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Date: Saturday, 10 Feb 2007 13:38
...exhibited the work of another architect?
Benjamin H. Latrobe, the architect and engineer, had some taste for landscape drawing. He exhibited, in 1812, a “View of the River Schuylkill” and a “View of the Seat of Miers Fisher.”
--excerpt from John Thomas Scharf and Thompson Westcott, History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884 (1884), p. 1052.
7. According to the catalogues of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the 1811 exhibition included, by Latrobe, a landscape on the Schuylkill River, an view of the Richmond penitentiary [a work by Latrobe], and five large drawings of the Capitol at Washington [a work by Latrobe]--two plans, two elevations, and a perspective. In 1812 he exhibited a view of the seat of Myers Fisberg [sic], Esq., and another Schuylkill River landscape, and in 1818 a perspective of the Baltimore Cathedral [a work by Latrobe]. His wife also painter; Mary Latrobe is credited with two views from nature in the 1812 exhibition. I owe this information to the kindness of Miss Anna W. Rutledge.
--Talbot Hamlin, Benjamin Henry Latrobe (New York: Oxford University Press, 1955), p. 318n.
So what does/did Latrobe's "View of the Seat of Miers Fisher" look like? Unfortunately, I don't know yet.
Here's what Charles Willson Peale sketched 17 August 1824:
Here's what Ury House looked like in the early 20th century:
If anything, there is a distinct similarity between the entry porch of Latrobe's Water Works (1800) and the entry porch of Ury House.
Author: "Stephen Lauf (noreply@blogger.com)"
Date: Tuesday, 06 Feb 2007 11:41
1799 death of Etienne-Louis Boullée
1995 death of James Merrill
Interestingly, there is no entry of Ettienne-Louis Boullée within Russell Sturgis’s A Dictionary of Architecture and Building: Biographical, Historical, and Descriptive (1902).
Author: "Stephen Lauf (noreply@blogger.com)"
Date: Sunday, 04 Feb 2007 12:08
1774 SEPTR. 7. WEDNESDAY.
Went to congress again. Heard Mr. Duche read Prayers. The Collect for the day, the 7th of the Month, was most admirably adapted,tho this was accidental, or rather Providential. A Prayer, which he gave us of his own Composition, was as pertinent, as affectionate, as sublime, as devout, as I ever heard offered up to Heaven. He filled every Bosom present.
Dined with Mr. Miers Fisher, a young Quaker and a Lawyer. We saw his Library, which is clever.
But this plain Friend, and his plain, tho pretty Wife, with her Thee's and Thou's, had provided us the most Costly Entertainment Ducks, Hams, Chickens, Beef, Pigg, Tarts, Creams, Custards,Gellies, fools, Trifles, floating Islands, Beer, Porter, Punch, Wine and a long &c.;
We had a large Collection of Lawyers, at Table. Mr. Andrew Allen, the Attorney General, a Mr. Morris, the Prothonotary, Mr. Fisher, Mr. McKean,Mr. Rodney -- besides these We had Mr. Reed,Govr. Hopkins and Governor Ward.
We had much Conversation upon the Practice of Law, in our different Provinces, but at last We got swallowed up, in Politicks, and the great Question of Parliamentary Jurisdiction. Mr. Allen asks me, from whence do you derive your Laws? How do you intitle yourselves to English Priviledges? Is not Lord Mansfield on the Side of Power?
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It is the above passage from John Adams' diary that has led subsequent 'historians' to surmise that John Adams once visited Ury House. Miers Fisher did not own Ury House until 1790.
Author: "Stephen Lauf (noreply@blogger.com)"
Date: Sunday, 28 Jan 2007 12:26
1945.10.04
The Evening Bulletin
ANCIENT URY HOUSE SOLD TO CATHOLICS
...Soon after William Penn’s arrival the property was acquired by the Taylor family and later was visited by Penn’s grandsons, who amused their hosts by their disregard for the sober and plain living of the Founder.
Jefferson’s pecan tree, planted on the lawn, is still a family tradition. Edward VII, who always complained he could never distinguish between scrapple and biddle, visited [1860.10.9-11] the house when he was Prince of Wales.
Author: "Stephen Lauf (noreply@blogger.com)"
Date: Thursday, 25 Jan 2007 18:07
1926.10.22
Evening Public Ledger
HISTORIC ESTATE SOLD
Fox Chase Property, Owned by Crawford Family, Changes Hands
Announcement is made of the sale of forty-two acres of “Ury,” the Crawford estate on Verree Road, Foxchase. The purchase was made by Thad S. Krause from Harriet C. Crawford.
