TIRALI, Andrea

(b. 1657 Venezia, d. 1737 Monselice)

Italian architect. He was active in Venice and on the mainland, most of his work being completed around the turn of the century.

Inspired by Andrea Palladio and classic architecture, Tirali was, in various ways, the forerunner of Neoclassicism. He is considered to be one of the very first architects to react to the excessive decoration in Venetian Baroque architecture and built some of the most typical palaces in the early 1700s, such as Palazzo Priuli Venier Manfrin (1724-31) at the feet of Ponte delle Guglie over the Rio di Cannareggio, in the sestiere of Cannareggio. This building (now owned by the Region of Veneto) has been suggested as an alternative seat for the Peggy Guggenheim Foundation.

Other important works by Tirali are the three-flight staircase in Palazzo Morosini Sagredo (1718-38), portrayed in Pietro Longhi’s fresco, the Caduta dei Giganti, and the new paving in St. Mark’s Square. Tirali also contributed to religious architecture in Venice: the chapel of San Domenico in the Chiesa dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo (1690), the façade of San Nicola dei Tolentini (1706-14) and the façade of San Vitale (1734-37).

Monumental staircase

The Palazzo Morosini Sagredo is a large building with a Gothic fa�ade overlooking the Grand Canal. It was built by the Morosini family, possibly during two separate phases between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. It was acquired by the future doge Nicolò Sagredo in 1661. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, his descendents commissioned the renovation of the interiors. Andrea Tirali was brought in to design the monumental staircase at the back of the building, which was completed in 1732.

For the decoration of the large staircase, the young Pietro Longhi was employed, who completed the project in 1734. The frescoes, covering the ceiling and the walls, depict the Fall of the Giants.

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San Nicolò da Tolentino: Façade

Andrea Tirali was commissioned to construct a fa�ade on an unfinished sixteenth-century building that had been started by Sansovino. The imposing fa�ade is structured around a protruding pronaos (an open vestibule before the cella of a Greek temple) where six tall Corinthian columns support a triangular tympanum.

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Three-Arched Bridge

Built almost at the mouth of the Cannaregio canal on the lagoon, this bridge is a feature of Venice and often appears in views of the city. Although it was erected in the late seventeenth century, the architect imitated Palladio’s design for the Rialto, which was not adopted. It is the only three-arched bridge in Venice and has simple, harmonious lines.

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