A BIT IN DEEP: MICHELANGELO

Michelangelo’s great love was the Sistine Chapel, to which he worked, almost alone, from 1508 to 1512 and from 1536 to 1541. But his greatest ambition, that of being appointed as the first architect of the Fabric of St. Peter, was met only in 1547, when he was 72, and only because Giulio Romano, who was designed, died suddenly.

It is not clear the ostracism to Michelangelo (as an architect), of so many popes: Julius II, Leo X, Clement VII, while the same Paul III, was not satisfied with his design for Campidoglio square. Of course our Hero, thanks to his bad character, had very few friends in the papal court.

The structure of today's Campidoglio square is relatively recent, in fact the design of the paving by Michelangelo, taken from an engraving by Etienne Duperac (1535 - 1604), was placed, with some modifications in 1940. As for the buildings that overlook the square, the Senators was built by Giacomo della Porta, who was responsible for the double staircase, the statues of the Tiber and the Nile and the Fountain, while the bell tower was designed by Martino Longhi the Elder. The Palace of the Conservatori was completed by Giacomo della Porta, who certainly built the central window and probably other interventions inside. The Nuovo (=New) Palace placed in front of the Conservatori, was built by Carlo Rainaldi about a century after the death of Michelangelo. This palace now complete the square, but according to the design by Giacomo della Porta here was to be built a large fountain with in the center the statue of Marforio (Marforio because it was found in the Forum of Mars, that is, the Roman district Campo Marzio). The statue of Marcus Aurelius was placed at the center of the square by Michelangelo, to whom we owe the Cordonata (=graded ramp).

When Antonio da Sangallo the Younger died, no longer young, in 1546, Paul III commissioned Michelangelo to complete the facade and the courtyard of the Palazzo Farnese. To him we owe the beautiful cornice and coat of arms Farnese. While the enchanting loggia of the building, facing the Tiber, is by Giacomo della Porta. Him again!

Finally in 1547 came the long-awaited appointment as director of the fabric of St. Peter in the Vatican. Michelangelo took up the affairs accompanied by the chorus of criticism of his many enemies and also, for his misfortune, by collapses. The fact is that the statics of St. Peter is very problematic, in fact Antonio da Sangallo following the project of Raphael (Latin cross), for aesthetic reasons had raised the floor of the church, which was and still is based on the ancient Vatican Necropolis, but between it and the floor of the present church, thanks to the elevation of Antonio, have been obtained the Vatican Grottos. So a very delicate static.

Because of these competing circumstances (censures and collapses), when Michelangelo died in 1564 he had managed to build only the drum of the dome (or part of it).

As we will see talking about Giacomo della Porta, always him! The draft hemispherical dome of Michelangelo was abandoned for static and aesthetic reasons, in favor of the slender ellipsoid we see today.

With regard to the plan of the church, Michelangelo repudiated Raphael draft and returned to Bramante's Greek-cross, but even in this post-mortem was to be disappointed, when Carlo Maderno completed the basilica, he chose the Latin cross of Raphael.

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