Daniele Barbaro


Daniele Matteo Alvise Barbaro was an Italian architect, writer on architecture, and translator of, and commentator on, Vitruvius. He also had a significant ecclesiastical career.
Barbaro's fame is chiefly due to his vast output in the arts, letters, and mathematics. A cultured humanist, he was a friend and admirer of Torquato Tasso, a patron of Andrea Palladio, and a student of Pietro Bembo. Francesco Sansovino considered Daniele to be one of the three best Venetian architects, along with Palladio and Francesco's father Jacopo.

Biography

He was born in Venice, the son of Francesco di Daniele Barbaro and Elena Pisani, daughter of the banker Alvise Pisani and Cecilia Giustinian. Barbaro studied philosophy, mathematics, and optics at the University of Padua. He has been credited with the design of the university's botanical garden.
Barbaro served the Republic of Venice as ambassador to the court of Edward VI in London and as representative at the Council of Trent. In 1561 Pope Pius IV appointed him a cardinal in pectore, that is, secretly, to avoid causing diplomatic complications, but since Pius never made the appointment public Barbaro was never a cardinal. In 1550 he was elected Patriarch of Aquileia, an ecclesiastical appointment that required the approval of the Venetian Senate.
On the death of his father, he inherited a country estate with his brother Marcantonio Barbaro. They commissioned Palladio to design their shared country home Villa Barbaro, which is now part of a World Heritage Site. Palladio and Barbaro visited Rome together and the architecture of the villa reflects their interest in the ancient buildings they saw there. The interior of the villa is decorated with frescoes by Paolo Veronese, who also painted oil portraits of Daniele; one reproduced in this article shows him dressed as a Venetian aristocrat, the other shows him in clerical dress.
Barbaro died in Udine. His will refers to his collection of purchased and constructed astronomical instruments. Daniele renounced his inheritance in favor of his brother Marcantonio and was buried in an unmarked grave behind the Church of San Francesco della Vigna instead of the family chapel there. Daniele commissioned the church's altarpiece of The Baptism of Christ by Battista Franco.

Works

Barbaro may have designed the Palazzo Trevisan in Murano, alone or in collaboration with Palladio. Like at the Villa Barbaro, Paolo Veronese and Alessandro Vittoria probably also worked on the project, which was completed in 1557.
His works include: