He had lived in England in his youth, in London (1714-1719) in an environment dominated by Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren's Palladian classicism; he then went to Florence (1719-30) as first architect and superintendent of the factories of grand dukes Cosimo III and Gian Gastone dei Medici; at that time he built the church of S. Maria del Vivaio in Scarperia (1724) and the gallery of Palazzo Cerretani in Florence (around 1725). But his major works are all found in Rome, where he was called in 1730 by Clemente XII: S. Giovanni in Laterano's façade (1732-35) ( iter 3 ) is considered as his masterpiece because of the solemn soaring of the pilasters and columns that scan the entire prospect, mindful of the Palladian English style; in the cappella Corsini of the same basilica (1735) Galilei raised a cupola on a Greek cross plant thus resuming the modules of the Florentine Renaissance architecture. Divided in two orders, and therefore in agreement to the schemes of roman architecture of the late sixteenth century is the S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini's façade (1734) ( iter 9 ). Although elements of different ascendancy merge together in Galilei's work, his roman production is overall very high; on the other hand it was on account of his eclecticism that he did not exercise a direct influence on the course of roman architecture.