Alessi, Galeazzo (1512–1572)

Architect from Peruggia, Italy. His style was based on his enthusiasm for both classical architecture and Michelangelo's work. Among his finest works are the courtyard of the Palazzo Marino in Milan (1553–58) and the Church of Sta Maria Assunta di Carignano in Genoa, which was begun in 1552.

Alessi's work characteristically combines the dignity of the classical orders with sumptuous detail, as seen in the Palazzo Marino courtyard. From 1549 onwards he designed a number of notable buildings in Genoa, among them the church of Sta Maria Assunta di Carignano and some fine villas and palaces in the Strada Nuova (now the Via Garibaldi), a street he himself may have laid out.

His style was much admired and it influenced buildings as far afield as Spain and Germany, especially after Pieter-Paul Rubens published Palazzi di Genova/The Palaces of Genoa (1622), a study in which Alessi's works feature prominently.

Other examples of his work include the sarcophagus of Gian Galeazzo Visconti in the Certosa (Carthusian monastery) in Pavia; the upper part of the Loggia in Brescia; the gateway to the Palazzo Communale in Bologna (c. 1555); and the main doorway of the cathedral in his home town Perugia (1568).