“DAMIANO DI RUAN” ARCHITETTO PORTOGHESE IN ITALIA E LA CASAMATTA DI TORINO

Abstract

A Portuguese architect, Damião de Ruão, was sent to Parma by Don Duarte to his sister Maria who was married to prince Alessandro Farnese, so that he could make progress in the art of fortifications. He was sent first to Ancona where Francesco Paciotto was active and then to Turin where Ferrante Vitelli was building the Citadel. In 1575 he was dismissed and went back to Parma following a dispute in which intervened also the duke Emanuel Philibert of Savoy. The Farnese couple did not want to retain him in the city and decided to send him to Rome. Unknown is how the architect ended his life: he is completely ignored by documents in the Portuguese archives.