The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic

THE ITALIAN LEGACY IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

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en the sacred nature of this commission,

it is believed that Bramante was inspired

by ancient Roman circular-based temples

dedicated to the goddess Vesta (Summer-

son, 2001) (see images 7), to which he in-

cluded some original modifications. The

result was a building with a circular base

and Doric order, the latter perhaps due to

the sobriety associated with the apostle’s

masculinity. On the periphery, 16 col-

umns surround a concentric nucleus (

cel-

) that exceeds them in height, covered

by a hemispherical dome and crowned

by a pinnacle. This structure is common-

ly known as Bramante’s “little temple”

tempietto

(see image 8). Shortly after

its construction in 1502, architects such

as Sebastiano Serlio and Andrea Palladio

reproduced this ingenious solution of sa-

cred space in their publications, and so

flourished the culture of

tempiettos

that

crowned great western buildings from

the sixteenth century to the beginning of

the twentieth century. Although it is true

that the Nabataeans were already using

circular Roman temples to crown sacred

buildings in the first century BC (see image 9), Bramante’s unique conception became seminal in his time.

There is certainly much more that can be said about the dome which stands vigil over the Caribbean,

as well as about the

tempietto

; however, what remains fundamental is that they are sacred objects, or at

least, bear great symbolic value due to their origin. Thus, for a range of reasons, the Palace’s dome, and all

its other components, were of enormous importance to D’Alessandro Lom-

bardi; he would not give up until he had completed the work, just as he

had done on the Austrian front while fighting for Italy. His service

record indicates that he was wounded in battle twice before the

Italian Republic gave him a final discharge in 1919, awarding

him the Inter-Allied Medal of Victory and the Commemora-

tive Medal of the European War. The Dominican National

Palace was inaugurated in 1947 in a ceremony to which the

dictator Trujillo did not invite D’Alessandro Lombardi. In

1950, Italy awarded him the Italian Solidarity Medal for his

contributions to the reconstruction of that country after

World War II, and in 1954, having dearly loved his family,

and having demonstrated great passion and courage in his

passage through this world completing his life as a

tempietto

he passed away.

Dome over the

entrance to the

National Palace

of the Dominican

Republic. Photo facing

northeast.

Plan of the dome roof.

In this image, one can

discern the rib design

on the dome.