POMIS, Pietro de

Giovanni Pietro Telesphoro de Pomis, Italian painter, architect, engineer and medallist, active in Austria. He trained as a painter in Venice, probably in the workshop of Tintoretto. Although no dated or signed works from his Venetian period are known, a number of paintings are now attributed to him that were earlier ascribed to the circle of Tintoretto. Around 1589 Pomis entered the service of Archduke Ferdinand II, later Holy Roman Emperor, who appointed him official painter to the court in Graz in 1597. In the service of the Archduke, Pomis travelled in 1598 to Rome, Loreto and Spain, in 1601 to Hungary and in 1608 to Florence. His works from this period include an altarpieces and portraits.

Pomis's architectural work included the façadeGLOSSARYthe front or principal face of a building, especially one elaborately constructed; a blind façade is a façade that is purely decorative and does not relate to the structure of the building. design (1611) for Maria-Hilf-Kirche, which he modelled on Palladio's church of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice. The interior of the church is also attributed to Pomis, although both it and the façade were altered in the 18th century. In 1615 Pomis designed the sacristyGLOSSARYa side room of a church where a priest puts on his vestments and where the sacred vessels and vestments are kept. for Graz CathedralGLOSSARYThe principal church of a province or diocese, where the throne of the bishop is placed. For reasons lost to time and tradition, a cathedral always faces west - toward the setting sun. The altar is placed at the east end. The main body, or nave, of the cathedral is usually divided into one main and two side aisles. These lead up to the north and south transepts, or arms of the cross, the shape in which a cathedral is usually formed., and in the same year construction began on his best-known work, the Graz Mausoleum (completed 1638). Although his plans have been lost, a medal produced by Pomis (1622; Steiermärkisches Landesmuseum, Graz) depicts his conception of the façade. The project comprises two independent buildings, the church of St Catherine and the Mausoleum. The church consists of a single naveGLOSSARYthe main interior space of a church building. It may have parallel aisles on each side, often separated from it by pillars, and is intersected by the transept, which cuts across it at the point where the choir begins. with a semicircular apseGLOSSARYA semicircular projection, roofed with a half-dome, at the east end of a church behind the altar. Smaller subsidiary apses may be found around the choir or transepts. Also known as an exedra. The adjective is apsidal. and transepts, the crossingGLOSSARYthe area of a church where the nave is intersected by the transept. covered by a high drumGLOSSARYthe cylindrical or polygonal base of a dome. and domeGLOSSARYin architecture, hemispherical structure evolved from the arch, usually forming a ceiling or roof.. The Mausoleum has an oval ground-plan and is covered by an elliptical dome surmounted by a tall lanternGLOSSARYa windowed turret set on a dome or roof, used to provide light to the area below.. The entrance façade of the church comprises a massive frontispiece with a large pedimentGLOSSARYa gable supported actually or apparently on columns. that was strongly influenced by Giacomo della Porta's façade at Il Gesù (1571-84), Rome. The design and decoration of the interior were clearly influenced by Pomis's travels to Venice and Lombardy.

In 1615, at the height of his career, Pomis was appointed fortifications engineer in Friuli.