Galeazzo Alessi
architect; b. 1512, at Perugia, Italy; d. December 31, 1572.
He was probably a pupil of Giambattista Caporali, the translator and commentator of Vitruvius. He went to Rome about 1536, where he appears to have been associated with Michelangelo. In 1542 Galeazzo went to Perugia and built there the chapel and loggia of the Cittadella Paolina. Other buildings in Perugia are ascribed to him. His most important works are in Genoa, the earliest being the Church of S. Carignano, for which the contract was made September 7, 1549. He enlarged the port and built the arsenal, which he adorned with a Doric portico. Alessi is best known by the street of palaces which he built in Genoa, the Strada Nuova (now Garibaldi), in which are his Palazzi Cambiaso, Gambaro, Parodi (begun 1507), Spinola (1560), Giorgio Doria, Adorno, Serra, and Rosso. He built the Palazzo Grimaldi near the Church of S. Luca, another Palazzo Grimaldi in the Borgo S. Vincenzo, the two Palazzi Lomellini, and many villas near Genoa. The cupola and choir (1567) of the Cathedral of Genoa and the Loggia de' Banchi are by him. In Milan Alessi built the Palazzo Marini, now the municipal palace, the façade of the Church of S. Maria presso S. Celso, the hall of the Auditorio del Cambio and the Church of S. Vittore di Capo. Like the San Gallo, Scamozzi, and other architects of the time, Alessi enjoyed a large practice in Italy, and designed many buildings in France, Portugal, and Flanders. The architecture of Flanders, which was then in close commercial relation with Genoa, was much influenced by him.
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Plan and façade of the Palace Stoppani, formerly Caffarelli, in Rome, near the Church of St. Andrea della Valle, commenced from the designs of Raphael; the upper story or attic appears to have been added after, as it does not appear in an ancient engraving of this façade published by Lafreri in 1549. Charles V resided in this palace during his sojourn in Rome.
Seroux
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