Art | Art in Turin |
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From the Roman age has only remained in Turin the monumental Porta Palatina and finds of the Roman theatre and walls, fragments of romanity later incorporated in other buildings. Many historical and architectonic information, among them curiosities about palaces, churches, streets of the sub alpine city, can be found in the useful guide: "Torino: Allemandi's Architecture Guides  Cathedral of Turin What is left of the medieval Turin is scarce: there are parts of the Castle, that is to say Palazzo Madama, which was erected and enlarged between the XII and the XIV century and completed in the XV century by Ludovico di Savoia-Acaia; the church of San Domenico, also this one very much rearranged, adorned with coeval frescoes (XIV century), deeply altered by several reconstructions. There is also the Duomo's bell tower and the one of the Basilica della Consolata, previously known as Torre di Sant'Andrea, built between 980 and 1014, with bricks coming from the ancient Roman walls. It is 40 metres high, erected on an almost square base, with a Romanic-Lombardic style. The bells' cell was added in 1406. The real Renaissance style imposed itself in the Duomo, consecrated to San Giovanni. Its construction is due to the Tuscan Meo del Caprina and built between 1491 and 1498, "trine" cathedral, because it was built on three pre-existent churches, similarly to what happened in some of the main cathedrals in France. Besides the Duomo, we can include in the late Renaissance period, some parts of the Cittadella, while there are doubts on Palazzo Scaglia di Verrua, in via Stampatori 4, dated by some at the end of the XVI century. The scant number of Renaissance works of art it thought to be due, partly at least, to the fact that Turin hadn't a real Renaissance, and it was often ignored by those important personalities of the past that reached Italy stopping a little in some of the major cities. The passage from the Renaissance to the Baroque is distinguished by a big name, the architect and engineer Ascanio Vitozzi (1539-1615), often defined as "the father of the Turin's urbanity", because he had laid the foundations for that network of regular streets that would have never been abandoned, and because he had signed some important churches in Turin, like the Corpus Domini, the Santissima Trinità and the Santa Maria del Monte or dei Cappuccini. Even the organization of Piazza Castello and the opening of Via Nuova (today Via Roma) carry his name.  Church of the Santa Maria del Monte In the Baroque period, with Carlo di Castellamonte and his son Amedeo, already in the XVII century, the city became more monumental, concentrated around a new focal point, the magnificent Piazza San Carlo, surrounded by arcades and houses with regular and harmonious façades. To Carlo and Amedeo di Castellamonte are due the Palazzo Reale with a simple, monumental facade, the magnificent Castello del Valentino, inspired to French models, the bond of Piazza San Giovanni, the Reggia di Venaria, the Castello di Moncalieri, and the project of the big royal manège, better known as the "Cavallerizza", also used as exhibition area of strong attraction. Plenty of other architects also worked in the first half of the XVII century, like Andrea Costaguta and Maurizio Valperga, painters like Tanzio da Varallo, the Morazzone, the Moncalvo, very skilful plasterers and decorators, who adorned the Castello del Valentino and many churches. Andrea Costaguta, in particular, who was a Barefooted Carmelite, left innovative works of art at the Castello del Valentino and at the Castello di Moncalieri, contributing to enrich churches like Santa Teresa, where it is kept Madama Reale's tomb, her benefactress. Other architects of great repute were Francesco Lanfranchi, painter and designer, and his son Carlo Emanuele Lanfranchi, to whom are due the Palazzo di Città, which overlooks the square with the same name, the churches of Visitazione, San Rocco and the church consecrated to San Giuseppe, in via Santa Teresa. One of the main Baroque architects, the Modenese Guarino Guarini (1624-1683), after the experience of the Vittozzi and of the Castellamonte, was the director of the originality, the mathematician who conciliated spaces and shapes in an admirable way. The project and the realization of the chapel and the dome for the Santa Sindone were his. With this he gave us two of the main masterpieces of all Baroque art. To the Guarini are also due the Palazzo Carignano, the Accademia delle Scienze, and the church of San Filippo Neri, later reconstructed by Filippo Juvarra. Furthermore we can remember the sanctuary of the Consolata, reconstructed by Guarini, rearranged in the XVII century, that consists of an elliptical body and of an hexagonal body that are placed side by side.  