MASSARI, GIORGIO. - Architect, b. in Venice ca. 1686, d. there in 1766. He was trained in the Venetian milieu of the early 18th century, when, after the death of Longhena, Tirali began a decisive return to Palladio, albeit through the misunderstanding of Scamozzian academicism.
From Scamozzi, as the first master of Longhena, Massari is influenced in the Palazzo Grassi-Stucky on the Grand Canal; at other times, more happily, he approaches Palladio not so much to derive from him an inert abstract rule as a measure of sure balance, with which to temper the deplored excesses of the 17th century. A certain graceful refinement, a lively fluidity of planes still "rococo," even within the evident rationalistic clarity, determine a sober and restrained elegance, far removed both from the emphasis of the Longhena school and from neoclassical coldness.
Works: ca. 1720: Palazzo Pola at Barcon; 1727: work on the Ospizio Catecumeni (Venice); ca. 1730: renovated hall in the Scuola di S. Giovanni Evangelista (Venice); ca. 1735: S. Antonio (Udine); ca. 1736: I Gesuati (Venice); 1728-36: S. Marcuola (Venice); 1745: La Pietà (Venice); 1720-46: Church of the Pace (Brescia); 1750: Altar of the Sacrament (Padua, Cathedral) already begun by G. Gloria; 1750-53: main chapel of the church of the Fava (Venice); 1754: completed Palazzo Rezzonico; 1763: Chapel of the Crucifix (Abbey of Curzola); 1730-64: main chapel of the church of the Filippini (Vicenza). Attributed works: Venice: rearrangement of the fabric of the Orologio-Palazzo Gradenigo (Rio Marin), Palazzo Tiepolo (Campo S. Polo), Palazzo Civran (Canalgrande), S. Giovanni in Oleo (ca. 1762), Le Penitenti (1763).
Bibliography5 works
Franco Barbieri