The land is a part of the 80-acre estate in the Crawford family for more than 100 years [sic]. The mansion was erected on the site of the old Swedish trading post founded there in 1685 [sic]. The Susquehanna Road, planned by William Penn’s surveyors [Thomas Holme] as a great highway between the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers, was to have passed through the estate.
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Portion of the 1687 Holme plan of Pennsylvania
In the 1687 plan of Pennsylvania, the planned Susquehanna Road (marked in red above) runs along the course of Dublin Creek (today's Pennypack Creek). The only portion of Susquehanna Road that exists today within Philadelphia proper runs along the northern edge of the Ury Estate (marked in blue above). A fair stretch of Susquehanna Road exists, however, through Montgomery County, immediately west of the Ury Estate. Interestingly, Susquehanna Road in Philadelphia and Susquehanna Road in Montgonery County do not align exactly, yet their respective trajectories run parallel with about a thousand foot gap between.
Author: "Stephen Lauf (noreply@blogger.com)"
Date: Wednesday, 24 Jan 2007 19:42
Letters were forwarded by them to my father’s agent, Miers Fisher of Philadelphia, of whom I have more to say hereafter. He came for me in his carriage and removed me to his villa, at a short distance from Philadelphia and on the road toward Trenton. There I would have found myself quite comfortable had not incidents taken place which are so connected with the change in my life as to call immediate attention to them.
Miers Fisher had been my father’s trusted agent for about eighteen years, and the old gentleman entertained great mutual friendship; indeed it would seem that Mr. Fisher was actually desirious that I should become a member of his family, and this was evinced within a few days by the manner in which the good Quaker presented me to a daughter of no mean appearance, but toward whom I happened to take an unconquerable dislike. Then he was opposed to music of all descriptions, as well as to dancing, could not bear me to carry a gun, or fishing-rod, and, indeed, condemned most of my amusements. All these things were difficulties toward accomplishing a plan which, for aught I know to the contrary, had been premeditated between him and my father, and rankled the heart of the kindly, if somewhat strict Quaker. They troubled me much also; at times I wished myself anywhere but under the roof of Miers Fisher, and at last I reminded him that it was his duty to install me on the estate to which my father had sent me.
One morning, therefore, I was told that the carriage was ready to carry me there, and toward my future home he and I went.
--excerpt from John James Audubon, “Myself” (within Audubon and His Journals).
Author: "Stephen Lauf (noreply@blogger.com)"
Date: Tuesday, 16 Jan 2007 13:09
1. the location of Ury House as it exists today.
2. the location of the Ury House gardens as it exists today.
Author: "Stephen Lauf (noreply@blogger.com)"
Date: Friday, 29 Dec 2006 18:26
Ury House is situated upon the Pine Road, on the hill crest of the divide between the Pennypack and the Tacony Creek waters. This venerable mansion, antedating Penn’s time, surrounded by an estate of one hundred acres, was purchased by Miers Fisher from the Taylor family at the close of the War of Independence.
Originally a fort built by Swedish Refugees in 1645, it was enlarged both by the Taylors and Miers Fisher, who bought the place in 1790. The great antiquity of this mansion is shown by its construction and architecture. Two old chimney back plates of iron, one ornamented with the English coat-of-arms and the legend “Dieu et mon Droit,” and the other with a plain scrool bearing the date of 1728 are objects of interest to the antiquarian, The latter plate was not taken from the oldest part of the mansion. A plate similar to this is in Gorvernor Keith’s house.
The approach to Ury House is by a broad avenue four hundred feet in length, of venerable pines upward of one hundred years of age. The visitor enters through a pillared porch and broad low hall with heavy rafters, which is heated by a large open fireplace surmounted by a mantle of antique design.
There remained a square stone tower, built, as has been testified by comparison, of stone quarried close by. This tower consisted of a curious cellar, approached by solid stone steps leading to a door of wrought iron, supported on either side by tremendous stone drillings. Over the cellar was a square room, from which a steep stairway led to another, and over it, with sloping roofs and reached by a very rickety ladder, was a garret.
It is supposed that this tower was built by those Swedes who sailed up the Pennypack, and was used as a sort of fort and government house, the people living in huts scattered about in the forest, and only coming into the fort in case of an attack from neighboring Indians.
