remained until 1543 without coming to any further resolution about his
life. At that time, in the month of September, there appeared in San
Marino one Signor Gustamante, a Spaniard, sent by his Imperial Majesty
to that Republic on some affairs. Giovan Battista was recognized by
him as an excellent architect, and at his instance he entered not
long afterwards into the service of the most illustrious Lord Duke
Cosimo, as engineer. And thus, having arrived in Florence, his
Excellency made use of him for all the fortifications of his dominion,
according to the necessities that arose every day; and, among other
things, the fortress of the city of Pistoia having been begun many
years before, San Marino, by the desire of the Duke, completely
finished it, with great credit to himself, although it is no great
work. Then, under the direction of the same architect, a very strong
bastion was built at Pisa. Wherefore, his method of work pleasing the
Duke, his Excellency caused him to construct--where, as has been
related, there had been built on the hill of S. Miniato, without
Florence, the wall that curves from the Porta S. Niccolo to the Porta
S. Miniato--the fortification that encloses a gate by means of two
bastions, and guards the Church and Monastery of S. Miniato; making on
the summit of that hill a fortress that dominates the whole city and
looks on the outer side towards the east and the south, a work that
was vastly extolled. The same Giovan Battista made many designs and
ground-plans of various fortifications for places in the states of his
Excellency, and also various rough models in clay, which are in the
possession of the Lord Duke. And since San Marino was a man of fine
genius and very studious, he wrote a little book on the methods of
fortifications; which work, a beautiful and useful one, is now in the
possession of Messer Bernardo Puccini, a gentleman of Florence, who
learned many things with regard to the matters of architecture and
fortification from San Marino, who was much his friend.
Giovan Battista, after having designed in the year 1554 many bastions
that were to be built round the walls of the city of Florence, some of
which were begun in earth, went with the most illustrious lord, Don
Garzia di Toledo, to Monte Alcino, where, having made some trenches,
he mined under a bastion and so shattered it, that he threw down the
breastwork; but as it was falling to the ground a harquebus-ball
struck San Marino in the thigh. Not long afterwards, his wound being
healed, he went secretly to Siena and took the ground-plan of that
city, and of the earthworks that the people of Siena had made at the
Porta Camollia; which plan of fortifications he then showed to the
Lord Duke and to the Marchese di Marignano, making it clear to them
that the work was not difficult to capture or to secure afterwards on
the side towards Siena. That this was true was proved by the fact, the
night that it was taken by the above-named Marquis, with whom Giovan
Battista had gone by order and commission of the Duke. On that
account, then, the Marquis, having conceived an affection for him and
knowing that he had need of his judgment and ability in the field
(that is, in the war against Siena), so went to work with the Duke,
that his Excellency sent Giovan Battista off as captain of a strong
company of foot-soldiers; whereupon he served from that day onward in
the field, as a valiant soldier and an ingenious architect. Finally,
having been sent by the Marquis to Aiuola, a fortress in the Chianti,
while disposing the artillery he was wounded in the head by a
harquebus-ball; wherefore he was taken by his soldiers to the Pieve di
S. Paolo, which belongs to Bishop da Ricasoli, and died in a few days,
and was carried to San Marino, where he received honourable burial
from his children.
Giovan Battista deserves to be highly extolled, for the reason that,
besides having been excellent in his profession, it is a marvellous
thing that, having set himself to give attention to it late in life,
at the age of thirty-five, he should have made in it the proficience
that he did make; and it may be believed that if he had begun younger,
he would have become a very rare master. Giovan Battista was something
obstinate, so that it was a serious undertaking to move him from any
opinion. He took extraordinary pleasure in reading stories, and turned
them to very great advantage, writing down with great pains the most
notable things in them. His death much grieved the Duke and his
innumerable friends; wherefore his son Gian Andrea, coming to kiss his
Excellency's hands, was received kindly by him and welcomed most
warmly with very generous offers, on account of the ability and
fidelity of the father, who died at the age of forty-eight.
