Daniele Barbaro

Daniele Barbaro in ermine by Paolo Veronese.

Daniele Barbaro as a high-ranking cleric by Paolo Veronese (the books in the painting are by Barbaro himself)

Painting of Daniele Barbaro by Titian.

Etching of Daniele Barbaro by Wenzel Hollar.

Daniele Matteo Alvise Barbaro (also Barbarus) (8 February 1514 – 1570) was an Italian translator of, and commentator on, Vitruvius.^[1] He also had a significant ecclesiastical career, reaching the rank of Cardinal.

He was born in Venice, the son of Francesco di Daniele Barbaro and Elena Pisani, daughter of the banker Alvise Pisani and Cecilia Giustinian.^[2] Barbaro studied philosophy, mathematics, and optics at the University of Padua.^[3] He has been credited with the design of the university's botanical garden.^[4]

Barbaro served the Republic of Venice as ambassador to the court of Elizabeth I in London and as representative at the Council of Trent.^[5] His appointment as Cardinal may have been secret (in pectore) to avoid causing diplomatic complications. In 1550 he was elected Patriarch of Aquileia,^[6][7] an ecclesiastical appointment that required the approval of the Venetian Senate.

On the death of his father, he inherited a country estate with his brother Marcantonio Barbaro. They commissioned Palladio to design their shared country home Villa Barbaro, which is now part of a World Heritage Site.

Palladio and Daniele Barbaro visited Rome together and the architecture of the villa reflects their interest in the ancient buildings they saw there. The interior of the villa is decorated with frescoes by Paolo Veronese, who also painted oil portraits of Daniele; the one reproduced above on this article shows him dressed as a Venetian aristocrat, the one below shows him in clerical dress.^[8]

Daniele Barbaro may have designed the Palazzo Trevisan in Murano, alone or in collaboration with Palladio. Like at the Villa Barbaro, Paolo Veronese and Alessandro Vittoria probably also worked on the project, which was completed in 1557.^[9]

His will refers to his collection of purchased and constructed astronomical instruments.^[10] Daniele renounced his inheritance in favor of his brother Marcantonio and was buried in an unmarked grave in behind the Church of San Francesco della Vigna instead of the family chapel there.^[11] Daniele commissioned the church's altarpiece of The Baptism of Christ (c.1555) by Battista Franco.^[12]

Barbaro's fame is chiefly due to his vast output in the arts, letters, and mathematics. A cultured humanist, he was a friend and admirer of Torquato Tasso, a patron of Andrea Palladio,^[13] and a student of Pietro Bembo.^[14] Francesco Sansovino considered Daniele to be one of the three best Venetian architects, along with Palladio and his father Jacopo.

Works

His works include:

• (1542) ‘’Exquisitae in Porphyrium Commentationes’’.^[15]
• (1542) ‘’Predica de' sogni’’, published under the pseudonym of Reverend padre Hypneo da Schio. .^[16]
• (1544) Edited an edition of the commentaries on Aristotle's Rhetoric written. by his great-uncle Ermolao Barbaro.^[17][18]
• (1545) Edited an edition of Ermolao Barbaro's Compendium scientiae naturalis.
• (1556) An Italian translation with extended commentary of Vitruvius' Ten Books of Architecture, published as Dieci libri dell'architettura di M. Vitruvio.^[19][20] The work was dedicated to Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este, patron of the Villa d'Este at Tivoli.^[21][22]
• (1567) He later published a Latin edition entitled M. Vitruvii de architectura. The original illustrations of Vitruvius' work have not survived, and Barbaro's illustrations were done specially by Andrea Palladio. As well as being important as a discussion of architecture, Barbaro's commentary was a contribution to the field of aesthetics in general. El Greco, for example, owned a copy. Earlier translations had been made, by Fra Giovanni and Como, but this work was considered the most accurate version to date. Barbaro clearly explained some of the more technical sections and discussed the relationship between nature and architecture, though he also acknowledged the way Palladio's theoretical and archeological expertise contributed to the work.^[23][24]
• (1567) Dell Eloquenza Dialogo^[25]
• (1568) La practica della perspettiva, a book on perspective for artists and architects.^[26][27] This work describes how to use a lens with a camera obscura.
• an unpublished and unfinished treatise on the construction of sundials (De Horologiis describendis libellus, Venice, Biblioteca Marciana, Cod. Lat. VIII, 42, 3097). The latter work was supposed to have discussed other instruments as well, including the astrolabe, the planisphere of Spanish mathematician Juan de Rojas, the navigation instrument cross-staff, the torquetum, an astronomical instrument and Abel Foullon's holometer, a surveying instrument.