George Washington is said to have dined in the old hall.
Miers Fisher gave Ury its name, from the country-seat of Barclay, the famous Scotch Friend and the author of The Apology--”Urie” or “Uri,” in Scotland.
About ninety years ago [1802] Mr. Fisher was visited by the daughter of an eminent minister. She thus described her drive from Philadelphia: “We drove through forests from Spring Garden Street to Fox Chase, which consisted of a log tavern with an English sign, on which was painted a picture of mounted huntsmen in red coats, and Nathan Hicks, the proprietor, holding up the foxes that the hounds had killed.”
Mr. Miller, who bought “Ury” in 1800 [sic--Miers Fisher owned Ury House until at least 1818], is said to have planted the avenue of pine trees.
Mr. West became owner of “Ury” eight years later [sic], and finally in 1842 Mr. Stephen R. Crawford bought “Ury” of Dr. D. R. Holmes.
In the following year “they” were visited by a queer old woman, who arrived in a very old-fashoned chaise. She said she was ninety years old and a grand-daughter of the Mr. Taylor whose name first appeared on “Ury’s” title-deeds. She had come to drink a cup of tea in the old Swede Hall, where she was born. This old woman told Mrs. Crawford that when she was a little girl ten years old [1763], Ury was the center of an immense peach-orchard, with cows feeding up to the very doors of thehouse.
The mansion is surrounded by spacious lawns and a grove of noble trees of great girth and towering height; while an old-fashioned garden, with its numerous beds bordered by boxwood hedges, is most attractive.
Mrs. Jane Crawford, whose name is so intimately associated with Ury House, and whom many who read this article will recall with loving and grateful remembrance, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and came to this country in 1841. After her husband’s financial reverses and death in 1863, Mrs. Crawford devoted her life to the instruction of youth, and Ury House became an institution of education, at which many of our leading men received the careful training which fitted them for their future responsibilities.
Mrs. Crawford’s rare intellectual attainments, her great executive ability, her refinement and charming grace of manner eminently fitted her for her position as the head of a large and prosperous school. Only those who knew her well can appreciate the beauty of her character, the gentle firmness and loving care with which see guided those under her instruction. After a successful exiatence of twenty-one years, Mrs. Crawford gave up her school, and Ury House passed into the hands of her son, Mr. Joseph U. Crawford, an officier in the Pennsylvania Railroad, who now occupies as a private residence the old mansion in which he was born.
Rev. S. F. Hotchkin, M.A., The York Road, Old and New (Philadelphia: Binder & Kelly, Publishers, 1892), pp. 406-10.
Author: "Stephen Lauf (noreply@blogger.com)"
Date: Sunday, 03 Dec 2006 11:26
Thornton, Dr. William; architect.
The first advertisements in the competition for the Capitol at Washington were published in March, 1792. In October of that year Dr. William Thornton of the island of Tortola in the West Indies wrote to the commissioners asking permission to compete. His plans were submitted early in 1793, were much admired by the commissioners, and April 5th were approved by President Washington. The designs which were considered second in point of merit were those of Stephen Hallet, who was placed in charge of the construction of Thorton;s design under the general direction of James Hoban, architect of the White House. Hallet was discharged Nov. 15, 1794. Sept. 12, 1794, the President appointed Thornton to be one of the commissioners in charge of the District of Columbia, and he had general supervision of the Capitol until his office was abolished in 1802. At this time the north wing of the older part of the Capitol, now occupied by the Supreme Court, was complete, and the foundation and basement story of the south wing were partially laid. The exterior of this part of the building is still much as Thornton left it. After retiring Thornton was placed in charge of the Pension office and remained there until his death.
Thrope, John; architect.
The author of an architectural sketch book preserved in the museum founded by Sir John Soane. It is a folio volume of 282 pages, containing drawings of about 140 different buildings of the early sixteenth century in England. Many of these represent buildings in course of construction, others are sketches of existing buildings, others are copied from French works on architecture, especially those of Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau. There is also a record of a payment made to him in the issues of the Exchequer.
Tibaldi, Domenica; architect; b. 1541; d. 1583.
A younger brother of Pellegrino Tibaldi, whom he assisted in many of his undertakings. He built the choir of the church of S. Pietro, the archbishop’s palace (1575-1577), the Palazzo Magnani Giadotti in the Piazza Rossini (one of his best works), the Palazzo Matteo, and the court of the Palazzo di Giustizia, all at Bologna. Although in the Baroque style, his work shows much classical refinement.
