Biography

Micaela Antonucci is Associate Professor of History of Architecture at the University of Bologna. She holds a PhD in Engineering-Architecture from the University of Tor Vergata and an MD in Architecture from the University of Roma Tre. Her scholarly studies focus on Italian Renaissance architecture, with special concern for Rome and the work of Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, and on topics and protagonists of contemporary architecture, particularly Otto Wagner and Pier Luigi Nervi. She has published books and contributed many essays to international peer reviewed journals on these topics. She is co-editor of books on Pier Luigi Nervi and on Renaissance architecture.

Project Summary

The central role of Antonio da Sangallo the Younger in the architecture of the sixteenth century is testified to by the numerous drawings attributed to him and his circle. When closely considered, these reveal the complex organizational structure of the architect and his studio, underscoring constructive and financial aspects of his work that explain criteria hitherto not known or understood. The research investigates the drawings, not as simple artifacts but as clues for analyzing Antonio’s design and constructive processes, processes that determined and resulted in his professional supremacy in the extremely competitive Roman architectural world. The drawings provide information on the manner in which the Sangallo studio functioned, and on the division of roles and individual contributions of the artists and technicians working in it, as well as the role of the Fabbrica di San Pietro in the supply of machines, tools, and specific skills. The investigation of Sangallo’s drawings will be supported by in-depth archival and historiographical analysis, in order to reveal aspects of the creative, technical and economic mechanisms that made his business the hegemonic model of Roman building history during and beyond the Renaissance.