See also

• Perfection (Aesthetic perfection)
• Portrait of Daniele Barbaro
• Barbaro family

References

1. ^ “The European Renaissance: centres and peripheries, Peter Burke, Blackwell Publishers Limited, 1998, pg.104 [1], ISBN 0631198458
2. ^ Venice and the Renaissance, Manfredo Tafuri, trans.Jessica Levine, 1989, MIT Press, ISBN 0262700549
3. ^ “A new general biographical dictionary, Volume 3”, Hugh James Rose, Henry John Rose, 1857, pg. 136 [2] ISBN 0333760948
4. ^ “Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance & Mannerist art, Volume 1”, Jane Turner, New York, 2000, pg. 113 [3] ISBN 0333760948
5. ^ “A new general biographical dictionary, Volume 3”, Hugh James Rose, Henry John Rose, 1857, pg. 137 [4] ISBN 0333760948
6. ^ “Renaissance education between religion and politics”, Paul F. Grendler, Aldershot: Ashgate,2006, pg. 72, [5] ISBN 0860789896
7. ^ “A new general biographical dictionary, Volume 3”, Hugh James Rose, Henry John Rose, 1857, pg. 137 [6] ISBN 0333760948
8. ^ There is a separate article on the portrait of Daniele Barbaro (1565-1567).
9. ^ “Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance & Mannerist art, Volume 1”, Jane Turner, New York, 2000, pg. 113 [7] ISBN 0333760948
10. ^ “Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance & Mannerist art, Volume 1”, Jane Turner, New York, 2000, pg. 113 [8] ISBN 0333760948
11. ^ “Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance & Mannerist art, Volume 1”, Jane Turner, New York, 2000, pg. 113 [9] ISBN 0333760948
12. ^ “Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance & Mannerist art, Volume 1”, Jane Turner, New York, 2000, pg. 113 [10] ISBN 0333760948
13. ^ “The European Renaissance: centres and peripheries, Peter Burke, Blackwell Publishers Limited, 1998, pg.155 [11], ISBN 0631198458
14. ^ “The European Renaissance: centres and peripheries, Peter Burke, Blackwell Publishers Limited, 1998, pg.104 [12], ISBN 0631198458
15. ^ “A new general biographical dictionary, Volume 3”, Hugh James Rose, Henry John Rose, 1857, pg. 137 [13] ISBN 0333760948
16. ^ “A new general biographical dictionary, Volume 3”, Hugh James Rose, Henry John Rose, 1857, pg. 137 [14] ISBN 0333760948
17. ^ “Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance & Mannerist art, Volume 1”, Jane Turner, New York, 2000, pg. 112 [15] ISBN 0333760948
18. ^ “A new general biographical dictionary, Volume 3”, Hugh James Rose, Henry John Rose, 1857, pg. 137 [16] ISBN 0333760948
19. ^ “The European Renaissance: centres and peripheries, Peter Burke, Blackwell Publishers Limited, 1998, pg.104 [17], ISBN 0631198458
20. ^ “Renaissance education between religion and politics”, Paul F. Grendler, Aldershot: Ashgate,2006, pg. 72, [18] ISBN 0860789896
21. ^ “Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance & Mannerist art, Volume 1”, Jane Turner, New York, 2000, pg. 113 [19] ISBN 0333760948
22. ^ “A new general biographical dictionary, Volume 3”, Hugh James Rose, Henry John Rose, 1857, pg. 137 [20] ISBN 0333760948
23. ^ “Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance & Mannerist art, Volume 1”, Jane Turner, New York, 2000, pg. 113 [21] ISBN 0333760948
24. ^ “A new general biographical dictionary, Volume 3”, Hugh James Rose, Henry John Rose, 1857, pg. 137 [22] ISBN 0333760948
25. ^ “A new general biographical dictionary, Volume 3”, Hugh James Rose, Henry John Rose, 1857, pg. 137 [23] ISBN 0333760948
26. ^ “Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance & Mannerist art, Volume 1”, Jane Turner, New York, 2000, pg. 113 [24] ISBN 0333760948
27. ^ “A new general biographical dictionary, Volume 3”, Hugh James Rose, Henry John Rose, 1857, pg. 137 [25] ISBN 0333760948

• Władysław Tatarkiewicz, History of Aesthetics, vol. III: Modern Aesthetics, edited by D. Petsch, translated from the Polish by Chester A. Kisiel and John F. Besemeres, The Hague, Mouton, 1974.

Persondata
Name	Barbaro, Daniele
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	8 February 1514
Place of birth
Date of death	1570
Place of death