Ippolito Scalza (1532 – 22 December 1617) was a sculptor and architect of the Italian Renaissance, active in his native Orvieto as well as Todi and other towns in Umbria.

St Thomas Apostle

Biography and works

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Group of the Pieta

Ippolito was born in Orvieto to a family of moderate resources; his father was likely a mason in the Fabbrica (construction works) of the Duomo of this town.[1] Three of his siblings, Francesco, Alessandro, and Lodovico, gained training as mosaicists, sculptors, and minor architects. Of Ippolito, the first we see documented of his work is the 1554 completion of cornice molding of a chapel in the cathedral. In 1556, he completed a statue of a St Sebastian for the cathedral.[2] This apparently allowed him to apprentice in the studio of Michelangelo Buonaroti. In 1567, he succeeded Raffaello da Montelupo as architect for the Fabbrica del Duomo.[3] He next sculpted, all for the Duomo, the statue of St Thomas Apostle and, from a single piece of Carrara marble, the Group of the Pieta (1570–1579) located in the Cappella della Madonna di San Brizio.[4] In addition to his many works in the cathedral the following years, he designed various buildings including:[5]

Orvieto

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Outside of Orvieto

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Monument to Baldo Farrattini, Duomo of Amelia (1561–4)

Soon after his death, the commune commissioned a plaque to celebrate his works.[6]

References

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  • Geva, Angelo Maria (1842). Notizia Biografica d'Ippolito Scalza by Candido Riccioni, within text of Il gruppo della pietà, scolpito da Ippolito Scalza nel Duomo di Orvieto. Orvieto: Tipografia Pompei.
  1. ^ Geva, Gruppo della Pieta, page 12.
  2. ^ Geva, Gruppo della Pieta, page 13.
  3. ^ Geva, Gruppo della Pieta, page 14.
  4. ^ Geva, Gruppo della Pieta, page 15.
  5. ^ Key to Umbria, by Lynda Evans, entry on architect.
  6. ^ Geva, Gruppo della Pieta, page 15.