Biography

Italian architect and sculptor. He trained as a stonecutter but was involved more with architecture than sculpture. Several contradictory references by Vasari relate to Fancelli's early career and attribute to him the construction of the Palazzo Pitti, the tribune of SS Annunziata and other Florentine buildings designed by Brunelleschi and Alberti. Vasari's proposal, however, lacks documentary confirmation, since Fancelli moved c. 1450 to Mantua, where he entered the service of Ludovico II Gonzaga, 2nd Marquis of Mantua. While there he supervised the construction of Alberti's churches of S Sebastiano (from 1460) and S Andrea (from 1472); his personal contribution to these buildings, especially S Andrea, which was begun only shortly before Alberti's death, should not be underestimated.