Biography

Baccio d'Agnolo (originally Bartolomeo Baglioni) was an Italian woodcarver, sculptor and architect (Baccio is an abbreviation of Bartolomeo). He started as a wood-carver, and between 1491 and 1502 did much of the decorative carving in the church of Santa Maria Novella and the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. Having made his reputation as a sculptor he appears to have turned his attention to architecture, and to have studied at Rome, though the precise date is uncertain; but at the beginning of the sixteenth century he was engaged with the architect Simone del Pollaiolo in restoring the Palazzo Vecchio, and in 1506 he was commissioned to complete the drum of the cupola of the church of Santa Maria del Fiore.

Baccio d'Agnolo also planned the Villa Borgherini and the Palazzo Bartolini, with other palaces and villas. The campanile of the church of Santo Spirito was one of his much-admired works. His studio was the resort of the most celebrated artists of the day, Michelangelo, Andrea Sansovino, the brothers Antonio da Sangallo the Elder and Giuliano da Sangallo and the young Raphael. He died at Florence in 1543, leaving three sons, all architects, the best-known being Giuliano d'Agnolo.