Baldassarre Lanci
Encyclopedia
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, inventor, theatrical set designer, and master of perspective of the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
period. Born in Urbino
Urbino
Urbino is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of Federico da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino from 1444 to 1482...
, he spent most of his working life in Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
.
Early career
He began his career as military engineer, for ten years following 1547 he was in the continual employment of the Republic of LuccaRepublic of Lucca
The Republic of Lucca was an ancient State of Tuscany which lasted from 1160 to 1805.After the death of Matilda of Tuscany, the city of Lucca began to constitute itself an independent commune, with a charter in 1160. For almost 500 years, Lucca remained an independent republic...
. His notability as a construction engineer earned him the commission to carry out a detailed survey of Rome's city walls and those of the bastion
Bastion
A bastion, or a bulwark, is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall , facilitating active defence against assaulting troops...
s at Ancona
Ancona
Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 101,909 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region....
, Civitavecchia
Civitavecchia
Civitavecchia is a town and comune of the province of Rome in the central Italian region of Lazio. A sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea, it is located 80 kilometers west-north-west of Rome, across the Mignone river. The harbor is formed by two piers and a breakwater, on which is a lighthouse...
and Ostia
Ostia Antica (district)
thumb|300px|The Castle of Julius II in Ostia Antica.thumb|300px|The square of Ostia Antica, with the church of Santa Aurea on the right.Ostia Antica is a district in the commune of Rome, Italy, five kilometers away from the coast. It is distinct from Ostia.- History :Under the Romans, Ostia Antica...
, and for Pope Pius IV
Medici architect
From 1557 he worked almost exclusively for Cosimo I de' Medici, Lanci's chief employer and patronPatrón
Patrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...
for whom he supervised such projects as the fortification of Siena
Siena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
and many other Tuscan
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
towns. His urban works included the design of Terra del Sole
Terra del Sole
Terra del Sole was a town constructed in 1564 for Cosimo I de’ Medici by Baldassarre Lanci of Urbino, in what is now the Province of Forlì-Cesena, northern Italy. It was one of the first fortified cities to be constructed entirely from new on a planned grid system...
a fortified new city for Cosimo I de' Medici, in what is now the Province of Forlì-Cesena
Province of Forlì-Cesena
The Province of Forlì-Cesena is a province in the Emilia–Romagna region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Forlì.It has an area of 2,377 km², and a total population of 371,318 . There are 30 comuni in the province, see Comuni of the Province of Forlì-Cesena...
. Lanci also designed the church of Santa Maria della Rosa in the spa
Spa
The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...
town of Chianciano Terme
Chianciano Terme
Chianciano Terme is a comune in the Province of Siena in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 90 km southeast of Florence and about 50 km southeast of Siena...
, in today's Province of Siena
Province of Siena
The Province of Siena is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Siena.It has an area of 3,821 km² , and a total population of 252,288 . There are 36 comuni in the province...
; Santa Maria della Rosa was built on a central plan; even though it was not finished, the church is notable for the sobriety, and clean lines of its design which culminates in an elegant dome. The church, however, was never fully completed. In 1585 building work stopped, fourteen years after Lanci's death.
Lanci's most notable achievement was his invention in 1567 of a piece of surveying equipment to obtain perspective
Perspective (graphical)
Perspective in the graphic arts, such as drawing, is an approximate representation, on a flat surface , of an image as it is seen by the eye...
s with a visual field of 180°. The instrument, which he named distanziometro ("distance meter"), was made of a circular bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
plate placed upon a horizontal tripod
Tripod
A tripod is a portable three-legged frame, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. The word comes from the Greek tripous, meaning "three feet". A tripod provides stability against downward forces, horizontal forces and moments about the...
the height of which could be adjusted. Semi-cylindrical paper was wound around its edge. A cylindrical eyepiece was placed in the centre with a retracting metal needle or pen underneath. The eyepiece was high enough to overlook the semicircle of paper and sight points of interest while the retracting needle scored on the paper to accurately plot the subject. It could also be used as a quadrant for measuring height in much the same way as the orizzonte designed by Leon Battista Alberti.
