FIORAVANTI, Aristotele

Fioravanti designed the new fa�ade of the Gothic Palazzo del Podestà. He prepared a model in 1472, but the execution was delayed until 1484-94.

The fa�ade, one of the most innovative and overtly all’antica designs of the 15th century, faces San Petronio and dominates Bologna’s main square. It is organized as two storeys: a massive ground storey arcade rusticated with faceted masonry (each block embellished with a rosette) and articulated with Corinthian half columns, and an upper storey set back to allow for a balcony arranged with round-arched windows and ornamental Corinthian pilasters. The immediate model for the fa�ade, which recalls such imperial prototypes as the Colosseum, was undoubtedly the Benediction Loggia (early 1460s; destroyed) in front of Old St Peter’s, Rome, which was still under construction when Fioravanti was called to Rome in 1471.

Fioravanti designed the new fa�ade of the Gothic Palazzo del Podestà. He prepared a model in 1472, but the execution was delayed until 1484-94.

The fa�ade, one of the most innovative and overtly all’antica designs of the 15th century, faces San Petronio and dominates Bologna’s main square. It is organized as two storeys: a massive ground storey arcade rusticated with faceted masonry (each block embellished with a rosette) and articulated with Corinthian half columns, and an upper storey set back to allow for a balcony arranged with round-arched windows and ornamental Corinthian pilasters. The immediate model for the fa�ade, which recalls such imperial prototypes as the Colosseum, was undoubtedly the Benediction Loggia (early 1460s; destroyed) in front of Old St Peter’s, Rome, which was still under construction when Fioravanti was called to Rome in 1471.

In 1475 Fioravanti moved to Moscow, where in 1475-79 he rebuilt the cathedral of the Dormition (Uspensky) in the Kremlin for Ivan III. The cathedral was intended for major state ceremonies, including the coronation of the tsar. It had already been substantially reconstructed (from 1472) by local builders when in 1474 it was partly destroyed in an earthquake.

Fioravanti began work afresh by replacing the previous foundations with new and much deeper ones, and he made every effort to ensure the building’s structural stability, using specially hardened lightweight bricks and iron tie-rods for the vaults. The layout of the building was dictated by Russian tradition and was required to be modelled in particular on the cathedral of the Dormition (rebuilt 1185-89) in Vladimir. It is organized as a four-bay nave and aisles, with groin vaults and a typical five-domed arrangement at the east end, which terminates in a row of chapels. The main innovations of the tall interior are in the omission of galleries in order to give an airy and uncluttered effect, in the uniformity of bay size in both nave and aisles and in the use at the west end of four cylindrical piers resembling columns, which were once capped with Corinthian capitals (defaced 17th century).

The building’s most conspicuous elevation, that facing south, was given an imposing but severe stone-faced fa�ade divided into four equal arched bays by tall pilasters rising through a traditional band of blind arcades with ornamental colonnettes.

The photo shows the south fa�ade, viewed from Cathedral Square.

View the ground plan of Cathedral of the Dormition, Kremlin.

In 1475 Fioravanti moved to Moscow, where in 1475-79 he rebuilt the cathedral of the Dormition (Uspensky) in the Kremlin for Ivan III. The cathedral was intended for major state ceremonies, including the coronation of the tsar. It had already been substantially reconstructed (from 1472) by local builders when in 1474 it was partly destroyed in an earthquake.

The layout of the building was dictated by Russian tradition and was required to be modelled in particular on the cathedral of the Dormition (rebuilt 1185-89) in Vladimir. It is organized as a four-bay nave and aisles, with groin vaults and a typical five-domed arrangement at the east end, which terminates in a row of chapels. The main innovations of the tall interior are in the omission of galleries in order to give an airy and uncluttered effect, in the uniformity of bay size in both nave and aisles and in the use at the west end of four cylindrical piers resembling columns, which were once capped with Corinthian capitals (defaced 17th century).

View the ground plan of Cathedral of the Dormition, Kremlin.

In 1475 Fioravanti moved to Moscow, where in 1475-79 he rebuilt the cathedral of the Dormition (Uspensky) in the Kremlin for Ivan III. The cathedral was intended for major state ceremonies, including the coronation of the tsar. It had already been substantially reconstructed (from 1472) by local builders when in 1474 it was partly destroyed in an earthquake.

The layout of the building was dictated by Russian tradition and was required to be modelled in particular on the cathedral of the Dormition (rebuilt 1185-89) in Vladimir. It is organized as a four-bay nave and aisles, with groin vaults and a typical five-domed arrangement at the east end, which terminates in a row of chapels. The main innovations of the tall interior are in the omission of galleries in order to give an airy and uncluttered effect, in the uniformity of bay size in both nave and aisles and in the use at the west end of four cylindrical piers resembling columns, which were once capped with Corinthian capitals (defaced 17th century).