Nicolau Nasoni
Encyclopedia
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
artist 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...
but mostly active in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
.
He became during the 18th century one of the most influential figures in Portuguese Baroque architecture for introducing his original and vigorous and theatrical style of Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
and Rococo architecture.
Born in San Giovanni Valdarno, 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 ....
, he received his education in 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...
from Giuseppe Nicolo Nasini (1657–1736) from 1713 and 1720. During this early period he constructed a catafalque
Catafalque
A catafalque is a raised bier, soapbox, or similar platform, often movable, that is used to support the casket, coffin, or body of the deceased during a funeral or memorial service. Following a Roman Catholic Requiem Mass, a catafalque may be used to stand in place of the body at the Absolution of...
for Ferdinando de Medici (1663–1713) in the cathedral of Siena and the triumphal arch for the reception of the new archbishop. At the same time he studied architecture and painting while working with his master for the Opera del Duomo di Siena
Duomo di Siena
The Cathedral of Siena , dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church and now to Santa Maria Assunta , is a medieval church in Siena, central Italy....
.
He was then employed, first as a painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and, between 1723 and 1725, in Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. The new Grand Master of the Order of Malta was a Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
nobleman Dom António de Vilhena. Nasoni designed the Mars
Mars (mythology)
Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...
display for the parade in his honour. The theatrical design of this display attracted the attention of Count Francisco Picolomini, who in turn informed the Grand Master. Niccoló Nasoni then received a commission to paint the ceilings and corridors of the Magisterial Palace (Palazzo Magistrale della Valletta). His work was much appreciated and he soon became famous as a decorative painter.
At the invitation of Jerónimo de Távora e Noronha, the Dean of Porto
Porto
Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, whose brother Roque de Távora, he had met in Malta, Nasoni moved to Porto in 1723 (or 1725 ?), where he would remain till his death in 1773 at Porto.
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
es on the walls of the cathedral
Oporto Cathedral
The Porto Cathedral , located in the historical centre of the city of Porto, Portugal, is one of the city's oldest monuments and one of the most important Romanesque monuments in Portugal...
in 1725, which are now fading. Here he introduced to Portugal the illusionist effects, called quadratura, typical for this period. He was given the assignment to redecorate and modernise this cathedral, still Romanesque at that time. He added the granite porch (1736) of the north façade and the loggia with the azulejo
Azulejo
Azulejo from the Arabic word Zellige زليج is a form of Portuguese or Spanish painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tilework. They have become a typical aspect of Portuguese culture, having been produced without interruption for five centuries...
s. His silver altarpiece with flying angels, garlands, acanthus and twisted columns in Manueline
Manueline
The Manueline, or Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese style of architectural ornamentation of the first decades of the 16th century, incorporating maritime elements and representations of the discoveries brought from the voyages of Vasco da Gama and Pedro Álvares Cabral...
style, is an elaborate work. He also designed the two organ-cases. He decorated the doorcases in the apse of the cathedral and in the cloister (1733–1736) with a rich variety of ornament, whose designs go back to the Florentine 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....
. Next he undertook the building of the vast Episcopal Palace of Porto
Episcopal Palace of Porto
The Episcopal Palace of Porto is the former residence of the bishops of Porto, in Portugal. The palace is located on a high elevation, near Oporto Cathedral, and dominates the skyline of the city...
, next to the cathedral. Its façade is 58 m long. He designed it in 1734 but the construction only started in 1741. Only part of the palace was completed during his lifetime.
In 1729 he married D. Isabel Castriotto Rixaral, a Neapolitan
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
woman of noble descent. She died the next year through complications of childbirth. The godfather of José, his son, was a Portuguese nobleman who asked him in 1731 to design the church and the spectacular granite tower of São Pedro dos Clérigos
Clérigos Church
The Clérigos Church is a Baroque church in the city of Porto, in Portugal. Its tall bell tower, the Torre dos Clérigos, can be seen from various points of the city and is one of its most characteristic symbols....
in Porto. This would become, according to scholars, his greatest work (1732–63). It would become the most significant and innovative architectural event in the renovation of Porto during the fist half of the 18th century. Together with his other realizations, it would transform Porto into the most Baroque of Portuguese cities. The ground plan has an oval form, something most unusual in churches. It withstood the great earthquake of 1755.
In 1731 he was married again, this time to a Portuguese woman, Antónia Mascaranhas Malafaia, of which he had 5 children : Margarida (1731), António (1732), Jerónimo (1734), Francisco (1736) and Ana (1737).
