Sangallo the Elder, Antonio da

(1455-1534)

   Florentine master from a family of prominent architects that included his older brother Giuliano da Sangallo and his nephew Antonio da Sangallo the Younger. His most important commission is the Church of the Madonna di San Biagio in Montepulciano (1518— 1534), a structure inspired by Giuliano's Santa Maria delle Carceri at Prato (1484—1492), which Antonio finished after his brother's death. As in Giuliano's church, the Madonna di San Biagio features a Greek cross plan, though here, instead of four equal arms, Antonio only used three, the fourth forming the main apse. In the exterior, there are only three equal façades instead of four, and Antonio added two towers by the main entrance, the second with only the first story completed. Like Giuliano, Antonio applied the Colosseum principle to the exterior. He also used alternating niches and pediments and small obelisks at the corners of the third story. The building is capped by a dome on a high drum and lantern reminiscent of Donato Bramante's dome in the Tempietto (c. 1502—1512; Rome, San Pietro in Montorio). In the interior, the proportions are stocky, the walls are white-washed and trimmed with travertine, and engaged columns support a Doric frieze. Antonio's ability to synthesize the elements he learned from his brother Giuliano and Bramante resulted in a new classical Tuscan vocabulary.