Donato Bramante
Donato Bramante (1444-1514), Italian architect, was born near Urbino, Italy. His most famous design was the St. Peter's Basilica (begun in 1506), commissioned by Pope Julius II. His other work includes Santa Maria presso San Satiro (1482-1486), the cloisters of Sant'Ambrogio, Milano (1497-1498), and the Palazzo Caprini (1501-1502).
Tempietto, San Pietro in Montorio, Rome
In Rome Bramante designed one of the most harmonious buildings of the Renaissance: the Tempietto (1502) of San Pietro in Montorio on the Janiculum. Despite its small scale the construction has all the grandeur and rigorous conformity of a Classical building. Perfectly proportioned, it is surrounded by slender Tuscan columns and surmounted by a dome.
One of Bramante's earliest works in Rome are the cloisters (1504) of Santa Maria della Pace near Piazza Navona. The handsome proportions give an air of great simplicity. The columns on the ground floor are complemented by those on the first floor, which alternate with smaller columns placed centrally over the lower arches.