MICHELE SAN MICHELE
[Illustration: PAOLO VERONESE: INDUSTRY
(_Venice: Doges' Palace, Sala Anticollegio. Ceiling Painting_)]
LIFE OF MICHELE SAN MICHELE
ARCHITECT OF VERONA
Michele San Michele, who was born at Verona in the year 1484, and
learned the first principles of architecture from his father Giovanni
and his uncle Bartolommeo, both excellent architects, went off at
sixteen years of age to Rome, leaving his father and two brothers of
fine parts, one of whom, called Jacopo, devoted himself to letters,
and the other, named Don Camillo, was a Canon Regular and General of
that Order. Having arrived there, he studied the ancient remains of
architecture in such a manner, and with such diligence, observing and
measuring everything minutely, that in a short time he became renowned
and famous not only in Rome, but throughout all the places that are
around that city. Moved by his fame, the people of Orvieto summoned
him as architect to their celebrated temple, with an honourable
salary; and while he was employed in their service, he was summoned
for the same reason to Monte Fiascone, as architect for the building
of their principal temple; and thus, serving both the one and the
other of these places, he executed all that there is to be seen in
these two cities in the way of good architecture. Among other works, a
most beautiful tomb was built after his design in S. Domenico at Monte
Fiascone--I believe, for one of the Petrucci, a nobleman of
Siena--which cost a great sum of money, and proved to be marvellous.
Besides all this, he made an infinite number of designs for private
houses in those places, and made himself known as a man of great
judgment and excellence.
Thereupon Pope Clement VII, proposing to make use of him in the most
important operations of the wars that were stirring at that time
throughout all Italy, gave him as a companion to Antonio da San
Gallo, with a very good salary, to the end that they might go together
to inspect all the places of greatest importance in the States of the
Church, and, wherever necessary, might see to the construction of
fortifications; above all, at Parma and Piacenza, because those two
cities were most distant from Rome, and nearest and most exposed to
the perils of war. Which duty having been executed by Michele and
Antonio to the full satisfaction of the Pontiff, there came to Michele
a desire, after all those years, to revisit his native city and his
relatives and friends, and even more to see the fortresses of the
Venetians. Wherefore, after he had been a few days in Verona, he went
to Treviso to see the fortress there, and then to Padua for the same
purpose; but the Signori of Venice, having been warned of this, became
suspicious that San Michele might be going about inspecting those
fortresses with a hostile intent. Having therefore been arrested at
Padua at their command and thrown into prison, he was examined at
great length; but, when it was found that he was an honest man, he was
not only liberated by them, but also entreated that he should consent
to enter the service of those same Signori of Venice, with honourable
rank and salary. He excused himself by saying that he was not able to
do that for the present, being engaged to his Holiness; but he gave
them fair promises, and then took his leave of them. Now he had not
been away long, when he was forced to depart from Rome--to such
purpose did those Signori go to work in order to secure him--and to
go, with the gracious leave of the Pope, whom he first satisfied in
full, to serve those most illustrious noblemen, his natural lords.
Abiding with them, he gave soon enough a proof of his judgment and
knowledge by making at Verona (after many difficulties which the work
appeared to present) a very strong and beautiful bastion, which gave
infinite satisfaction to those Signori and to the Lord Duke of Urbino,
their Captain General. After these things, the same Signori, having
determined to fortify Legnago and Porto, places most important to
their dominion, and situated upon the River Adige, one on one side and
the other on the opposite side, but joined by a bridge, commissioned
San Michele to show them by means of a model how it appeared to him
that those places could and should be fortified. Which having been
done by him, his design gave infinite satisfaction to the Signori and
to the Duke of Urbino. Whereupon, arrangements having been made for
all that had to be done, San Michele executed the fortifications of
those two places in such a manner, that among works of that kind there
is nothing better to be seen, or more beautiful, or more carefully
considered, or stronger, as whoever has seen them well knows.
