SCALFAROTTO, Giovanni Antonio

Italian architect, active in Venice. He is best known for the design of the Neo-classicalGLOSSARYRelating to the culture of ancient Greece and Rome (classical Antiquity). The classical world played a profoundly important role in the Renaissance, with Italian scholars, writers, and artists seeing their own period as the rebirth (the "renaissance") of classical values after the Middle Ages. The classical world was considered the golden age for the arts, literature, philosophy, and politics. Concepts of the classical, however, changed greatly from one period to the next. Roman literature provided the starting point in the 14th century, scholars patiently finding, editing and translating a wide range of texts. In the 15th century Greek literature, philosophy and art - together with the close study of the remains of Roman buildings and sculptures-expanded the concept of the classical and ensured it remained a vital source of ideas and inspiration. church of San Simone Piccolo, Venice (1718-38), a domed rotunda with a porticoGLOSSARYUsually open porch supported by columns or pillars on the main entrance side of a buildings. Frequently supports a pediment. fronted by four Corinthian columns set between square corner-columns. He had an eclectic style. He designed 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. of the church of San Rocco, and the bell tower of the church San Bartolomeo (1747-52).

Scalfarotto taught architectural drawing to the engraver Giovanni Battista Piranesi.