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- Giovanni Antonio Dosio
- Also known as
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Giovanni Antonio Dosio
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primary name: Dosio, Giovanni Antonio
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other name: Dosi, Giovanantonio
- Details
- individual; architect; sculptor/medallist; Roman; Florentine; Italian; Male
- Life dates
- 1533-1610
- Biography
- Architect, antiquarian and sculptor. b.1533 (Borghini) at S.Gimignano, d., probably Naples, not earlier than Feb.1610 (see Valone, 'Diss.', p. 243).
According to Borghini, D. came to Rome in 1548 and at first worked for a year as a goldsmith, but abandoned this for sculpture, working briefly with Raffaello da Montelupo. His early activity included stucco-work and the restoration of Antique sculptures; he also made drawings of "le cose buone di Roma, sì antiche, come moderne". The principal influence on his early style seems to have been Guglielmo della Porta, in whose studio he may have worked after leaving Raffaello da Montelupo (see Valone, 'MD', pp. 250f.). Jan. 1561, published map of Rome (Walcher, p. 146; Valone, 'Diss.', p. 2). 1555-6, marble statue of 'Speranza' (lost) for tomb of Giulio del Vecchio in SS. Apostoli (Borghini; Valone, 'Diss.', pp. 45f.). Vatican, Casino of Pius IV: stucco-work and restoration of Antique statues (Borghini; see Smith, The Casino of Pius IV, Princeton, 1977, pp.10, 48, n. 68). May-June 1562, assisted in excavations in the Forum which uncovered the 'Forma Urbis', (Walcher, p. 146; Valone, 'Art Bulletin', p. 536).
At Amelia c. 1564, where he executed the tomb of Bishop Bartolomeo Farratino (Valone, 'Diss.', pp. 81ff. and 'Art Bulletin' pp. 529ff., fig. 1). 1564-6 supervised fortification of Anagni (Borghini; Valone, 'Diss.', pp. 67ff). c. 1566-8, S. Lorenzo in Damaso: monuments of Annibale Caro, d. Nov. 1566, and Giovanni Pacini, d. 1567 (Walcher, pp. 150ff, figs. 74-6; Valone, 'Art Bulletin', figs. 9, 17). 1568, S. Pietro in Montorio, Antonio Massa di Gallese tomb (Valone, 'Diss.', p. 129 and 'Art Bulletin', fig. 18; Venturi, xi2, fig. 322). May 1569, 'Urbis Romae Aedificiorum ... Reliquiae ...', comprising 50 engravings after D. by G.B. Cavalieri, dedicated to Cosimo I (Valone, 'Art Bulletin', p. 541).
16 May 1574, first reference to D. in Orbaan's transcript of records of Virtuosi al Pantheon (p. 27). June 1574, with Ammannati at Villa dell'Ambrogiana, Tuscany (Bottari-Ticozzi, iii, no. cxli, p. 303). 1575, S. M. in Aracoeli, tomb of Marchese di Saluzzo, d. 1528 (Valone, 'Art Bulletin', fig. 19).
Nov. 1575, elected to Accademia del Disegno in Florence and received commission for Gaddi Chapel in S. M. Novella from his friend, the collector Niccolò Gaddi (Valone, 'Diss.', pp. 181ff., 190f; Borsi, nos. 247-67). May 1576, bought house in Florence (Walcher, p. 148).
After completion of Gaddi Chapel he returned to Rome; thereafter practised as an architect (Borghini) chiefly in Florence and later in Naples (see Walcher). By autumn 1590 engaged as military engineer by the Viceroy of Naples (Valone, 'Diss.', p. 42, n. 76; p. 240). 1605, took part in competition for the façade of St Peter's, Rome (Walcher, p. 149). 1609, Rome: involved in restoration of Palazzo Madama and Palazzo Firenze (Valone, 'Diss.', p. 243; p. 258, n. 174).
- Bibliography
- Gere & Pouncey 1983
Thieme-Becker (1913) with previous bibliography; C. Huelsen, 'I lavori archeologici di Giovannantonio Dosio', Ausonia, vii (1912), pp. 1ff.; Das Skizzenbuch des Giovannantonio Dosio im Staatslichen Kupferstichkabinett zu Berlin, Berlin, 1933; L. Walcher, 'Giovannantonio Dosio, ein Architekt des späten Cinquecento', Römisches Jahrbuch für Kunstgeschichte, iv (1940), pp. 143ff.; E. Luporini, 'Formazione, cultura e stile di Giovanni Antonio Dosio', in Studi in onore di Matteo Marangoni (Pisa, 1957); 'Un Libro di Disegni di Giovanni Antonio Dosio', Critica d'Arte, iv (1957), pp. 442ff; and v (1958), pp. 43ff. G.A. Dosio, Urbis Romae Aedificiorum Reliquiae ..., facsimile ed., Rome, 1970; C. Valone, Giovanni Antonio Dosio and his Patrons, dissertation, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, 1972; with comprehensive bibliography; C. Davis, 'Cosimo Bartoli and the portal of Sant'Apollonia by Michelangelo', Mitteilungen, xix (1975), Heft 2, pp. 261ff; C.Valone, 'Giovanni Antonio Dosio: The Roman Years', Art Bulletin, lviii (1976), pp. 528ff.; F. Borsi and others, Giovanni Antonio Dosio: Roma antica e i disegni di architetettura agli Uffizi, Rome, 1976'; C. Valone, 'Paul IV, Guglielmo della Porta and the rebuilding of San Silvestro al Quirinale', MD, xv (1977), pp. 243ff; Turner, Florentine Drawings of the Sixteenth Century, London, 1986.