alberti family, who emigrated from Florence to Venice in the 15th century , belonged to the second class of the Venetian population. This consisted of the lower nobility and respected families of the bourgeoisie. He was probably trained by his father, a military and civil engineer. He had knowledge of mathematics, geometry, perspective and military science. An early and rapid career made him an expert in the city administration of Venice from 1666. In 1680 he was a proper expert and was confirmed as his successor after the death of his father in 1687. During these years he made several trips abroad. After his stays in France, England and Holland, he returned to Venice in 1684 and established relationships with the ducal court in Mantua . On February 17, 1685 he received the title of Count from Duke Ferdinando Carlo (1685-1708), ruler of Mantua. From now on he called himself Cavaliere Conte Matteo Alberti . Renewed trips abroad took him to Germany for the first time, where he and Father Vincenzo Coronelli sold his globes. He was a member of the first geographical society in the world founded by Coronelli, the Accademia cosmografica degli argonauti . After the failed repair of a dike, he was banished from Venice again in 1693 (first time in 1689). Together with his brother Sebastiano, he left the city and went to Vienna . By showing a terrestrial and celestial globe at the imperial court, Matteo Alberti attracted the attention of Emperor Leopold I. On April 28, 1694 Alberti was elevated to the rank of Imperial Knight.

Alberti's unrealized plan for a new palace building, the intended location of which both Heidelberg and Düsseldorf were considered

It was here at the Viennese court that Matteo Alberti probably met Johann Wilhelm II of the Palatinate . In 1694 he entered the service of the elector and went with him to his residence city of Düsseldorf . On March 3, 1695 Matteo Alberti was raised to the Palatinate count status. In the count's diploma he was called the general superintendent of fortresses, waters, forests, buildings of all kinds and technical works. These management and administrative tasks have been greatly expanded over time. He was responsible for the fortifications and for measures against flooding of the Rhine and the damage caused by it. The supervision of trade in the country was one of his tasks. Thus Alberti held the offices comparable to those of senior building director and top economic officer. During his time at the Düsseldorf court, too, he undertook a number of longer trips - both for private and business reasons. A trip to Paris undertaken in 1698 also served the planned acquisition of a significant art estate.

Various artists worked in Düsseldorf under Alberti's direction. His bedeutendster student was the Venetian Giacomo Leoni , in 1715 the Quattro Libri of Andrea Palladio published after Albertis vermutlichem departure in 1712 went to London and the architect of the English Palladian belonged.

During Alberti's time in Düsseldorf, all of his traditional buildings fall.

Since the elector had died on June 8, 1716, because his brother and successor Philipp von der Pfalz moved the residence to Heidelberg and dismissed the Düsseldorf artists, Matteo Alberti returned to Venice. Little is known about Alberti's last Venetian period. For his friend, the patrician Domenico Cottoni, he prepared an appraisal about the "bonuses" of his lands. He died on December 23, 1735 and was buried in a family grave in S. Angelo Michele.

Alberti's architectural work is tied to different phases of European architecture over the past two centuries.

Secured works

  • Altes Opernhaus, Düsseldorf (successor to the "Tummelhaus" located between Ratinger Strasse and Mühlenstrasse, destroyed)
  • Fortification and expansion of the residential city of Düsseldorf
  • New Bensberg Castle
  • Castle project for Heidelberg or Düsseldorf (not implemented)
  • Ursuline Church of St. Corpus Christi , Cologne
  • Gallery building , Düsseldorf (only the disfigured east wing preserved)

Attributions (selection)

Others

The “ Freemason Lodge Matteo Alberti zu Bensberg” named itself after Alberti, as there were indications that Elector Johann Wilhelm had “correspondence with him with pre-Masonic ( alchemical ) content”.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Günter Meißner (Ed.): General Artist Lexicon . tape 2 , Alanson-Alvarez. Klaus Gerhard Saur, Leipzig 1992, ISBN 978-3-598-22742-4 , pp. 91 (reprint of the first edition Leipzig, Seemann, 1986).
  2. ^ Richard Klapheck : Architecture and Art Academy . Düsseldorf 1919, p. 198 ( file in PDF )
  3. ^ Paul Clemen: The Düsseldorf palace plan of Count Matthaeus Alberti . In: Contributions to the history of the Lower Rhine. Yearbook of the Düsseldorf History Association. Volume 17, Düsseldorf 1902, p. 181 f. , accessed on the archive.org portal on December 25, 2013
  4. ^ Theodor Levin: Contributions to the artistic endeavors of the Palatinate-Neuburg house . In: Contributions to the history of the Lower Rhine. Yearbook of the Düsseldorfer Geschichtsverein 1905 , Volume 19, P. 145 f. , accessed on the archive.org portal on December 25, 2013
  5. ↑ Theater and Opera , article in the portal duesseldorf.de , accessed on January 27, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Alberti, Matteo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES d'Alberti, Matteo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian baroque architect in Germany
DATE OF BIRTH November 18, 1647
PLACE OF BIRTH Venice
DATE OF DEATH December 23, 1735
Place of death Venice