Pirro Ligorio (c. 1512 – October 30, 1583) was an Italian architect, painter, antiquarian, and garden designer during the Renaissance period.

His parents, Achille and Gismunda Ligorio, were rumored to be members of the noble class in Seggio di Portanova, a section of Naples.

Around age twenty, Pirro Ligorio left the tumultuous and poverty-stricken city of Naples to pursue a more flourishing livelihood in Rome.

This role had previously been filled by Polidoro da Caravaggio, who fled in 1527, allowing Ligorio to enter the field with very little formal artistic training.

Ligorio greatly appreciated this style, and incorporated its elements (friezes, scenes from Roman history, trophies, etc.)

This identification was often made based on the subject matter; many of the drawings featured façade paintings, Roman characters, and antique Renaissance objects.

These loose connections allowed historians to name Ligorio as the rightful artist of these drawings, which are now held in collections across the world (including one at the Art Institute of Chicago).

In the mid sixteenth century, Ligorio was commissioned to assist in the decoration of the Oratory of San Giovanni Decollato in Rome.

He spent a large portion of the 1540s learning as much as possible about Roman antiques, and preserved valuable information while the pope destroyed artifacts in excavation projects.

Despite its important contributions to the Italian knowledge base of Roman antiquities, Ligorio's writings were met with some criticism; in particular, he was charged with widespread forgery.

They chose to destroy the old papal apartment and incorporate a rooftop garden into the space, allowing more light to enter the Hall of Constantine.

Towards the end of Paul IV's tenure, he asked Ligorio to design a monstrance, or tabernacle, to be used for special papal trips.

Some records suggest plans to create an entirely new library, but due to lack of funding, these updates likely involved smaller-scale woodworking and masonry by Ligorio.

Located in the woods behind the Belvedere court, Pius' revamped plans for the space included a second story, large fountain, and oval courtyard with arched entryways.

This was a major honor, awarded to only three other people during the sixteenth century: Michaelangelo, Titian, and Fra Guglielmo della Porta.

Although little remains of this Archivio today, its architectural design suggests a brief departure from Ligorio's typical style (as exemplified by, for example, the extravagant Casino).

In September 1550, before his employment at the Vatican and during his study of classical antiquity, Ligorio was hired by the Cardinal of Ferrara (Ippolito II d'Este) to accompany him to Tivoli.

The area was rich with remains of old villas and temples, allowing Ligorio to further his research of Roman antiques and the governor to add to his own personal collection.

Giovanni Alberto Galvani served as the main architect, but Pirro Ligorio took charge of the villa's extensive and intricate gardens.

These gardens included many waterworks and fountains (utilizing Ligorio's knowledge of aqueduct engineering), as well as a collection of ancient sculpture.

Many of Ligorio's waterworks and sculptures incorporated flora and fauna, marrying the natural aspects of the garden with the man-made artistic elements.

This incorporation of the imagery of Hercules and his struggle with virtue and vice showcases both Ligorio's knowledge of ancient Greek and Roman mythology, but also the cardinal's Christian faith and moral grounding.

Ligorio's main duties involved preparing the ducal library and organizing an antique museum for Alfonso's court.

Ligorio diverted from the traditional view of earthquakes as supernatural phenomenon, and treated them as a natural occurrence around which man could reason.

Many of the elements he incorporated, including thicker brick walls and stone piers, match modern anti-seismic practices.

Despite his major contributions to Renaissance Italian architecture, classical antiquity, and garden design, Pirro Ligorio maintains surprisingly little presence in accounts of that time period.

In the twentieth century, historian David Coffin wrote his dissertation on the life of Ligorio and quickly became the world's foremost expert on the architect.

Finally, his ambition: Ligorio pursued his chosen fields with great focus and fervor, gaining admirers as well as detractors along the way.