Faculty Letter of Support
3-Dimensional Construction of Giuliano da Sangallo's Plan for New
St. Peter's Under Julius II (Excerpt)
The history of the project is
preserved in a number of fascinating drawings that are precious
documents for understanding the earliest stages of the
design. It is the analysis of these early sixteenth-century
drawings that he will undertake. In particular, he will focus
on what the drawings of Bramante and Giuliano da Sangallo tell us
about the relationship of these two architects in designing this
remarkable commission. The subject of their collaboration is
controversial, for Bramante sketched alterations on the backs of
drawings by Sangallo. Indeed, some scholars maintain that
fundamental drawings attributed to Bramante were instead the
product of Giuliano da Sangallo's thought. Thus,
an essential aspect of his work will be to evaluate the scholarship
on the early drawings for St. Peter's in an attempt to
separate the work of Bramante from that of Giuliano da
Sangallo. One of the tools that he will be using is the
application of computer technology to the study of the Renaissance
architectural drawings. In particular, he will be attempting
to create three-dimensional models of the early plans of St.
Peter's using computer programs such as CADD-a system
that allows the reconstruction of an elevation and model from a
plan.
The project requires knowledge of
German since the secondary literature on the early drawings is
almost exclusively in that language. As a German major, he
will be able to negotiate the bibliography without any
problems. Finally, he is studying computer technology.
He has already begun to learn how to use the CADD system and to
discuss its application to Renaissance architectural drawings with
several members of the university community.
His work will be of great benefit
to my own since I work on Giuliano da Sangallo. I am in the
process of finishing my study of his palaces and villas and
beginning the examination of his churches.
Sangallo's work on St. Peter's comes at the
culmination of his career. My student's treatment
of the architectural drawings, especially his project to create
three-dimensional images of the two-dimensional plans, would be of
major importance to my work. While I have not personally used
CADD or other architectural programs, I am familiar with the
extraordinary value of working out the problems of Renaissance
plans in three dimensions. In the past, I have worked with
architects in the more laborious, old-fashioned method of drawing
and redrawing. My recently published article in the Colloquia
of the Warburg Institute in London could not have been accomplished
without the collaboration of an architect to render my ideas about
a plan into three dimensions. Thus, I would find my
student's work to be an invaluable contribution to my
own scholarly pursuits.
Student Proposal