202

Returning to Italy in 1543, Vignola became architect-in-chief of the civic basilica of San Petronio in Bologna, a prestigious post beleagured by contentious debates about the propoer style with which to complete the immense Gothic monument. […]

By the time he settled permanently in Rome in 1550 – at which time he re-entered the service of the Farnese family and became architect to Pope Julius III – Vignola possessed a mature grasp of architectural theory.

It is probable that the Regola took final form during the 1550s. These years saw the triumphant beginning of Vignola's maturity as an architect. Early in the decade he planned the famous papal Villa Giulia along with the nearby chapel of Sant'Andrea in Via Flaminia, then designed the little fortress of Norcia and the church of the Madonna

[Fortsetzung auf S. 206]