Talk:Giovanni Simonetti

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Could someone translate this JamCor (talk) 15:59, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

Did you know nomination

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• ... that Swiss architect and stucco plasterer Giovanni Simonetti was a bricklayer before becoming royal stucco plasterer at the Berlin-Brandenburg court?

• Source: Original text (Artists and Migration 1400–1850: Britain, Europe and Beyond, p. 14): "...he is first recorded in 1668 as a journeyman bricklayer in Prague [...] He was then appointed as Royal Stucco Plasterer at the court in Berlin-Brandenburg."

Source: https://cspcontents.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/master/samples/978-1-4438-9974-1-sample.pdf

• • Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Eugene Tapahe and Template:Did you know nominations/Anne Chow
  • Comment: I will add a second QPQ shortly. Second QPQ provided.

5x expanded by HerBauhaus (talk). Number of QPQs required: 2. DYK is currently in unreviewed backlog mode and nominator has 21 past nominations.

HerBauhaus · talk 09:29, 16 September 2026 (UTC).

• Article expansion was done on September 15 and nominated a day later well within the time frame. More than 5x expanded. Article is based on fine sourcing, and is policy compliant. No copyright violations detected, or other issues found. Hook is verifiable, but not interesting. It was common for stucco artisans to begin as masons or bricklayers, so the progression here is not surprising or interesting. You would find this a common thread through the history of stucco artists. We need to find something hookier than this to pass WP:DYKHOOKSTYLE. Please propose new hooks below.4meter4 (talk) 21:13, 18 September 2026 (UTC)

• @4meter4: I see ALT0's appeal somewhat differently. The point is not simply that Simonetti moved between trades, but that he progressed from a bricklayer to a royal court appointment. For readers without specialist knowledge of seventeenth-century building trades, I think that contrast in status is intriguing. I appreciate that masonry and stucco work were closely related, but this does not necessarily make appointment to a royal court commonplace. While hook interest is subjective, I believe ALT0 has genuine appeal for general readers. I have nevertheless prepared ALT1 below, which I believe also offers an interesting angle for a general audience.
• ALT1: ... that the Simonettihaus, named after Swiss stucco artist Giovanni Simonetti, was saved from demolition more than 300 years after it was built?

Original text: "Zwischen 1699 und 1705 wurde der zweigeschossige Fachwerkbau mit hohem Walmdach vor den Toren der Stadt für den Berliner Adeligen Friedrich von Meder errichtet. [...] dass Simonetti und seiner Werkstatt auch die Stuckdecken im Wohnhaus des Freiherrn von Meder zugeschrieben werden. Zudem sind die hochbarocken Decken so gut erhalten, dass sie heute dem Fachwerkhaus den Namen geben. Auch der Verein Schloss Coswig (Anhalt) e. V., der das Gebäude 2007 in letzter Sekunde vor dem Abriss rettete"

Translation: "Between 1699 and 1705, the two-storey half-timbered building with a high hipped roof was built outside the town for the Berlin nobleman Friedrich von Meder. [...] The stucco ceilings in Baron von Meder's residence are also attributed to Simonetti and his workshop. The High Baroque ceilings are so well preserved that they now give the half-timbered building its name. The Schloss Coswig (Anhalt) association also saved the building from demolition at the last moment in 2007."

Source: Monumente Online, February 2011. HerBauhaus · talk 12:14, 20 September 2026 (UTC)

@HerBauhaus: I understand what you are saying but again the system of artist patronage is relatively common fact when writing on artists and musicians from this period. We literally have thousands of articles on opera singers, painters, sculptors, instrumentalists, etc. that were all employed by nobility and supported by the various court systems. I write quite a lot on singers from 16th to 18th centuries, and most of them were attached to one of the courts. Basically the normal progression for anyone who did anything notable in the arts was to get training, start at the bottom, gain notice for their talent by a duke/ king/ prince, or pope/ cardinal /archbishop, get a court or church appointment, and then work for the patron. This was the system of making great art and music. It was all tied back to the courts or the church for the most part.

At some point we have to consider what's typical when approving hooks, otherwise we would be running very similar resume hooks for 15th to 18th century artists and musicians at DYK. That said, perhaps my knowledge of the time period is coloring my take on the hook, so I will go ahead and approve it for consideration by the promoter. It may be that someone who doesn't spend their time reading and writing on artists during this time period would find the fact interesting. For me it just reads as typical.4meter4 (talk) 14:30, 20 September 2026 (UTC)

• Approving both hooks which are verified to the cited sources. The promoter can decide which they prefer. @HerBauhaus: I might suggest creating an article on Simonettihaus which could then easily be made a double nom. If you decide to do that ping me, so I can re-review. It would certainly strengthen the case for using Alt1. Best,4meter4 (talk) 14:30, 20 September 2026 (UTC)