BALDASSARRE PERUZZI

Born near Siena in 1481 Baldassarre Peruzzi died in Rome in 1536.

Architect and painter, like Giuliano da Sangallo also built military works.

Pinturicchio drove him to painting, but already at twenty was discovered by the Chigi who engaged as an architect of the Villa Volte Alte near Siena.

Agostino Chigi induced him to come to Rome in 1503 and for some time he was commuting between Rome and Siena, but since 1506, when Augustine entrusted him with the design of the Villa Farnesina, the place of work was Rome, where he was deeply influenced by Raphael and Bramante.
The Villa Farnesina gave him great fame and had the opportunity to work with Raphael in the decoration of Santa Maria della Pace.

He worked with Bramante and Raphael in the "Fabbrica di San Pietro", the design of the new St. Peter's Basilica.
Studied in depth the “Roman Antiquities” of which carried out a large number of reliefs.

In 1527, when was the sack of Rome he was taken prisoner by the Spaniards, released only after paying a ransom, he returned to Siena.
In this period he devoted himself to the study of the fortifications, which had to withstand new firearms, so that he designed the lines of the “Forte alla Moderna” (=modern fortress).
In the last years of his life he returned to Rome where he became the architect of the “Fabbrica di San Pietro” and designed the Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne, built on the ruins of the Odeon of Domitian.
He was considered by his contemporaries as one of the greatest architects of the time, but already in the seventeenth century fell into oblivion, to be rediscovered in the twentieth century.

The importance of Peruzzi is represented not only by his works, but also, and perhaps above all by his researches, documented by the vast collection of designs ranging from theoretical studies in architectural projects, reconstructions of ancient monuments and reliefs.

As a painter in Rome as well as the frescoes in the Villa Farnesina, he painted always “fresh” in Santa Maria della Pace, in San Pietro in Montorio, in San Rocco, in Madama Palace the present Senate of the Italian State.

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