Tbaldi, Pellegrino; painterand architect; b. 1527; d. 1598.
Tibaldi began as a painter, the pupil of Danielo da Volterra. He was especially patronized by San Carlo Borromeo at Milan. Tibaldi applied the principles of Vignola to a large number of churches and palaces. In 1560 he began the reconstruction of the façade of the cathedral of Milan. Of this work five doors and five windows remain. He built the fine church of S. Fidele, Milan, begun 1569, the court of the archbishop’s palace, Milan, 1570, the Palazzo della Sapienza, Pavia, 1562, the church of S. Gaudenzio, Novara, 1577, the church of S. Francesco da Paolo, Turin, and the court of the University, Bologna, 1570.
Author: "Stephen Lauf (noreply@blogger.com)"
Date: Tuesday, 28 Nov 2006 14:03
Look, it's Wig Not at the Venice Biennale.
Unanswered prayers, I suppose.
Author: "Stephen Lauf"
Date: Tuesday, 28 Nov 2006 09:04
Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista; painter; b. 1693; d. 1770.
By a sympathetic study of the great decorators of the sixteenth century, Tiepolo succeeded in reviving their methods and traditions. He painted an extraordinary series of frescos in Venice, Würzburg, and Madrid.
Timotheos; sculptor.
According to an inscription of about 375 B.C., Timotheos made the sketches from which the sculptural decoration of the Temple of Aesculapius at Epidaurus in Greece was executed. The inscription gives the names of the sculptors who carried out the work. He was also associated with Bryaxis, Leochares, and Scopas, in the decoration of the mausoleum of Halicarnassus.
Tino di Camaino; architect and sculptor.
A pupil of Giovanni da Pisa who was employed on the cathedral of Siena after 1300. He made several monuments in Florence, the most important of which is that of Emperor henry VII. In the will of Maria, widow of Charles II of Naples, Tino is chosen to construct her tomb. He is mentioned in other documents as architect of several buildings in the vicinity of Naples.
Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti); painter.
Ridolfi’s Maraviglie is the principal source of information about Tintoretto. He served a short apprenticeship with Titian and Schiavone. Tintoretto was a most prolific painter, and the greater part of his work is to be found in Venice. The most important of his mural pictures are in the church of S. Maria del’Orto, the Scuola di S. Rocco, and the Doge’s Palace.
Author: "Stephen Lauf (noreply@blogger.com)"
Date: Monday, 27 Nov 2006 17:02
Tolsa, Manuel; architect, engineer, and sculptor; b. about 1750 (at Valencia, Spain); d. about 1810 (in Mexico).
In 1781 he went to Mexico as government architect. He directed the erection of the towers of the cathedral of the city of Mexico, 1787-1791, designed the College of Mines in Mexico, 1797, and other buildings. In 1798 he was appointed director of the Academy of S. Carlos, city of Mexico. His chief work is the fine equestrian statue of Carlos IV now in the pasco de Bucareli, city of Mexico.
Tomaso di Andrea Pisano; sculptor.
According to Varsari (Vita di Andrea Pisano0, he completed the Campo Santo at Pisa. Documents of 1368 discovered by Professor Bonaini prove that he was the son of Andrea da Pisa.
Torelli, Giacomo; painter and architect; b. 1608; d. 1678.
Torelli was especially associated with the rapid development of the construction and decoration of theaters and scene painting in the seventeenth century. He made improvements in his native city, Fano, In Italy, which were engraved and attracted much attention. He was called to Venice, and at the theater of SS. Giovanni e Paolo in that city invented a method of changing scenes which was universally adopted. Torelli was called to Paris by Louis XIV, and remained there until 1662. He arranged the theater of the Petit Bourbon. The Andromeda of Corneille was first placed upon the stage by him. Returning to Fano, he built the still existing Teatro della Fortuna.
Torregiano. Pierto (Peter Torrysany); sculptor and architect; b. 1472; d. about 1522.
Torregiano was one of the boys selected by Lorenzo de’ Medici to study in the Gardens of S. Marco, Florence, where he was associated with Michelangelo. Leaving Florence, he entered the army of Caesar Borgia. About 1503 he drifted to England. In 1512 he made the contract for the monument to henry VII in Westminster Abbey. The monument to Margaret, Countess of Richmond, also in Westminster Abbey, is ascribed to him. The latter part of his life was spent at Seville in Spain. Some unimportant monuments in the churches of that city are supposed to be by him.