His diverse works also included many aquatic
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
projects such as the improvement of Livorno
Livorno
Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...
harbour (1566-1567), and the Sovana
Sovana
250px|thumb|A view of a street in Sovana.Sovana is a small town in southern Tuscany, Italy, a frazione of Sorano, a comune in the province of Grosseto.-History:...
aqueduct
Aqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
, earning him fame as an early hydraulic engineer.
Engineer
As an architect his engineering skills were firmly to the forefront, rather than an interpretation on the finer and more sophisticated points of rinascimento architecture. Impregnable fortresses such as the Fortezza Medicea at SienaSiena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
, and bastide towns, and bridges are his trade mark rather than elegant palazzi
Palazzo
Palazzo, an Italian word meaning a large building , may refer to:-Buildings:*Palazzo, an Italian type of building**Palazzo style architecture, imitative of Italian palazzi...
. This is not to say Lanci was a man lacking in sophistication, one of his more surprising talents was designing some of the sets for the lavish theatrical and dramatical performances for which the Medici court was famed. As with his architecture, though, it was his engineering skills even here which dominated.
Restoration spectacular
The Restoration spectacular, or elaborately staged "machine play", hit the London public stage in the late 17th-century Restoration period, enthralling audiences with action, music, dance, moveable scenery, baroque illusionistic painting, gorgeous costumes, and special effects such as trapdoor...
s of the 17th century Lanci was designing elaborate and complicated theatre sets, using pivoted scenery, with up to three different scenes painted on boards, thus allowing the mood of the production to be altered in an instant. One of the earliest examples of this form of scenic change was recorded in 1568 for a performance of the Fabii produced to celebrate the baptism of a daughter of Francesco de' Medici
Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany was the second Grand Duke of Tuscany, ruling from 1574 to 1587.- Biography :...
. One of Lanci's most extravagant productions was for a performance of Giovan Battista Cini
Giovan Battista Cini
Giovan Battista Cini was an Italian renaissance playwright at the court of the Medici in Florence.Cini was a member of The Florentine Academy of Art which was founded by Grand Duke Cosimo I at the height of the Medici power during the 16th century...
's La Vedova (The Widow), staged in Florence in 1569, with amazingly extravagant costumes by Bernardo Buontalenti
Bernardo Buontalenti
Bernardo Buontalenti, byname of Bernardo Delle Girandole was an Italian stage designer, architect, theatrical designer, military engineer and artist.-Biography:Buontalenti was born in Florence....
, the event was recorded by the mathematician Ignazio Danti
Ignazio Danti
Ignazio Danti , born Pellegrino Rainaldi Danti, was an Italian priest, mathematician, astronomer, and cosmographer.-Biography:Danti was born in Perugia to a family rich in artists and scientists...
who was so impressed by Lanci's theatrical engineering he included a drawing of his periactoi stage. The periactoi stage setting was basically a series of three sided revolving triangular boards each side with a different scene. Each triangular board was connected, hence there would be one or two flanking the stage, in the wings, and a further section suspended between them on which would be painted skies, cloudy, sunny, dawn or dusk. The entire series of revolving boards were linked to each other by a series of pulleys and machinery, thus allowing scene changes to be almost instantaneous. While Lanci did not invent this mechanism himself (indeed Vitruvius
Vitruvius
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman writer, architect and engineer, active in the 1st century BC. He is best known as the author of the multi-volume work De Architectura ....
had described these three-sided units revolving in the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
era) he was instrumental in its further development. Often producing and relocating the settings of the plays, himself, in order that a greater variety of scenery could be included. What in fact Lanci realised and promoted was that a false perspective coupled with a deliberately created illusionary architectural area, was the perfect dramatical setting.