Andrea Belli
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Andrea Belli
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = 13 October 1703
| birth_place = Valletta, Hospitaller Malta
| death_date = 19 October 1772 (aged 69)
| death_place =
| nationality = Maltese
| occupation = Architect and businessman
| notable_works = Auberge de Castille
| style = Baroque
| spouse = {{marriage|Teresa Gam|5 June 1737}}
| children = Giuseppe Belli
| mother = Francesca Romano
| father = Giuseppe Belli
}}
Andrea Belli (13 October 1703 – 19 October 1772) was a Maltese architect and businessman. He designed several Baroque buildings, including Auberge de Castille in Valletta, which is now the Office of the Prime Minister of Malta.
Life and career
He was born in Valletta on 13 October 1703 to the surgeon Giuseppe Belli and his wife Francesca Romano. He spent some time in Venice as a youth, and he later traveled to Austria and (Germany).{{cite book|last1=Schiavone|first1=Michael J.|title=Dictionary of Maltese Biographies Vol. 1 A-F|date=2009|publisher=Pubblikazzjonijiet Indipendenza|location=Pietà|isbn=9789993291329|page=192}}
File:Auberge de Castille in Valletta, Malta (29359161198).jpg
File:Mdina-kathedral-museum.JPG Seminary (now the Cathedral Museum), which is attributed to Belli]]
As an entrepreneur, Belli became a successful businessman by having achieved monopoly from Grand Master Pinto over the export of Maltese limestone and other products to Africa, Asia and Europe.{{cite book|title=60th anniversary of the Malta Historical Society: a commemoration|location=Zabbar|editor=Joseph F. Grima|publisher=Veritas Press|date=2010|isbn=978-99932-0-942-3|oclc=779340904|last1=Ellul|first1=Michael|chapter=Malta Limestone goes to Europe: Use of Malta Stone outside Malta|pages=371–406|url=http://maltahistory.eu5.net/60/60_25.html#_ftn14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325173202/http://maltahistory.eu5.net/60/60_25.html|archive-date=25 March 2019}}
Belli became an architect, and he designed several buildings in the Baroque style. A possible portrait of him with the design of Casa Manresa (today the Curia of the Bishop) dates to his lifetime.{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/20042638|title=Representation of architects and building projects in seicento and settecento local art, Malta|first=Christine Stefanie|last=Kunkler|via=academia.edu}}
Under the influence of his brother Gabriele, listener of the Master Mason Pinto,{{cite book | author = Albert Ganado | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=eh3qAAAAMAAJ&q=%22gabriele+belli%22%2B%22+Pinto%22 | title = Palace of the Grand Masters in Valletta | page = 38 | publisher = Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti | year = 2001 | oclc = 264974877 | isbn = 9789993210122}}{{cite book | author = Giovanni Bonello | author-link = Giovanni Bonello | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-4doAAAAMAAJ&q=%22gabriele+belli%22%2B%22+Pinto%22 | title = Histories of Malta | page = 161 | volume = 1 | publisher = Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti | year = 2000 | isbn = 9789993210016 | oclc = 48039980}} Andrea got regular commissioned works by the Order of Malta as designer of the main buildings of the 18th century Maltese Baroque architecture.
Notable buildings made or attributed to him include:{{cite book|last=Gaul|first=Simon|title=Malta, Gozo and Comino|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fevix8jSqg0C&pg=PA325|publisher=New Holland publishers|date=2007|page=325|isbn=9781860113659}}
- Seminary (now the Cathedral Museum), Mdina (1733–42, attributed)
- Augustinian priory, Rabat (1740)
- Auberge de Castille, Valletta (1741–45)
- Bishop's curia, Floriana (1743)
- Centrepiece of Bishop's Palace, Valletta
- Church of Our Lady of Divine Providence, Siġġiewi (1750)
- Palazzo Don Raimondo (formerly the National Museum of Fine Arts), Valletta (1761–63)
- St. Philip Neri church, Birgu (attributed)
- Palazzo Bonici, Valletta{{cite web|url=https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/one-world-protecting-the-most-significant-buildings-monuments-and.212939|title=One World – Protecting the most significant buildings, monuments and features of Valletta (12)|website=The Times|location=Malta}}
- Chapel at Villa Cagliares in Zejtun (attributed)Mifsud, Maria (23 November 2008). [http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20081123/local/restoring-old-buildings.234264 Restoring old buildings]. The Times (Malta). Archived from the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160401125500/http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20081123/local/restoring-old-buildings.234264 original] on 1 April 2016.
File:Church of Our Lady of Divine Providence, Siġġiewi (1750).png
Auberge de Castille is regarded as his masterpiece.
Belli was also involved in business, and in 1741 he took over the firm of the Manoel Theatre.
Belli married Teresa Gam on 5 June 1737, and they had one son called Giuseppe.
He died on 19 October 1772 at the age of 69.
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Further reading
- {{cite news|first=Giovanni|last=Bonello|date=April 1996|title=Andrea Belli, Baroque Architect, Industrialist, Slave Dealer and Impresario|work=The Sunday Times}}
- {{cite book|first=Giovanni|last=Bonello|date=2000|url=http://www.patrimonju.org/content.aspx?id=119835&subId=114434|title=Art in Malta – Discoveries and Recoveries|publisher=Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti|pages=125–142|isbn=99909-959-7-4|access-date=5 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828150940/http://www.patrimonju.org/content.aspx?id=119835&subId=114434|archive-date=28 August 2016|url-status=dead}}
References
{{Reflist}}
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Category:18th-century Maltese architects
Category:18th-century Maltese businesspeople
Category:Architects of Roman Catholic churches