Author: "Stephen Lauf (noreply@blogger.com)"
Date: Sunday, 26 Nov 2006 15:37
Tresguerras, Francisco Eduardo; architect, sculptor, painter, musician, and poet; b. March 13, 1745 (at Celaya, Mexico); d. Aug. 3, 1833.
“The Michelangelo of Mexico.” Tresguerras was a pupil of the painter Miguel Cabrera for a short time at the Academy of S. Carlos, in the city of Mexico. He did not have the advantage of European travel and study. His activity was confined to a group of cities in the vicinity of Celaya. He began as a painter and afterward took up wood carving, and acquired extraordinary skill in that art. He probably learned the elements of architecture from the Jesuits, who supplied him with a Vignola and other architectural works. Tresguerras’s work as an architect is characterized by great originality and beauty of proportion, especially in domes and towers. His interiors are extremely rich. His best building is the church of Nuestra Señora del Carmen, at Celaya. Other important works are the convent churches of S. Rosa and S. Clara in Querétaro, the Alarson Theatre in San Luis Potosi, the bridge of La Laja, the beautiful church of La Conception in San Miguel de Allenda, and other works. His most important picture is the altarpiece of the church of S. Rosa in Querétaro. At the age of seventy he became an enthusiastic supporter of the Mexican revolution.
Tresham (Tressam), Sir Thomas; amateur architect; b. about 1543; d. 1605
In 1573-1574 he was sheriff of Northamptonsire. From 1581 to 1588 and again in 1597 and 1599 he was imprisoned as a Catholic. He built the market house at Rothwell, the “triangular lodge” at Rushton, and the new building at Lyveden.
Tribolo (Nicolò dei Braccini dei Pericoli); architect, landscape architect, sculptor, and painter; b. 1500; d. Sept. 5, 1550.
The nickname Tribolo (trouble) was given to him on account of his timidity. He entered the atelier of Nanni Unghero and later that of Jacopo Sansovino, then working in Florence. In 1525 he was invited to Bologna to continue the sculpture of the smaller portals of the façade of the church of S. Petronio. Two Sibyls on one of these portals and two statues in the Capella Zambeccari a S. Petronio, are by him. After the death of Andrea Sansovino, in 1529, Tribolo assisted Mosca, Montelupo, and others in completing the sculpture of the Casa Santa at Loreto. After the election of Cosimo I d’Medici, Duke of Tuscany, in 1537, Tribolo was employed in laying out and embellishing the gardens of his villas and palaces. At the villa of Castello he made two fountains, to the larger of which Ammanati added the group of Hercules and Antaeus; at the villa of Petraio he constructed a fountain, and was engaged in laying out the Boboli Gardens, Florence, when he died.
Tudella; sculptor and architect.
Studied sculpture in Italy, and in 1528 established himself in Zaragoza, Spain, and worked on the choir of the cathedral in that city.
Author: "Stephen Lauf (noreply@blogger.com)"
Date: Saturday, 25 Nov 2006 18:33
Turpin, Jean; architect and sculptor.
With Antoine Avernier, Arnoul Boulin, and Alexandre Huet he made the stalls of the cathedral of Amiens (Somme, France), finished in 1522.
Uccello, Paolo de Dono; painter; b. 1397; d. 1475.
A mural painter at Pisa and Florence.
Ulrich von Ensingen; architect; d. 1429.
Ulrich from Ensingen, a village in Switzerland near Fribourg, was chief architect of the cathedral of Ulm (begun 1377) from 1390, when the most important part of the construction was actually undertaken, until his death in 1429. From 1410 to 1429 he was also employed in some capacity at the cathedral of Strasbourg. In 1387 he was called to Milan to advise concerning the construction of the cathedral. He was succeeded by his sons, Gaspard and Mathias.
Ungewitter, Georg Gottlieb; architect; b. 1820; d. 1864.
In 1837 he entered the academy in Munich. In 1842 he settled in Hamburg, and afterward practiced in Lübeck and Leipzig. Ungewitter published Lehrbuch der Gothische Konstructionen (Leipzig, 1890-1892, 2 vols. 4to); Gothische Stadt und Landhaüser (Berlin, 1889-1890); Gothische Holzarchitecktur (Berlin, 1889-1890, folio).
