Bramante, Donato

(Donato di Pascuccio; 1444-1514).

   The leading architect of the High Renaissance. Bramante trained as a painter, probably with Piero della Francesca or Andrea Mantegna. His career as architect began in Milan where, alongside Leonardo da Vinci, he worked for the Sforza rulers. His earliest known commission is the Church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro (beg. 1478), where the most interesting feature is the illusionistic relief in perspective he added to extend visually the shallow space of the apse. In Milan, Bramante also worked on the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (beg. 1493) to serve as the final resting place of the Sforza family. The work was begun by Guiniforte Scolari and passed on to Bramante so he could modernize the design. Bramante, who left the project incomplete when he moved to Rome in 1499, added the transept, crossing (where the nave and transept cross), and apse utilizing an Albertian vocabulary. In Rome, Bramante created his most important masterpieces: the Tempietto at San Pietro Montorio (c. 1502-1512), the Belvedere Court at the Vatican (beg. 1505), and the plan for New St. Peter's (1506). With these monuments, he gave the lead in architecture, until then held by Florence, to Rome.