Giocondo Albertolli

Who was Giocondo Albertolli?

Giocondo Albertolli was a Swiss-born architect, painter, and sculptor who was active in Italy during the Neoclassical period.

He was born into a family of artists at Bedano, a village 7 km north of the Ticinese capital Lugano. He studied at Parma under a sculptor, and also in the Academy, and became known for his ornamental architectural decorations. In 1770, he travelled to Tuscany to perform with his brother Grato the stucco decoration of the Villa del Poggio Imperiale. He then visited Rome and then Naples, where he briefly worked with Carlo Vanvitelli. In 1774, he returned north to his family in Bedano; soon he met up with Giuseppe Piermarini for whom he collaborated in future stucco decoration of palaces.

In 1776 he was elected professor of ornamenti architettonici at the newly created Brera Academy in Milan; he held this post for more than a quarter of a century until failing eyesight caused him to resign in 1812. From 1775-1779, Piermarini erected the Royal Villa at Monza, with Albertolli providing the stucco decoration. He also labored in the Palazzo Villa Melzi in Milan and designed the famed lakeside Villa Melzi d'Eril in Bellagio.