THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

Two projects—one sacred and one secular—spanned much of the sixteenth century. Reconstruction of the church of St. Peter's began in 1506 at the command of Pope Julius II Della Rovere (reigned 1503–1513) on the design of Donato Bramante (1444–1514), who projected a Greek-cross plan with a massive central dome, a radical departure in design from the Latin-cross plan of the original fourth-century foundation of Old St. Peter's marking the burial site of Peter, the first pope. The scheme was fantastic and promised to rival the scale of Roman imperial public architecture. Although the massive piers for the crossing were begun according to Bramante's design, the plan was revised repeatedly after his death—by Raphael (1483–1520), by Baldassare Peruzzi (1481–1536), by Antonio Giamberti da Sangallo the Younger (1483–1546), and finally, beginning in 1546, by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564), who simplified the plan by embedding the Greek cross in a square, capped with a magnificent double-shelled dome offering a striking skyline image for this, the city's most important pilgrimage destination. The great sculptor turned architect was also responsible for the restructuring of the Campidoglio, the civic center atop the Capitoline Hill, close by the Tabularium and Forum Romanum of the ancient city. Beginning in 1539, the work was carried out in phases (Palazzo Nuovo was not even begun until 1603), but Michelangelo's mark is apparent in the brilliant design of the oval space, focused on the ancient equestrian statue of emperor Marcus Aurelius and framed by the angled placements of the flanking structures.