Author: "Stephen Lauf (noreply@blogger.com)"
Date: Friday, 24 Nov 2006 16:08
Upjohn Richard; architect; b. Jan. 22, 1802, in Shaftesbury, England; d. Aug. 16, 1878.
He was apprenticed to a builder and cabinetmaker in 1829, came to the United States, and settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He went to Boston in 1833 and assisted in the construction of the city Court House. In 1839 he went to New York to take charge of the proposed alterations in the old Trinity Church. The scheme was abandoned, and Upjohn designed and constructed the present Trinity church, which was finished in 1846. He built also S. Thomas’s church, Trinity Building, the Corn Exchange Bank, and other buildings in New York, and several churches in Brooklyn, and other buildings. He was president of the American Institute of Architects from 1857 to 1876.
Valdervira, Pedro de; architect and sculptor.
A contemporary and rival of Berruguete. He studied Michelangelo’s works in Italy. In the town of Ubeda, Spain, he built the castle of Francisco de los Cobos, sectratery of Charles V, and the church of S. Salvador.
Valence, Pierre de; architect, engineer, and sculptor.
The chief member of a large family of French architects. In 1500 he was employed on the church of S. Gatien at Tours (Indre-et-Loire). January 11, 1503, Valence was called by the Cardinal Georges I. d’Amboise to inspect the works at the château of Gaillon, near Rouen, and in 1506 undertook the construction of he water works and fountains of the château. In 1507 he directed the construction of the fountain of Beaune in Tours. January 22, 1511, he made a contract for the fountains at Blois. His sons, Germain and Michel, succeeded him.
Vallée, Simon de la; architect.
He was called to Sweden by Queen Christina. At Stockholm he built the palace of the nobility (begun 1648), the church of S. Marie, S. Catherine, etc.
Author: "Stephen Lauf (noreply@blogger.com)"
Date: Thursday, 23 Nov 2006 14:06
Vanbrugh, Sir John; dramatist and architect; b. 1666; d. March 26, 1726
Vanbrugh devoted the early part of his life to literature and distinguished himself as a dramatist. In 1702 he succeeded Talman as comptroller of the royal works. His first completed works was a theater (1703-1705) in London, afterward destroyed. In 1701 he began for the Earl of Carlisle the palace called Castle Howard in Yorkshire, England. As a reward for the distinguished services of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, the royal manor of Woodstock (England) was granted to him and to his heirs by act of Parliament of March 14, 1705, with half a million pounds to build the great palace called Blenheim, which is Vanbrugh’s most important and characteristic work. In 1716 he succeeded Sir Christopher Wren as surveyor of Greenwich Hospital (London). Among the residences built by Vanbrugh are Eastbury in Dorsetshire (1716-1718), Seaton Delaval (1720), portions of Audley End (1721), Grimsthrope (1722-1724), etc.
Vanucci, Pietro (Perugino); painted; b. 1446; d. 1524.
For Sixtus IV (Pope 1471-1484) he painted a series of frescos in the Sistine Chapel, some of which were destroyed to make room for Michelangelo’s Last Judgment. In 1499 and 1500 Perugino painted the decorations of the Sala del Cambio (Exchange) of Perugia, Italy, one of the most perfect examples of the decorative work of the fifteenth century.
Vanvitelli (van Witel) Luigi; painter and architect; b. 1700; d. 1773.
Vanvitelli was the son of one Kasper van Witel, a Dutch painter, and spent his entire life in Italy. He was a pupil of Philippo Juvara. At the age of twenty-six he was made supervising architect of S. Peter’s in Rome. He conducted the works at the harbour of Ancona and built the campanile of the church of La Casa Santa at Loretto. He built the convent of S. Agostino at Rome, and designed the chapel for the church of the Jesuits at Lisbon. About 1749 he remodelled Michelangelo’s church of S. Maria degli Angeli (the great hall of the Baths of Diocletian in Rome). Vanvitelli’s chief monument is the immense Palazzo di Caserta in Naples. This building is described in a monograph by Vanvitelli, Dichiarazione del reale Palazzo di Caserta (1 vol. folio, Naples, 1756).
Vardy, John; architect.
A pupil of W. Kent. He succeeded H. Joynes as clerk of the works at Kensington Palace, London, between 1746 and 1754. February 13, 1746, he was appointed clerk of the works at Chelsea Hospital.
