Giovanni Antonio de Medrano (11 December, 1703–1760)[1] was the "Major Regius Praefectus Mathematicis Regni Neapolitani" (Major Royal Governor of Mathematics of the Kingdom of Naples), chief engineer of the kingdom, architect, brigadier, and teacher of King Charles III of Spain and his brothers the infantes.[2]
While still a teenager, he moved with his family to Spain, where he embarked on a military career within the royal corps of engineers created in 1711 by King Philip V of Bourbon.[3] Giovanni had entered the service of Spain in 1719 as a Military Architect, although it is probable that Giovanni had already joined the army of the Marquess of Verboom Jorge Próspero de Verboom in the Sicilian campaign of 1718, since in December of that same year he appeared as extraordinary engineer and sub-lieutenant of this body.[4] The Marquess of Verboom was one of the best students to come out of the Royal Military and Mathematics Academy of Brussels (1675–1706), personally taught by the sole-director and Master of Mathematics Sebastián Fernández de Medrano in order to train the most distinguished officers and military engineers in various fields of education such as arithmetic, geometry, artillery, fortification, algebra, cosmography, astronomy, or navigation.[5][6]
Giovanni Antonio de Medrano's fortifications of Montjuic Castle are now extensively planted with parterre gardens
As an extraordinary engineer and with the rank of second lieutenant Giovanni participated in the Spanish campaign to reconquer Sicily in December 1718 and two years later he was assigned to the garrisons of Catalonia, Valencia and Murcia, specializing in the design of large territorial infrastructures and plants for the military defense, such as Montjuïc Castle in Barcelona which he drew up in 1730.[1]
Preparations for the arrival of the royal family
In 1729 Giovanni Antonio de Medrano was commissioned to organize the roads for the journey of the royal family, headed by Philip V and Isabel de Farnese, from Madrid to Seville.[7]
Cuccagna for the Royal Wedding
On the occasion of the festivities for the marriage of Prince Carlos (Charles III of Spain) with Maria Amalia of Saxony, Princess of Poland, a cuccagna was designed by Medrano was built on the Chiaia waterfront in front of the church of San Leonardo. It took the form of an old castle, with four corner towers and a central one, bastions, moats, battlements, embrasures and sentry boxes, as well as two ravelins with parapets and new sentry boxes.[1]
Teacher of Charles III and the Infantes of Spain
During this Andalusian period, Giovanni Antonio de Medrano began to teach military and architectural education to the Infante Don Carlos and his brothers the infantes Louis I, Ferdinand VI, Philip, and Luis, Count of Chinchón; of these tasks, for "instruction and amusement of the Most Serene Prince our Lord and Lords Infantes", there are two plans of a Fort, erected between 1729 and 1730 in Buenavista, on the outskirts of Seville, which included a ravelin dedicated to the Infante don Carlos himself.[1]
In December 1731, Medrano accompanied King Philip V's sixteen-year-old son, Charles of Bourbon, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, to Livorno, as an ordinary engineer and with the rank of lieutenant in 1733. From 1732 to 1734 he remained in the service of the Infante, teaching him geography, history and mathematics, as well as military art and architecture during his stay in the cities of Florence, Parma and Piacenza.[1]
Giovanni Antonio de Medrano was promoted in 1733 to lieutenant and ordinary engineer and, later and already in Naples, in 1737, to brigadier and chief engineer. After the coronation of Charles as king of Naples and Sicily in 1734, probably due to his close bond with the young sovereign, but more generally for reasons related to the need for the government to have more direct control over the entire local system of public works, Giovanni Antonio de Medrano was invested with some of the most prestigious and strategic positions of a public nature initiated by the Bourbons in the capital.[1]
Giovanni Antonio de Medrano also appears as "Major Regius Praefectus Mathematicis Regni Neapolitani"(Major Royal Governor of Mathematics of the Kingdom of Naples) even apparently a year before he was named chief engineer of the kingdom, a title he did not receive until 1735.[4]
The Palazzo dei Regi Studi (1735), Meridian Hall, a work of the architect Giovanni Antonio de Medrano. In the foreground, on the floor, the sundial.
