Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola (UK: vin-YOH-lə, US: veen-, Italian: [ˈdʒaːkomo baˈrɔttsi da (v)viɲˈɲɔːla]; 1 October 1507 – 7 July 1573), often simply called Vignola, was one of the great Italian architects of 16th-century Mannerism. His two great masterpieces are the Villa Farnese at Caprarola and the Jesuits' Church of the Gesù in Rome. The three architects who spread the Italian Renaissance style throughout Western Europe are Vignola, Serlio and Palladio. He is often considered the most important architect in Rome in the Mannerist era.
Jacopo Barozzi was born at Vignola, near Modena (Emilia-Romagna).
He began his career as an architect in Bologna, supporting himself by painting and making perspective templates for inlay craftsmen. He made his first trip to Rome in 1536 to make measured drawings of Roman temples, with a thought to publish an illustrated Vitruvius. Then François I called him to Fontainebleau, where he spent the years 1541–1543. Here he probably met his fellow Bolognese, the architect Sebastiano Serlio and the painter Primaticcio.
After his return to Italy, he designed the Palazzo Bocchi in Bologna. Later he moved to Rome. Here he worked for Pope Julius III and, after the latter's death, he was taken up by the papal family of the Farnese and worked with Michelangelo, who deeply influenced his style (see Works section for details of his works in this period).
In 1558, he was in Piacenza to revise the designs of Palazzo Farnese, commissioned by Margaret of Austria, wife of the Duke Ottavio Farnese and daughter of Emperor Charles V.
From 1564 Vignola carried on Michelangelo's work at St Peter's Basilica, and constructed the two subordinate domes according to Michelangelo's plans.
Jacopo Barozzi died in Rome in 1573. In 1973 his remains were reburied in the Pantheon, Rome.
Project for the facade of the Basilica of San Petronio (c. 1545), Bologna.
Villa Giulia for Pope Julius III, in Rome (1550–1553). Here Vignola was working with Ammanati, who designed the nymphaeum and other garden features under the general direction of Vasari, with guidance from the knowledgeable pope and Michelangelo. A medal of 1553 shows Vignola's main villa substantially as it was completed, save for a pair of cupolas.
Villa Farnese at Caprarola (1559–1573);
Villa Lante at Bagnaia (1566 onwards), including the gardens and their water features and casini;
Chiesa del Gesù, Rome, the mother church of the Jesuit order, which would become a source for Baroque church facades in the 17th century;
Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, Assisi (with Galeazzo Alessi);
Church of Sant'Andrea in Via Flaminia, Rome, the first church to have an oval dome, which became a signature of the Baroque.
Palazzo Farnese, Piacenza. This was a grandiose project of a vast palace on a scale paralleled only by the Vatican Palace in Italy; the rectangular plan is circa 111 metres by 88 metres. The actual construction, however, made up only less than half of Vignola's original project and lacked many of the planned architectural features; missing elements include part of the exterior surrounding walls, the main façade, modelled on the ancient triumphal arch and with a large tower, and a theatre in the large inner courtyard.
St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, assumed the role of chief architect after the death of Michelangelo Buonarroti.
Palazzo Contrari Boncompagni, Vignola.
Church of Santa Maria dell'Orto (1576–1578), Rome; only the facade is by Vignola.