Author: "Stephen Lauf (noreply@blogger.com)"
Date: Wednesday, 22 Nov 2006 15:52
Vasari, Giorgio; painter and architect; b. 1511; d. July 27, 1574.
Giorgio Vasari was born at Arezzo (Italy), a kinsman of Luca Signorelli. His first teacher in painting appears to have been Guillaume de Marcillat. His literary training was superintended by the Aretine poet Giovanni Pollastra. About 1523 he went to Florence, and entered the service of Ottaviano de’ Medici and the Duke Alessandro de’ Medici. He went to Rome afterwards with the Cardinal Ippolito de’ Medici. From 1555 to the end of his life he was court painter to Cosimo I de’ Medici, duke of Florence. The most important of his undertakings are the frescos of the Cancelleria in Rome and those of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. As architect he prepared in 1536 the deorations of the triumphal entry of the Emperor Charles V into Florence. He made the original plans of the Vigna di Papa Giulio (Julius III, Pope 1550-1555) in Rome. He remdeled the Palazzo Vecchio and built the Palazzo degli Uffizi in Florence. At Pistoia he built the cupola of the church of the Madonna dee’ Umiltà, and at Pisa the Palazzo dei Cavalieri de S. Stefano. He built the Badia and the “Loggie Vasari” at Arezzo.
Vasari’s most important work is his series of biographies of artists; Le Vite de’ più eccellenti Architetti, Pittori e Scultori. The first editions appears in 1550. The second , in 1568, was made complete. The standard of Vasari is that of Gaetano Milanese, which was published in Florence between 1878 and 1885. A new comprehensive Italian edition is now in progress under the supervision of A. Venturi. The Vite were translated into English by Mrs. Forster in 1888. A selection of seventy of the Lives from Mrs. Foster’s translation, with introduction, annotation, and bibliography by E. H. and E. W. Blashfield and A. A. Hopkins was published in New York in 1896.
Vassallectus (Vasaleto); architect, sculptor, and mosaicist.
The name Vassellectus, variously spelled, appears in inscriptions on several monuments of the thirteenth century in the vicinity of Rome. The most imortant of these, the cloister of S. Giovanni in Laterano, which was probably built about 1230, bears this inscription, discovered by Count Vespignani in 1887: NOBILIS ET DOCTUS HAC VASSELLECTUS IN ARTE, PATRE COEPIT OPUS SOLUS PERFECIT IPSE. The inscription indicates that the sculptor belonged to a family of Marmorarii (marble workers). A throne with lions, which was made about 1263 for the Abbot Lando, and is now in the museum of the cathedral of Anagni, Italy, is signed Vasaleto de Roma me fecit. The name appears also on an Oedicula for holy oil in the church of S. Francesco at Viterbo. It is supposed by Frothingham that the fine monument of the Pope Adrian V in this church was made by the same person. Less important works are a lion before the church of SS. Apostoli (Rome), and a candelabrum in the church of S. Paolo fuori le Mura (Rome). There is also an inscription which belongs to a monument which stood in the old basilica of S. Peter’s (Rome). Those works may be by one person or several. De Rossi supposes that there were four. A screen in the cathedral of Segni, dated 1185, and a canopy in the church SS. Cosmo e Damiano (rome) appears to be by an earlier member of the family.
Vaudoyer, Antoine Laurent Thomas; architect; b. Dec. 20, 1756 (at Paris); d. May 27, 1846.
He studied with A. F. Peyre and at the École des Beaux Arts, and won the Grand Prix de Rome in architecture in 1783. In 1793 he established with David Leroy an atelier of architecture at the Louvre. August 25, 1795, when the Institute was created, Vaudoyer became voluntary secretary of the Commission d’Architecture. In 1800 he was appointed architect of the Collège de France and the Sorbonne (Paris), and made extensive additions to those monuments. In 1804 he had charge of the installation of the Institute at the Palais des Quatre Nations. He was associated with L. P. Baltard in publishing Grands Prix d’Architecture, 1804-1831 (Paris, 1818-1834, 2 vols. folio).
Vaudoyer, Léon; architect; b. June 7, 1803 (at Paris); d. Feb. 9, 1872.
A son of A. L. T. Vaudoyer. He studied architecture with his father and Lebas and at the École des Beaux Arts (Paris). In 1826 he won the Premier Grand Prix de Rome. While in Rome he made the monument to Poussin at the church of S. Lorenzo-in-Lucina. In 1853 he was appointed inspecteur des édifices diocésains, and in 1855 architect of the cathedral of Marseilles, which had been begun in 1852. He won a medal of the first class at the Salon of 1855.