First promoted to brigadier and then major engineer of the kingdom, in the short span of time between 1734 and 1738 he supervised the renovation and expansion works of the viceregal palace (1734), he worked on restoration projects on the Palazzo dei Regi Studi (1735), designed the San Carlo theater (1737) and started the planning and the first phase of the construction sites of the Royal Palace of Portici (1737–38). In later years he took over from Antonio Canevari as sole architect of the new Royal Palace of Capodimonte.[8]
Palace of the Viceroy of Naples and trip to Sicily with the King
Palace of the Viceroys of Naples
Back in Naples, Medrano was employed in 1734, without knowing the scope of his work, on the Royal Palace of Naples built by Domenico Fontana. Between 1734 and 1738 he supervised the renovation and expansion works of the viceregal palace (1734). In January 1735, he accompanied the King, already as Senior Engineer of the Kingdom and Lieutenant Colonel, on his trip to Sicily, in the company of Michelangelo de Blasio, also an engineer, who was, however, arrested on charges of treason in the month February.[7]
The Obelisk of Bitonto
Commemorative Obelisk of Bitonto by Giovanni Antonio de Medrano
Giovanni Antonio de Medrano became a brigadier in the army of Charles of Bourbon, while he was king of Naples and Sicily. Among the first professional commitments undertaken by Medrano in the Kingdom of Naples was the project of an obelisk to be built in Bitonto to celebrate the victorious outcome of the Bourbons over the Habsburgs in the battle of May 1734. Located in the current square, the Carolinian obelisk, begun in 1736, was conceived by Giovanni Antonio de Medrano in a truncated pyramid shape with inscriptions on the four sides attributed to B. Tanucci, for a vertical development of about 18 metres.[7]
Di Torcini bridge
Outside the capital, in that same period, Medrano was also in charge of the construction on the Volturno, at the royal site of Venafro, of an imposing factory bridge, called di Torcino, which, destroyed by a flood of the river, was rebuilt around to 1750 by the engineer F. Gasperi.[7]
Designing the San Carlo Opera House
Exterior of the Teatro di San Carlo
In 1737, Charles commissioned Giovanni Antonio de Medrano to design the new San Carlo opera house in Naples.[1] The Teatro Reale di San Carlo, as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro di San Carlo, is an opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace of Capodimonte and adjacent to the Piazza del Plebiscito. Giovanni Antonio de Medrano took charge of the project. Angelo Carasale, the former director of the San Bartolomeo held the primary responsibility for designing the elaborate furnishings of the Teatro di San Carlo. The San Carlo theater, designed in 1737 by Medrano, was completed after only eight months, in October of the same year.[1]
The San Carlo designed by Giovanni Antonio de Medrano was inaugurated on 4 November 1737, the king's name day, with the performance of the opera Domenico Sarro's Achille in Sciro, which was based on the 1736 libretto by Metastasio which had been set to music that year by Antonio Caldara.[9]
The world's oldest opera house, the Teatro di San Carlo in Italy, has survived wars, fires and the Neapolitan revolution. Characterized by Medrano's typical "horseshoe" layout,[10] with a semicircular profile towards the back of the stalls and straight connections towards the proscenium, the complex was also reproduced in the Recueil de planches of the Encyclopédie,[11] on the basis of surveys previously produced and published by GPM Dumont.[10]
Excavations of Herculaneum
Charles III commissioned Giovanni Antonio de Medrano to excavate Herculaneum in 1738
In 1738, with the engineer from Zaragoza, Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre, Giovanni Antonio de Medrano was commissioned by King Charles to begin the excavations of Herculaneum, giving rise to a new type of activity.[4] According to the traditional tale, the city was rediscovered by chance in 1709, during the drilling of a well. Remnants of the city, however, were already found during earlier earthworks.[12] In the years following the site's uncovering, treasure seekers excavated tunnels and took artifacts. Regular excavations commenced in 1738 and have continued irregularly since. Today, only a fraction of the ancient site has been excavated. The focus has shifted to preserving the already-excavated portions of the city rather than exposing more. Excavations continued sporadically up to the present and today many streets and buildings are visible, although over 75% of the town remains buried. The publication of "Le Antichità di Ercolano" ("The Antiquities of Herculaneum") had a striking influence on nascent European Neoclassicism; by the end of the 18th century, motifs from Herculaneum began to appear on fashionable furnishings, including decorative wall-paintings, tripod tables, perfume burners, and teacups. Nonetheless, excavation ceased once again in 1762 as a result of Winckelmann's harsh criticism of the treasure-hunting techniques.[13]
The court, while sharing his expansive vision for the palace, did not possess patience for Canevari's design. After Canevari had worked for ten months without resolving on a single solution, Medrano took action.[14] King Carlos understood the need to create a system of self-representation capable of manifesting his new political identity in the context of the highly competitive Neapolitan society. According to the specific idea of majesty they meant to highlight, old and new images, ceremonies and spaces for the new Neapolitan monarchy were created or, at least, reshaped from 1734 onwards. Giovanni Antonio de Medrano was employed to design the palaces necessary to enact Don Carlos’s new status, while a royal household and court etiquette were also established.[8]
