PONTELLI, BARTOLOMEO, called Baccio. — Architect and master carpenter, born in Florence before 1450, died in Urbino after 1494. A pupil of Francione, he is mentioned in Pisan documents from 1471 to 1478 engaged in wood carving work in the Cathedral.
Around 1483, after being sent by Sixtus IV della Rovere to Civitavecchia with Francesco di Giorgio to inspect that fortress, he built the fortress of Ostia and the church of S. Aurea. Later, during the pontificate of Innocent VIII, he was sent to the Marches, again to carry out military architectural work, and there he built, after 1488, the fortresses of Jesi, Osimo, and Offida. However, the greatest renown came to P. from a series of Roman constructions assigned to him by Vasari, which modern criticism has repeatedly tried to remove from him precisely because, in the years when these were being built, P. is documented, as noted, in Pisa engaged in carpentry work. These Roman constructions are: the Old Vatican Library, the hospital of S. Spirito in Sassia, the Ponte Sisto, the church of S. Maria del Popolo, that of the SS. Apostoli, and another, S. Pietro in Vincoli. These buildings, which for their stylistic features — especially the first three — do not seem at all inconsistent with the master’s documented works. Moreover, contemporary activity as both architect and master carpenter does not conflict with 15th-century customs, when indeed great architects, starting from practice with wooden models, rose to the role of actual executors of their own or others’ designs. This is testified to, among others, by the work of a Giuliano da Maiano, and by that of P. himself, master carpenter and builder of fortresses.