Giacomo della Porta

Giacomo della Porta (1533–1602) was an Italian architect and sculptor, likely born in either Genoa or Porlezza. His work was shaped by Renaissance masters like Michelangelo and Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola. He began his career as a sculptor in his late twenties, later shifting to architecture. His first major architectural project in Rome was the Oratory of Santissimo Crocifisso. In 1564, he was appointed Architetto del Popolo Romano (Architect of the Roman People), a role in which he carried out many of his most significant public and private commissions. Throughout his career, della Porta often took over projects started by other architects or added to their designs, rather than seeing a project through entirely on his own.

Della Porta was born into a family of sculptors. In 1559, he began working as a sculptor in his uncle Bartolomeo’s workshop. Among his earliest works in Genoa were statues of the Cybo family in a chapel at Genoa Cathedral. Between 1560 and 1561, he completed his first architectural work: the portal of the Vigna Grimani on the Quirinale.

He trained as an architect under Guidetto Guidetti. His style, grounded in functionality, drew from Michelangelo’s Mannerism and Vignola’s Classicism. Between 1561 and 1568, he worked alongside Guidetti on the Oratory of Santissimo Crocifisso in Rome, his first major project. This work revealed how his style matched his mentors’. After Guidetti and Michelangelo both died in 1564, della Porta finished their projects, ensuring they were not abandoned. He completed Guidetti’s work on the church of Santa Caterina de' Funari and the Cesi Chapel in Santa Maria Maggiore. He also carried out Michelangelo’s plans for the Campidoglio (Capitoline Hill) and finished Michelangelo’s Sforza Chapel in Santa Maria Maggiore.

In June 1561, della Porta worked with the Confraternity of the Most Holy Crucifix, creating plans for a new oratory, including its façade. These plans were presented at a confraternity meeting. His façade design showed a decorative style inspired by Michelangelo, especially in the lower part, which features pediments, triglyphs, garlands, and candelabra. The oratory also displays a tendency toward verticality and ornamental motifs like ribbons and garlands above the windows. This project boosted his reputation and led to future commissions.

Guidetti was the main architect for Santa Caterina de' Funari from 1560 to 1564, but stylistic similarities between its façade and della Porta’s earlier work—such as ribbons, garlands, cartouches, an inscription, and a coat of arms—suggest his involvement.

In 1564, della Porta was named Architetto del Popolo Romano. Under this title, he oversaw many Capitoline projects, both public and private. On the Capitoline Hill, he supervised work based on Michelangelo’s designs, including the façade of the Palazzo dei Conservatori (1586), the interior and façade of the Palazzo Senatorio, and the Cordonata. He designed the large window in the Palazzo dei Conservatori, the windows and door surround of the Palazzo Senatorio, and the low wall of the Cordonata, whose slope he lowered to extend directly into the Piazza del Campidoglio.

Among his private commissions: he built the chapel for Faustina Rusticelli in the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran (1565–1571); started a palazzo for Carlo Muti on Via del Gesù in 1565, finished in 1582; created an enclosed church and renovated the convent for the Dominican nuns of S. Sisto in Magnanapoli (Santi Domenico e Sisto), completed by 1575; and built a dormitory for the convent of S. Ambrogio at the Massima in 1568. In 1589, as the last of four successive architects, he finished the Palazzo Farnese, completing Michelangelo’s work. In May 1601, he directed the rebuilding of Villa Aldobrandini for Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini. Between 1597 and 1601, he renovated the transept of the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran. His involvement in the project for the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, which began in 1562, came near the end of its construction.