Fra Giocondo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fra Giocondo (sometimes known as Fra Giovanni Giocondo) was a monk engineer, architect, antiquary, archaeologist, and classical scholar born in Verona c. 1445 and who died in Venice c. 1525
[edit] Time in France
Between 1496 and 1499 Giocondo was invited to France by the king, where he was made royal architect. There he built two bridges which are widely held as extremely attractive, the Pont Notre-Dame and the Petit Pont. He also designed the palace of the Chambre des Comptes, the Golden Room of the Parliament, and the Chateau of Gaillon in Normandy, one facade of which was removed to the Ecole des Beaux Arts to serve as a model for students of architecture.
[edit] Defence of Padua
One of Fra Giocondo's greatest achievements was his defence of the Venetian city of Padua in 1509. He controversially cut down the city's medieval curtain wall and surrounded the city in a broad ditch that could be swept by flanking fire from gunports set low in projections extending into the ditch.
This style of defence was an improvised precursor to the trace italienne style of fortifications which grew in popularity during the Hapsburg-Valois Conflict and Italian Wars of the early 16th Century.
The defence was considered a success and is held up as one of the earliest uses of trace italienne style fortifications.