This done, he fortified in the Bresciano, almost from the foundations,
Orzinuovo, a fortress and port similar to Legnago. San Michele being
then sought for with great insistence by Signor Francesco Sforza, last
Duke of Milan, the Signori consented to grant him leave, but for three
months only. Having therefore gone to Milan, he inspected all the
fortresses of that State, and gave directions in every place for all
that it seemed to him necessary to do, and that with such credit and
so much to the satisfaction of the Duke, that his Excellency, besides
thanking the Signori of Venice, presented five hundred crowns to San
Michele. And with this occasion, before returning to Venice, Michele
went to Casale di Monferrato, in order to see that very strong and
beautiful fortress and city, the architecture of which was the work of
Matteo San Michele, an excellent architect, his cousin; and also an
honoured and very beautiful tomb of marble erected in S. Francesco in
the same city, likewise under the direction of Matteo.
Having then returned home, he had no sooner arrived than he was sent
with the above-named Duke of Urbino to inspect La Chiusa, a fortress
and pass of much importance, above Verona, and then all the places in
Friuli, Bergamo, Vicenza, Peschiera, and others, of all which, and of
what seemed to him to be required, he gave minute information in
writing to the Signori. Having next been sent by the same Signori to
Dalmatia, to fortify the cities and other places of that province, he
inspected everything, and carried out restorations with great
diligence wherever he saw the necessity to be greatest; and, since he
could not himself despatch all the work, he left there Gian Girolamo,
his kinsman, who, after fortifying Zara excellently well, erected from
the foundations the marvellous fortress of S. Niccolo, over the mouth
of the harbour of Sebenico.
Meanwhile Michele was sent in great haste to Corfu, and restored the
fortress there in many parts; and he did the same in all the places in
Cyprus and Candia. Even so, not long afterwards--on account of a fear
that the island might be lost, by reason of the war with the Turks,
which was imminent--he was forced to return there, after having
inspected the fortresses of the Venetian dominion in Italy, to
fortify, with incredible rapidity, Canea, Candia, Retimo, and Settia,
but particularly Canea and Candia, which he rebuilt from the
foundations and made impregnable. Napoli di Romania being then
besieged by the Turks, what with the diligence of S. Michele in
fortifying it and furnishing it with bastions, and the valour of
Agostino Chisoni of Verona, a very valiant captain, in defending it
with arms, it was not after all taken by the enemy or forced to
surrender.
These wars finished, San Michele went with the Magnificent M. Tommaso
Mozzenigo, Captain General of the Fleet, to fortify Corfu once again;
and they then returned to Sebenico, where the diligence of Gian
Girolamo, shown by him in constructing the above-mentioned fortress of
S. Niccolo, was much commended. San Michele having then returned to
Venice, where he was much extolled for the works executed in the
Levant in the service of that Republic, the Signori resolved to build
a fortress on the Lido, at the mouth of the port of Venice. Wherefore,
giving the charge of this to San Michele, they said to him that, if he
had done such great things far away from Venice, he should think how
much it was his duty to do in a work of such importance, which was to
lie for ever under the eyes of the Senate and of so many great lords;
and that in addition, besides beauty and strength in the work, there
was expected of him particular industry in founding truly and well in
a marshy spot, which was surrounded on all sides by the sea and
exposed to the ebb and flow of the tide, a pile of such importance.