Author: "Stephen Lauf (noreply@blogger.com)"
Date: Tuesday, 21 Nov 2006 12:38
21 November 1958 - moved into 5233 Arbor Street.
21 November 1996 - Quondam, a virtual museum of architecture, begins its online existence, originating from the basement of 5233 Arbor Street.
21 November 2006 - quondam Quondam.
Author: "Stephen Lauf (noreply@blogger.com)"
Date: Monday, 20 Nov 2006 12:38
Vaux, Calvert; landscape architect; b. Dec. 20, 1824 (in London); d. November, 1895.
He studied architecture under Lewis N. Cottingham. He became the assistant of A. J. Downing, and later formed a partnership with him. The firm of Downing and Vaux laid out the grounds of the Capitol and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. In association with Frederick Law Olmsted, Vauz made the plans according to which Central park in New York was laid out, and retained his position as consulting landscape architect of the department of parks in New York until his death. Olmsted and Vaux designed Prospect Park, Brooklyn, the parks of Chicago and Buffalo, the State Reservation at Niagara Falls, and the Riverside and Morningside parks in New York.
Vecelli, Tiziano (Titian); painter; b. 1477; d. 1576.
A mural painter of great power.
Verdier, Pierre Aynard; b. Nov. 19, 1819 (at Tours, Indre-et-Loire, France).
Verdier was a pupil of Labrouste and at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. With Viollet-le-Duc he was architect of the diocesan buildings of Amiens and Beauvais (France). With Dr. Cattois he published L’Architecture civile et domestique au Moyen âge et à la Renaissance (Paris, 2 vols. 4to., 1855).
Vergara, Francisco (I.); b. 1681 (at Velencia, Spain); d. 1753.
He studied sculptor under Rodulfo and Aliprandi, two Germans employed in the decoration of the cathedral of Valencia. Vergara made the statues of cardinal virtues and portraits of Valencian popes over the main portal of the cathedral, the high altar of the church of S. Augustine, the figures of S. Domingo, etc., all in Valencia.
Author: "Stephen Lauf (noreply@blogger.com)"
Date: Monday, 20 Nov 2006 12:27
Vergara, Francisco (II.); sculptor; b. 1713 (in Spain); d. July 30, 1761.
A nephew and pupil of Francisco (I.) Vergara of Valencia. He went to Madrid and made statues of S. Francisco de Paola and S. Antonio in the church of S. Ildefonso. Vergara went to Rome and entered the school of Filippo Valle. He executed statues and bas-reliefs for the altar of S. Julian in the cathedral of Cuença (Spain), which was designed by the architect Ventura Rodriguez. For the church of S. Peter’s in Rome he made a statue of S. Pedro Alcantara. Bermudez praises his statues for their grand character and for the breadth and freedom of their draperies.
Vergara, Ignacio; sculptor; b. 1715 (at Velencia, Spain); d. April 13, 1776.
A son and pupil of Francisco (I.) Vergara. He enjoyed a high reputation in Valencia, and left many works there. Among the best of these is a group of angels in the façade of the cathedral. With his brother, Josef Vergara, he established the Real Academia de S. Carlos in Valencia, of which he became director in 1773.
Vergara, Nicolas de; sculptor, painter, and architect; d. 1606.
A son and pupil of Nicolas de Vergara, a painter and sculptor. In 1573 he succeeded his father as sculptor and painter of the cathedral of Toledo (Spain). He made the fine bronze and iron lateral lecterns of the choir, and designed the new Sagrario, or chapel of he Host, which was finished by Monegro. In 1575 he designed the church of the Bernardine nuns at Toledo, and in 1595 a chapel for the relics of the Jeronymites of Guadalupe (Spain).
Vergaz, Alfonso Giraldo; sculptor, painter, and architect; b. Jan 23, 1744 (at Murcia, Spain); d. Nov. 19, 1812.
He studied sculpture under Felipe de Castro in Madrid, and April 15, 1797, was made director of the Academia de S. Fernando in that city. Among his works are a statue of Don Carlos III in the plaza publica of Burgos, a statue of Juan Sebastian Elcano at Guetaria, three angels in the cathedral of Jaen, and various works in Madrid.
Author: "Stephen Lauf (noreply@blogger.com)"
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