Details
AMMANATI, Bartolommeo (1511-1592). Two autograph letters signed to Francesco Busini Provveditore in Pisa, Florence 28 August 1568 and 11 September 1568, providing the measurements of the Ponte Vecchio in Pisa and the Ponte a Sta Trinita in Florence, 1½ pages, approximately 310 x 220mm, 1 with integral address leaf and cut for seal strip and 1 with address panel, both with contemporary endorsements, 1 with traces of seal.
These measurements were taken, at the request of the Duke, when the Arno was 'in fieri'. They are related to Ammanati's reconstruction of a bridge at Sta Trinita to replace the one destroyed by a flood in 1557. Ammanati had received the commission in 1560 after an unsuccessful initial approach had been made to Michelangelo. The request for the measurements was the result of a discussion between Ammanati and the Duke. The replacement bridge was provided according to a new design, with elegant flattened arches; Ammanati describes it as 'a larco di mezo bracia 50 di vano e le pile 14 bracia di largheza e lunghe bracia 46, e sono a bonisimo termine...'. The bridge was completed around 1570. (2)
These measurements were taken, at the request of the Duke, when the Arno was 'in fieri'. They are related to Ammanati's reconstruction of a bridge at Sta Trinita to replace the one destroyed by a flood in 1557. Ammanati had received the commission in 1560 after an unsuccessful initial approach had been made to Michelangelo. The request for the measurements was the result of a discussion between Ammanati and the Duke. The replacement bridge was provided according to a new design, with elegant flattened arches; Ammanati describes it as 'a larco di mezo bracia 50 di vano e le pile 14 bracia di largheza e lunghe bracia 46, e sono a bonisimo termine...'. The bridge was completed around 1570. (2)