Palazzo Carignano Gian Francesco Baroncelli, Amedeo di Castellamonte's collaborator, who replaced Guarini in the heart of the Savoy princes, and signed palaces like Palazzo Graneri and Palazzo Barolo, both remarkable for their stateliness. In the last decades of the XVII and in the first years of the XVIII century a great ardour of works led to the enrichment of churches that had already been erected and to the construction of new buildings. Plenty of architects had been working in these years: Gian Giacomo Plantery (1680-1756), author of Palazzo Cavour and of Palazzo Paesana di Saluzzo, in via della Consolata, and Michelangelo Garove (1650-1713) who designed the project for the Palazzo dell'Università, the Castello di Venaria, the Palazzo Asinari di San Marzano, the reconstruction of the Castello di Rivoli, devastated by the fire of 1963. Nevertheless it is Filippo Juvarra (1678-1736), with his presence, to have characterized Turin from 1714 to 1735. Juvarra erected the façade of Palazzo Madama, the famous "façade without the palace", put on the walls of the medieval castle; he embellished the Palazzo Reale where he built the "Scissors' staircase", and partially closed Piazza San Carlo with the elegant façade of the Chiesa di Santa Cristina. To the great architect are also due some remarkable palaces, the elliptical church of Santa Croce and the soaring and monumental Chiesa del Carmine, besides altars, chapels and other minor works of art. Furthermore, some of his fundamental masterpieces are the Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi and the Reale Basilica di Superga, in the hills, erected, by tradition, in order to fulfil the vow made for the release of Turin from the siege of 1706 and later became the Savoy crypt.  Palazzina di caccia of Stupinigi Antonio Felice Devicenti (1690-1778), designer of the great Arsenale building, aligned along the street with the same name, and Benedetto Alfieri (1700-1767), first architect of the Sardinian reign in 1739, Vittorio Alfieri's uncle, complete the sequence of great urbanites who gave a new face to the city. Bernardo Antonio Vittone (1705-1770), appeared to end the sequence of the "great" of the XVIII century. He planned a great number of churches, participated in their embellishment, like the church of Santa Chiara, the church of Santa Maria di Piazza, the high altar of San Rocco, the high altar's tabernacle of the church of Corpus Domini, the church of San Francesco d'Assisi and the famous Cappella dei Mercanti, in via Garibaldi, also known as "Cortile degli Antichi Chiostri". At the end of the XVIII century and for a large part of the XIX century in Turin prevailed the Neoclassical style; a great proof of this style is the temple of the Gran Madre di Dio, work of art of the architect Ferdinando Bonsignore (1760-1843). In the second half of the century was active Alessandro Antonelli (1798-1863), author of the Mole Antonelliana, city symbol, which characterize the Torinese view in an unmistakable way.  The Mole Antonelliana Other architects that followed, took the risk of being considered "minor", compared to them: Giuseppe Bollati (1819-1869) to whom is due the structure of Piazza Statuto, Alessandro Mazzucchetti (1824-1894), who collaborated with Carlo Ceppi (1829-1921) to the magnificent façade of Porta Nuova main railway station. The Liberty style, varied and picturesque, was born on the banks of the river Po, on the occasion of some great exhibitions which characterized the period; the first was held in Paris in 1900, then the one in Turin, on the banks of the river Po, in 1902. Artists of the Liberty style were: Pietro Fenoglio (1865-1927), he has left a constellation of works of art, Giuseppe Velati Bellini (1867-1926), Ermanno Vivarelli (1866-1914), Antonio Vandone (1863-1937), Annibale Rigotti (1872-1968), Eugenio Bonelli (1870-1936) and Piero Betta (1878-1932). While the Liberty style was vanishing, another style was rising, perhaps to contrast it. This style was somewhat harsh and grey, with structures that made everyone think of garages rather than of development buildings. Some architects took part in this new stylistic current; they were willing to break with the past and to impose the essential in a block schematisation, both for normal houses and for institutional buildings.  The National Car Museum Carlo Mollino (1905-1973) is another artist of this architectonical phase, author of the project for the reconstruction of the glorious Teatro Regio, in collaboration with Carlo Graffi and Marcello Zevelani Rossi, while Riccardo Morandi (1902-1989) was the author of the vast underground pavilion of Torino Esposizioni, built between 1958 and 1960.  The Lingotto Three architects close this phase, considered as not finished yet by many people: Pierluigi Nervi (1891-1976), famous for the Palazzo del Lavoro, raised for the celebrations for the Unity of Italy; Marcello Piacentini (1881-1960), the most famous Fascist urbanite, who signed impressive works of art like the old communal stadium and Renzo Piano (1937-) who took part in the conversion of the FIAT factories at the Lingotto, with new techniques that aim to bring out the structures in their essential and original scheme. |
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(edited by Antique Collectors' Club - $24.95).