BRAMANTE, LAZZARI, [(Tams°, a celebrated archi tect. born at Castel Durante, (or according to some accounts, at Femagnano,) in the province of Urbino, about the year 1444. The tinnily of which he was a branch, was poor, though respectable, by whom he was designed for a painter : his early years were spent in the study of this art, but his taste and talents for architecture outran every other con sideration, till at length he devoted himself altogether to it. Ile travelled first in Lombardy, and having made some observations on the cathedral of Milan, he went to Rome, where he executed some paintings for the church of St. John de Lateran, which are now lost. His great care was to examine and measure all the precious remains of antiquity, both within and out of Rome : he measured all that he could of the Villa Adriana, at Tivoli ; and in pursuit of similar objects, went even so fir as Naples.
This devotedness to his favourite science attracted the notice of many patrons of the fine arts, and among the rest, of Cardinal Olivier° Caraffa, who employed him to rebuild the convent della Puce, at Naples, which established his reputation. The work itself is not of the most exquisite character, but it procured him the title of architect to his holiness Pope Alexander VI., there being at that time no artists of superior talents in the papal dominions. The tbun min of Trastevere, and another fountain, which formerly stood in the square before St. Peter's, were of his workman ship. He also had a considerable share in building the palace della Caneellaria, the church of St. Lorenzo Damaso, and the palace of San Giacomo Scoseiacavalli ; all these, as well as the convent della Puce, above noticed, are built in travertine. on the outside ; but their meagre style is a striking evidence that in the days of Bramante architecture was only reviving, and was not completely purged from barbarous intermixtures. in such an age the genius of Bramante could not but shine, and he retained his lustre as being without an equal in invention, as well as in execution, till, towards the decline of his life, the superior powers of Al Maud Angelo Bonarrotti bore away the palm of science, and the voice of public applause. See BONARROTTI.
When Julius II. obtained the papal chair, he appointed Bramante superintendent of his buildings, and employ ed him to execute his grand project of uniting the Belvedere to the palace of the Vatican, by means of a magnificent court. In his turn, Bramante engaged the pope in the fitvourite design of pulling down the church of St. Peter's, and erecting a new basilica, after the model of the Pantheon, on a scale that should astonish the world. With this view, he made many drawings, and used great diligence to "produce one having two steeples with the front between them, as may be seen on the medals struck by Corodasso, in honour of Bramante and his patrons Julius 11. and Leo X. The plan was that of a
Latin cross, and was well constructed, though of an un equalled magnitude. Three naves were formed by means of colonnades ; the principal nave of very fidr proportion., and the whole productive of the finest effect. The cupola h ul the same dimensions with that of the Pantheon ; the external steps were also similar. Indeed, the plan of the whole basilica bore a strong resemblance to the Pantheon, having eight piers, between each two of which were two columns, forming three openings, or passages. This design being approved of by the pope, part of the old church was 1)1111(41 down, and the foundation of the new structure laid, ill the -year 1506. The building was carried on with great eclerit ? as high as the entablature, the arches the four great piers were turned, and the principal chapel, opposite the dour, was erected, when death put an cud to his labours. in 1514, in his 70th year. The continuation of this work was given to Michael Angelo Bonarrotti, who also did not live to see it completed. Bramante's suceessors made so many alterations upon his original design, that scarcely anything besides the four great arches over the tribune can be said to be his. His remains were interred in St. Peter's. and the solemnity was honoured by the presence of the papal court, and all the professors of the fine arts in Rome and its neigh bourhood.
Besides the works above described, Bramante constructed a whimsical staircase, with the three orders of architecture, in the Vatican. The elegant circular temple in the cloister of San Pietro Monterio, though esteemed as one of his best performances, has many defects; for instance, the doorway cuts into two pilasters ; the balustrade is a continued series of balusters without pedestals ; and the ornament at the top of the cupola is clumsy and heavy. Out of the walls of Toll, Bramante built an insulated temple, encrusted on the exterior with white stone ; the plan is that of a Greek cross, with a line cupola in the centre; and the whole has an air of being the model of St. Peter's. in finishing the chapel within the basilica, he revived the use of the ancient stuccos. Ile made many designs of palaces and temples, both within and without the walls of Rome, and began the palace, which was afterwards finished by llaflitello, with eolumns of brick covered with plaster, then a new invention ; but this edifice was destroyed to make room for the colonnade of St. Peter's ; and the palace which he began for the Duchess Eleonora Gonzaga, wife of Francis Duke of Urban, was never completed, owing to the deaths of both duke and duchess.