Giovanni Antonio de Medrano went on to design the Palace of Capodimonte, Charles's new palace in Naples. Medrano started work on this in 1738, but the building was not finally completed until 1840.[8] On September 10, 1738 King Charles laid the ceremonial first stone of Capodimonte.[15]
Capodimonte and Charles III of Spain
Medrano was the most important designer in the palace’s history. The king showed the utmost interest in the building, demanding weekly updates on its progress and even insisting on changes. Though it took a century to complete, royal enthusiasm for the project did not fade because of its design. What undermined the project was that the palace was built over a series of ancient chasms, requiring more work and expense than anticipated.[14]
King Charles, still unrecognized as a legitimate monarch by some European courts, knew that the Bourbon hold on Southern Italy depended on his ability to give birth to an heir and dynasty. Producing a son was no inconsequential matter: two major wars of the eighteenth century erupted after the failure of the Habsburg dynasty to do so. So while Medrano was at the draftsman’s table, it was far from certain that Charles’s reign would endure. Medrano therefore boldly anticipated the permanence of the royal family by spatially solidifying a place for them in the Palace of Capodimonte. Other aspects of the plan confirm the broader political importance of the palace.[14]
Architecture at the Palace of Capodimonte
Room 23 seen from the bedroom at the Palace of Capodimonte
Adding extra suites to Capodimonte symbolized a confident prediction of the royal family's enduring stability and legacy. Medrano enhanced the piano nobile by including service rooms at the shorter ends and strategically placing a group of five rooms around the stair hall to block direct sunlight. By illuminating the stairs from above through an attic, he transformed the potentially dark core into a bright focal point of the palace. The elevation drawing highlights the central section, with paired pilasters and a royal escutcheon adorning the principal window. Medrano opted for simple pilaster strips for the Tuscan-order pilasters on the piano nobile but chose bold rustication for the ground floor, creating a contrast between rural simplicity and urban elegance. This reflects Capodimonte's dual purpose as a hunting retreat and a significant representation of the monarchy.[15]
By Giovanni Antonio de Medrano, Façade or Elevation of the Royal Palace designed for the Villa of Capo di Monte, 1738. Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Arsenal
Its cubic regularity, divided into thirds by the two courtyards and stair hall, reflects the king’s consistent insistence on geometric clarity in his architectural commissions. The gridded layout[16] related buildings in Naples to the Herrerian style of Spanish royal retreats, such as the rectilinear cube of El Pardo and the multiple courts of El Escorial. The projecting corners replicated, in form and function, the royal bedroom suite of Fontana’s Palazzo Reale. The stairs are grander elaborations of the staircase of the Teatro di San Carlo, which had been designed by Medrano as an extension of the Palazzo Reale. The theater had one central monumental staircase linked by two smaller ones, whereas the palace was to have two principal ones. Like the palace, the theater’s central steps embraced an open hall with lights formed in a C shape. At Capodimonte this form was doubled, so that two C-shaped staircases face each other across an open hall.[14]
The features drawn from Spain, the Teatro di San Carlo, and the Palazzo Reale indicate that Medrano oversaw the design. He knew Spanish monuments well, renovated the Palazzo Reale, and built the theater. Medrano probably designed the stairs, for their distinctive C-shaped lights resemble the one he designed for San Carlo.[14]
Issues at Capodimonte
Their enormous cost prompted the inquest that lead to Medrano’s imprisonment. His trial, the great distance from quarries, and an insufficient supply of fresh water led the court to refocus efforts at Portici, and later, Royal Palace of Caserta. Though only the parts of the building to the south and east were complete by the time Charles left Naples to become King of Spain in 1759, the palace set important precedents. Its geometric simplicity was admired, and would guide similar planning at Caserta. Its plan also appears to have served as a model for Charles’s expansion of the Royal Palace of El Pardo, near Madrid, in the 1770s.[14]
Sentence at the Peñon Garrison (1743–1746)
Concerns arose about the expenditure of 90,000 ducats on the foundations of the palace of Capodimonte, leading to inquiries into financial mismanagement. Early assessments made by teams of architects and engineers confirmed a cost of roughly 90,000 ducats for building the foundations. Yet a new appraisal in 1742, conducted by a single engineer, concluded they should have cost only 50,000. Medrano, who was given money for the project, entrusted Angelo Carasale with financial matters, leading to a swift pace of construction. Despite suspicions about Carasale's extravagant lifestyle, it was Princess Anna Pinelli Pignatelli who instigated an investigation into accounting irregularities. This inquiry implicated Carasale in embezzlement, ultimately leading to his death before a trial could be held. The investigation also targeted Medrano and other engineers, accusing them of fraud related to construction projects at Capodimonte.[15]