San Michele having therefore not only made a very beautiful and solid
model, but also considered the method of laying the foundations and
carrying it into effect, orders were given to him that he should set
his hand to the work without delay. Whereupon, after receiving from
those Signori all that was required, he prepared the materials for
filling in the foundations, and, besides this, caused great numbers of
piles to be sunk in double rows, and then, with a vast number of
persons well acquainted with those waters, he set himself to make the
excavations, and to contrive by means of pumps and other instruments
to keep the water pumped out, which was seen continually rising from
below, because the site was in the sea. One morning, finally,
resolving to make a supreme effort to begin the foundations, and
assembling as many men fit for the purpose as could be obtained, with
all the porters of Venice, and many of the Signori being present, in a
moment, with incredible assiduity and promptitude, the waters were
mastered for a little to such purpose, that the first stones of the
foundations were thrown instantly upon the piles already driven in;
which stones, being very large, took up much space and made an
excellent foundation. And so, continuing to keep the water pumped out
without losing any time, almost in a flash those foundations were
laid, contrary to the expectation of many who had looked upon that
work as absolutely impossible. The foundations, when finished, were
allowed sufficient time to settle, and then Michele erected upon them
a mighty and marvellous fortress, building it on the outer side all in
rustic work, with very large stones from Istria, which are of an
extreme hardness and able to withstand wind, frost, and the worst of
weather. Wherefore that fortress, besides being marvellous with regard
to the site on which it is built, is also, from the beauty of the
masonry and from its incredible cost, one of the most stupendous that
there are in Europe at the present day, rivalling the grandeur and
majesty of the most famous edifices erected by the greatness of the
Romans; for, besides other things, it appears as if made all from one
block, and as though a mountain of living rock had been carved and
given that form, so large are the blocks of which it is built, and so
well joined and united together, not to speak of the ornaments and
other things that are there, seeing that one would never be able to
say enough to do them justice. Within it Michele afterwards made a
piazza, divided by pilasters and arches of the Rustic Order, which
would have proved to be a very rare work, if it had not been left
unfinished.
This vast pile having been carried to the condition that has been
described, some malign and envious persons said to the Signoria that,
although it was very beautiful and built with every possible
consideration, nevertheless it would be useless for any purpose, and
perhaps even dangerous, for the reason that on discharging the
artillery--on account of the great quantity and weight of artillery
that the place required--it was almost inevitable that the edifice
should split open and fall to the ground. It therefore appeared to
those prudent Signori that it would be well to make certain of this,
the matter being one of great importance; and they caused to be taken
there a vast quantity of artillery, the heaviest that could be found
in the Arsenal. Then, all the embrasures both above and below having
been filled with cannon, and the cannon charged more heavily than was
usual, they were all fired off together; whereupon such were the
noise, the thunder, and the earthquake that resulted, that it seemed
as if the world had burst to pieces, and the fortress, with all those
flaming cannon, had the appearance of a volcano and of Hell itself.
But for all that the building stood firm in its former strength and
solidity, whereby the Senate was convinced of the great worth of San
Michele, and the evil-speakers were put to scorn as men of little
judgment, although they had put such terror into everyone, that the
ladies then pregnant, fearing some great disaster, had withdrawn from
Venice.
Not long afterwards a place of no little importance on the coast near
Venice, called Marano, having returned under the dominion of the
Venetians, was restored and fortified with promptitude and diligence
under the direction of San Michele. And about the same time, the fame
of Michele and of his kinsman, Gian Girolamo, spreading ever more
widely, they were requested many times, both the one and the other, to
go to live with the Emperor Charles V and with King Francis of France;
but, although they were invited under most honourable conditions, they
would not leave their own masters to enter into the service of
foreigners. Indeed, continuing in their offices, they went about
inspecting and restoring every year, wherever it was necessary, all
the cities and fortresses of the State of Venice.
[Illustration: PORTA DEL PALIO
(_After =Michele San Michele=. Verona_)
_Alinari_]
But more than all the rest did Michele fortify and adorn his native
city of Verona, making there, besides other things, those most
beautiful gates of the city, which have no equal in any other place.
One was the Porta Nuova, all in the Dorico-rustic Order, which in
its solidity and massive firmness corresponds to the strength of the
site, being all built of tufa and pietra viva,[10] and having within
it rooms for the soldiers who mount guard there, and many other
conveniences, never before added to that kind of building. That
edifice, which is quadrangular and open above, serving with its
embrasures as a cavalier, defends two great bastions, or rather,
towers, which stand one on either side of the gate at proper
distances; and all is done with so much judgment, cost, and
magnificence, that no one thought that for the future there could be
executed any work of greater grandeur or better design, even as none
such had been seen in the past. But a few years afterwards the same
San Michele founded and carried upwards the gate commonly called the
Porta dal Palio, which is in no way inferior to that described above,
but equally beautiful, grand, and magnificent, or even more so, and
designed excellently well. And, in truth, in these two gates the
Signori of Venice may be seen to have equalled, by means of the genius
of this architect, the edifices and fabrics of the ancient Romans.