Other major works in Porto and northern Portugal :
- loggia of the Porto Cathedral
- Palace of São João o Novo (1723–1733) (Porto) (it now houses the Ethnographic and Historical Museum)
- Cathedral of Lamego (1738–1743) : rebuilding of the cathedral and painting of the false cupolaCupolaIn architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
s on the nave, using quadratura techniques. - Frescoes depicting the Apocalypse (1739; destroyed) on the ceiling of the nave of the church Sta. Eulália, Cumeeira, in the rural province of Trás-os-Montes
- Igreja do Bom Jesus (1743) , a magnificent Baroque church in MatosinhosMatosinhosMatosinhos Municipality is located in Porto District, Portugal. The main city is Matosinhos. It is bordered to the south by the city of Porto and lies within the Greater Porto subregion. The municipality has a population of 168,451 in 10 parishes. Many people have recently moved from the...
, just north of Porto. Here he added an element of horizontality (rather rare in Portuguese architecture). - Quinta do Chantre (1743) : garden walls with fountains along a central axis, leading to the house with a central tower
- Igreja de Santa Marinha (1745), Vila Nova de GaiaVila Nova de GaiaVila Nova de Gaia, or simply Gaia is a city in Vila Nova de Gaia Municipality, Portugal. It is located in the Porto District, south of the city of Porto on the other side of the Douro River. The city proper has a population of 178,255 and the municipality contains 24 parishes with a total...
(on the other side of the river Douro, facing Porto) - RetableRetableA retable is a framed altarpiece, raised slightly above the back of the altar or communion table, on which are placed the cross, ceremonial candlesticks and other ornaments....
in the Igreja de Santo IldefonsoChurch of Saint IldefonsoThe Igreja de Santo Ildefonso is an 18th century church in Porto, Portugal, situated near Batalha Square. Completed in 1739, the church was built in a proto-Baroque style and features a retable by the Italian artist Nicolau Nasoni and a façade of azulejo tilework...
(1745) - Designs for the orphanage of Nossa Senhora da Esperança (1746)
- Quinta de Ramalde (1746) : adding Neo-Gothic elements such as decorative battlementBattlementA battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles. These cut-out portions form crenels...
s to the central tower. - façade of the Misericórdia Church (1749) (Porto)
- the Palace of Freixo (1750) (Porto)
- the central part of the palace of Mateus (Solar de Mateus) (attributed to Nasoni on stylistic grounds; finished in 1750) (Vila RealVila Real, PortugalVila Real is a city in Vila Real Municipality, Trás-os-Montes, northern Portugal.According to the 2001 census, the city had a total of 24,481 inhabitants.- History :...
) - Quinta da Prelada (finished before 1758) : one of his most theatrical designs, full of fantasy, such as the granite fountain of the Tortoise (but not completed)
- Capela Nova (Vila Real)
His specialty was the talha dourada, a technique to decorate woodwork with gold leaves. This sculptured gilt wood became typical for the Portuguese baroque art. This technique was applied to altars, altarpieces, statues
Statues
Statues is a popular children's game, often played in Australia but with versions throughout the world.-General rules:# A person starts out as the "Curator" and stands at the end of a field. Everyone else playing stands at the far end...
, retables and baldachins giving an overwhelming impression of opulence on entering a church. During the Counter Reformation this wealth of ornament was encouraged to impress the believers with the wealth and the richness of the Catholic faith. Nicolau Nasoni introduced in Portugal the concave form of the retable and the undulant arch a the top. By applying these elements, he followed the example of Andrea Pozzo
Andrea Pozzo
Andrea Pozzo was an Italian Jesuit Brother, Baroque painter and architect, decorator, stage designer, and art theoretician. He was best known for his grandiose frescoes using illusionistic technique called quadratura, in which architecture and fancy are intermixed...
(as explained in Perspectiva pictorum et architectorum). He exercised a great influence on his contemporaries with his wood sculpture. A good example is the retable on the main altar of the church of Santo Ildefonso in Porto, where he used the same thematic decorative elements as in his architectural designs (asymmetrical shells, acanthus foliage, volutes and husks, with the addition of flying angels).
In his designs for ecclesiastical silver, he used these same motifs again : winged angels, acanthus leaves and garlands (silver altarpiece in the cathedral of Porto). And again in the iron railings and gates of the chancel arch in the same cathedral.
In 1743 he entered the Clérigos Brotherhood. He was buried, at his request, in an unmarked tomb in the crypt of the Clérigos Church.
He had, as an architect and painter, an enormous influence in the northern part of Portugal even if he didn't found a school or train new followers. One of his successors was the painter and architect José de Figueiredo Seixas, who had worked under Nasoni's direction.