By Anne Leader
Architect Donato Bramante died on 11 April 1514 in Rome. Born in Monte Asdrualdo near Urbino around 1443, Bramante seems to have begun his career as a painter and designer near the court of Urbino. He had settled in Milan by the late 1470s, where he entered the service of Duke Lodovico Sforza. He worked in Milan for two decades alongside Leonardo da Vinci, who had joined the Sforza Court after 1482. With the fall of Milan to the French in 1499, Bramante left for Rome, where he undertook important commissions for the Spanish monarchs as well as Pope Julius II, who gave him the extraordinary task of redesigning the church of St. Peter’s. Bramante’s style shifted from a more pictorial, colorful surface decoration to one closely tied to classical models. His Tempietto and design for New St. Peter’s have earned him esteem as the Father of High Renaissance architecture.
Reference: Paul Davies and David Hemsoll. “Bramante, Donato.” Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press.
Tempietto, Rome, after 1502; photo credit: Scala/Art Resource, NY
Attributed to Bramante (or Bramantino), Christ at the Column, ca. 1490, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
Santa Maria presso San Satiro, Milan, 1485, Milan, view towards choir
Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, after 1492, Milan, exterior of choir and views into choir and dome
Plan for New St. Peter’s and commemorative medal, 1506