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FILARETE
BHRIGU C. KALIA- PRATEEK GULATI-SAKSHI RAJPUT-TAHMEENA TARIQ
INTRODUCTION
Antonio di Pietro Averlino (c. 1400 - c. 469), also "Averulino", known as Filarete (Greek for "lover of excellence") was an Italian Renaissance architect, sculp tor and architectural theorist from Florence. He is perhaps best remembered for his design of the ideal city of Sforzinda, the first ideal city plan of the
Antonio di Pietro Averlino was born c. 1400 in Florence Italy where he probably trained as a craftsman. Sources suggest that he worked in Florence under the Italian painter, architect, and biographer Lorenzo Ghiberti, who gave him his more famous name Filarete which means a lover of excellence. In the mid 15th century, Filarete was expelled from Rome after being accused of attempting to steal the head of John the Baptist and he moved to Venice and then eventually to Milan. There he became a ducal engineer and worked on a variety of architectural projects for the next fifteen years.
Filaretes Works
Bronze Doors of Old St. Peter's Basilica Filarete's Treatise on Architecture Design of the ideal city of Sforzinda
Filarete is thought to have been trained under Lorenzo Ghiberti in Florence. From 1433 to 1445 he was employed by Pope Eugenius IV to execute the bronze central doors of Old St. Peter's in Rome (installed in the new St. Peter's in 1619). By comparison with the contemporary bronze doors of Ghiberti and Donatello in Florence, Filarete's door is less accomplished in composition and technique but is important for its hieratic classicizing style.
Sauer's list is the most accurate in description and thoughtful in interpretation, and although he is unable to bring conclusive evidence, he suggests that Filarete might have used Virgil, Livy and Valerius as well as Ovid and Aesop. The first thing that becomes apparent to anyone studying these borders is that, apart from the portrait medallions, which cannot be considered in this note, there arc at least seven very different groups of beings in them: (I) Animals rendered with great beauty and observation of nature, reminiscent of those in bestiaries, and in the borders of such manuscripts as Queen Mary's Psalter and the Gorleston Psalter. These would make a fascinating study, but cannot be dealt with here. (II) Bacchanalian figures belonging to no particular story which, although they are smaller than the animals and birds and seem to have been drawn from antique gems and reliefs, lurk among the foliage not unlike mediaeval drolleries. (III) Smaller animal scenes, obviously from Aesop. (IV) Scenes from Greek mythology in which most of the men are nude, or clad in Creek armour with crested helmets. (V) More prosaic scenes from Roman history, where the male figures wear short tunics, Roman armour and close-fitting helmets (VI) Slightly larger figures, pastoral in character (VII)A few figures more like mediaeval drolleries, although one, the Death of Hercules, is classical in subject.
III. Design of the ideal city of Sforzinda The most famous part of his book is his plan for Sforzinda, an ideal
city named after Francesco Sforza, then Duke of Milan. Although Sforzinda was never built, certain aspects of its design are described in considerable detail. The basic layout of the city is an eight point star, created by overlaying two squares so that all the corners were equidistant. This shape is then inscribed within a perfect circular moat. This shape is iconographic and probably ties to Filaretes interest in magic and astrology.
In terms of planning, each of the outer points of the star had towers, while the inner angles had gates. Each of the gates was an outlet of radial avenues that each passed through a market square, dedicated to certain goods.
All the avenues finally converged in a large square which was centrally located. The town contained three squares one for the princes palace, one for the cathredal, and one for the market. Because the Renaissance was much taken with the idea of the canal town, in Filarete's Sforzinda every other street had a canal for cargo transport. The canal system also connected with the river, and thus the outside world, for the import and export of goods. The city also contained many buildings, including parishes and separate schools for boys and girls.
An example of a building that appears in the treatise is Filaretes House of Vice and Virtue, a ten-story structure with a brothel on the bottom and an academy of learning on the higher levels.
The design of Sforzinda may have been in part a direct response to the cities of the Medieval period, whose growth did not necessarily depend on city planning as such, which meant they could be difficult to navigate.
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