Medrano's trial
Giovanni Antonio de Medrano's trial was prolonged and challenging. Lawyer Niccolò Maria Pirelli detailed five fraud charges against Medrano, three of which pertained to Capodimonte, involving misappropriation of funds for various construction projects. While Medrano oversaw these projects, Pirelli defended him by attributing the faults to negligent oversight and criticizing the flawed vistobuoni system. Pirelli disputed evidence of collusion and argued that Medrano's fault lay in misplaced trust (in Carasale) rather than malicious intent. Despite Pirelli's defense, the royal investigation lacked credibility due to missing documents and misleading appraisals. Regardless of Medrano's culpability, the trials disrupted construction at Capodimonte by removing Medrano, nearly halting progress on the palace. Water shortages, which had plagued the worksite from the start, also slowed the pace. Medrano and Carasale had wanted to divert water from the Volturno River to the same point at the foot of the hill. The court opted for cisterns.[15]
Starting from the summer of 1741 Giovanni Antonio de Medrano began to lose control and supervision of the numerous construction sites that had been entrusted to him: from the works for the quay of the new port of Naples (1740) which continued under the expert direction of the military engineer G. Bompiede to those of the new cavalry district on the Riviera di Chiaia (1740), up to the continuation of the projects and works for the new palace of Portici, which were definitively entrusted to Canevari. The well-documented forensic allegations produced by the Neapolitan lawyer N.M. Pirelli for the defense of Medrano, who, after eighteen months in prison and on charges of collusion and omission of official documents, on 25 September 1743 he was dismissed from all positions, demoted and sentenced to five years of closed garrison. Giovanni Antonio de Medrano served his sentence at the military garrison of Peñon, where he was engaged in 1746 in the project for the plan of the fortress and the bay of Gibraltar.[17]
Return to Naples
He obtained a pardon with the respective reduction of the sentence and returned to Italy in 1746, but his professional figure was severely attacked by fierce criticism from the Neapolitan engineers of the time. With these heavy criticisms he was marginalized from public offices.[17]
Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini
The choir of the Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini (1754) was designed by Giovanni Antonio de Medrano with a rich decoration, also in stucco.
Having arrived in Naples, Giovanni Antionio de Medrano managed to carve out his own professional space and, from 1749 to 1754, was in charge of the restructuring of all the buildings of the Archconfraternity of the Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini, including the church, which he conceived according to a Latin cross layout. A project which, however, during the construction phase was reduced to the premises of the crypt and to the arrangement, in collaboration with M. Gioffredo and N. Tagliacozzi Canale, of the houses owned by the Archconfraternity itself, located between the church and Porta Medina.[7] In 1704 the oratory became a church, but this turned out to be too small for regular worship and charity activities. For this reason the brothers decided to modify the church, giving it a new structure. The works were entrusted to Giovanni Antonio de Medrano. His work on the church construction sites lasted until 1751, and what remains of his work are the Terrasanta and the octagonal plan of the choir.[18]
The choir of the church (1754) was designed by Giovanni Antonio de Medrano with a rich decoration, also in stucco. Apart from the renovation project of the building complex owned by Giuseppe De Maio Durazzo (1752), that of the Ss. Trinità dei Pellegrini probably constituted the last experience conducted in Naples by Giovanni Antonio de Medrano.[7]
Late career and death
Excluded from large public construction sites since 1743 and since then marginalized with respect to the local professional and political circles, Giovanni Antionio de Medrano had perhaps the only reason for his stubborn insistence on residing in Naples in family ties with G. Almirante, daughter of the Duke of Cerza Piccola and already widow of D. Toraldo, Baron of Calimera, with whom she had stipulated a marriage contract in 1736. After the inauguration of the choir ("terrasanta") in the church of the Ss. Trinità dei Pellegrini (1754), Giovanni Antonio de Medrano was no longer active in any professional experience until his death, probably in 1760.[7]
^Wallace-Hadrill, Andrew (2011). Herculaneum: Past and Future. ISBN978-0-7112-3142-9. p47
^Wallace-Hadrill, Andrew (2011). Herculaneum: Past and Future. ISBN978-0-7112-3142-9. p62
^ abcdef Thomas, Robin (2016-01-01). "The Royal Palace of Capodimonte: the Early Years". Napoli Nobilissima Volume Lxxii dell'intera Collezione Rivista di Arti, Filologia e Storia Settima Serie -Volume Ii Fascicolo III -Settembre -Dicembre 2016.
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