[Footnote 10: Any kind of stone that is easily split.]
This last gate, then, is on the outer side of the Doric Order, with
immense projecting columns, all fluted according to the manner of that
Order; and these columns, which are eight in all, are placed in pairs.
Four serve to enclose the gate, with the arms of the Rectors of the
city, between one and another, on either side, and the other four,
likewise in pairs, make a finish to the angles of the gate, the facade
of which is very wide and all of bosses, or rather, blocks, not rough,
but made smooth, with very beautiful ornamentation; and the opening,
or rather passage, through the gate, is left quadrangular, but of an
architecture that is new, bizarre, and most beautiful. Above it is a
great and very rich Doric cornice, with all its appurtenances, over
which, as may be seen from the model, was to go a fronton with all its
ornaments, forming a parapet for the artillery, since this gate, like
the other, was to serve as a cavalier. Within the gate are very large
rooms for the soldiers, with other apartments and conveniences. On the
front that faces towards the city, San Michele made a most beautiful
loggia, all of the Dorico-rustic Order on the outer side, and on the
inner all in rustic work, with very large piers. that have as
ornaments columns round on the outside and on the inside square and
projecting to the half of their thickness, and all made of pieces in
rustic masonry, with Doric capitals without bases; and at the top is a
great cornice, likewise Doric, and carved, passing along the whole
loggia, which is of great length, both within and without. In a word,
this work is marvellous; wherefore it was well and truly spoken by the
most illustrious Signor Sforza Pallavicino, Captain General of the
Venetian forces, when he said that there was not to be found in all
Europe any structure that could in any way compare with it. This was
the last of Michele's marvels, for the reason that he had scarcely
erected the whole of the first range described above, when he finished
the course of his life. Wherefore the work remained unfinished, nor
will it ever be finished at all, for there are not wanting certain
malignant persons--as always happens with great works--who censure it,
striving to diminish the glory of others by their malignity and
evil-speaking, since they fail by a great measure to achieve similar
things with their own powers.
The same master built another gate at Verona, called the Porta di S.
Zeno, which is very beautiful; in any other place, indeed, it would be
marvellous, but in Verona its beauty and artistry are obscured by the
two others described above. A work of Michele's, likewise, is the
bastion, or rather rampart, that is near this gate, and also another
that is lower down, opposite to S. Bernardino, and another between
them, called Dell'Acquaio, which is opposite to the Campo Marzio; and
also that surpassing all the others in size, which is placed by the
Chain, where the Adige enters the city.
[Illustration: CAPPELLA DE' PELLEGRINI
(_After =Michele San Michele=. Verona: S. Bernardino_)
_Alinari_]
At Padua he built the bastion called the Cornaro, and likewise that of
S. Croce, which are both of marvellous size, and constructed in the
modern manner, according to the order invented by Michele himself. For
the method of making bastions with angles was the invention of
Michele, and before his day they were made round; and whereas that
kind of bastion was very difficult to defend, at the present day,
having an obtuse angle on the outer side, they can be defended with
ease, either from the cavalier erected between the two bastions and
near to them, or, indeed, from the other bastion, provided that it
be near the one attacked and the ditch wide. His invention, also, was
the method of making bastions with three platforms, whereby the two at
the sides guard and defend the ditch and the curtains, with their open
embrasures, and the merlon in the centre defends itself and attacks
the enemy in front. This method of fortification has since been
imitated by everyone, causing the abandonment of the ancient fashion
of subterranean embrasures, called casemates, in which, on account of
the smoke and other impediments, the artillery could not be well
handled; not to mention that they often weakened the foundations of
the towers and walls.