Filarete
Encyclopedia
Antonio di Pietro Averlino (c. 1400 - c. 1469), also "Averulino", known as Filarete (Greek for "lover of excellence") was an Italian Renaissance
architect
, sculptor
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 Renaissance.
, who gave him his more famous name “Filarete” which means “a lover of virtue”. 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. According to his biographer, Vasari, Filarete died in Rome c. 1469.
meant that Filarete, over the course of twelve years, cast the bronze
central doors for Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome
, which were completed in 1445. Although they were created during the Renaissance, the doors have distinct Byzantine influences and seem tied to the Medieval era. Some critics have noted that the doors offer a glimpse into the mind of Filarete, claiming that they show his “mind of medieval complexity crammed full of exciting but not quite assimilated classical learning”.
In Milan Filarete built the Ospedale Maggiore
(c. 1456), the overall form of which was rationally planned as a cross within a square, with the hospital church centrally-planned, at the center of the plan. Some of the surviving sections of the much-rebuilt structure show the Gothic detail of Milan's quattrocento
craft traditions, which are at odds with Filarete's design all' antica or 'after the Antique' (Murray 1963). Filarete also worked on the Castello Sforzesco
or Sforza Castle and on the Duomo di Milano
or Milan Cathedral.
and was conserved in Florence suggests that Filarete was well regarded in his native Florence despite his loyalty to Milan. The book, which is written as a fictional narrative, consists principally of a detailed account of the technical aspects of architecture (e.g., site and material selection, drawing, construction methods, and so on) and a sustained polemic against the Gothic style
of Northern Italy, which Filarete calls the "barbarous modern style." Filarete argues instead for the use of classical Roman
models.
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 Filarete’s interest in magic and astrology. Consistent with Quattrocento or fifteenth century notions concerning the talismanic power of geometry and the crucial importance of astrology, Filarete provides, in addition to pragmatic advice on materials, construction, and fortifications, notes on how to propitiate celestial harmony within Sforzinda.
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 prince’s 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 Filarete’s House of Vice and Virtue, a ten-story structure with a brothel on the bottom and an academy of learning on the higher levels. Filarete did much study on representation of Vices and Virtues, and there are suggestions that his radial design for the city was inspired by St. Augustine
’s Earthly City, whose circular shape was divided into sections, each of which had its own Vice and Virtue.
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. In part, the Renaissance humanist interest in classical texts may have stimulated preoccupations with geometry in city layouts, as for example, in Plato
's description of Atlantis
. Filarete’s ideal plan was meant to reflect on society – where a perfect city form would be the image of a perfect society, an idea that was typical of the humanist views prevalent during the High Renaissance. The Renaissance ideal city, ironically, implied the centralized power of a prince in its organization, an idea following closely on the heels of Dante
’s that “The human race is at its best under a monarch.” Thus it could be argued that the Renaissance ideal city form was tensioned between the perceived need for a centralized power and the potential reality of tyranny.
and later when Francesco di Giorgio
and Leonardo da Vinci
began to plan their ideal cities they borrowed ideas from Filarete.
Although it was never built, Sforzinda served as an inspiration for many future city plans. For example, in the 16th century, Renaissance military engineers and architects combined Filarete's ideal city schemes with defensive fortifications deriving from a more sociopolitical agenda. This notion of combining the ideal and the fortified city became widely disseminated throughout Europe and beyond.
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, sculptor
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
and architectural theorist from Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. He is perhaps best remembered for his design of the ideal city of Sforzinda, the first ideal city plan of the Renaissance.
Biography
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 GhibertiLorenzo Ghiberti
Lorenzo Ghiberti , born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian artist of the early Renaissance best known for works in sculpture and metalworking.-Early life:...
, who gave him his more famous name “Filarete” which means “a lover of virtue”. In the mid 15th century, Filarete was expelled from Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
after being accused of attempting to steal the head of John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
and he moved to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
and then eventually to Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. There he became a ducal engineer and worked on a variety of architectural projects for the next fifteen years. According to his biographer, Vasari, Filarete died in Rome c. 1469.
Bronze Doors of Old St. Peter's Basilica
A commission granted by Pope Eugene IVPope Eugene IV
Pope Eugene IV , born Gabriele Condulmer, was pope from March 3, 1431, to his death.-Biography:He was born in Venice to a rich merchant family, a Correr on his mother's side. Condulmer entered the Order of Saint Augustine at the monastery of St. George in his native city...
meant that Filarete, over the course of twelve years, cast the bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
central doors for Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, which were completed in 1445. Although they were created during the Renaissance, the doors have distinct Byzantine influences and seem tied to the Medieval era. Some critics have noted that the doors offer a glimpse into the mind of Filarete, claiming that they show his “mind of medieval complexity crammed full of exciting but not quite assimilated classical learning”.
Architectural Works
Ospedale Maggiore
The Ospedale Maggiore, traditionally named Ca' Granda , is a building in the center of Milan, northern Italy, constructed to house one of the first community hospitals, the largest such undertaking of the fifteenth century...
(c. 1456), the overall form of which was rationally planned as a cross within a square, with the hospital church centrally-planned, at the center of the plan. Some of the surviving sections of the much-rebuilt structure show the Gothic detail of Milan's quattrocento
Quattrocento
The cultural and artistic events of 15th century Italy are collectively referred to as the Quattrocento...
craft traditions, which are at odds with Filarete's design all' antica or 'after the Antique' (Murray 1963). Filarete also worked on the Castello Sforzesco
Castello Sforzesco
Castello Sforzesco is a castle in Milan, Italy, that used to be the seat and residence of the Duchy of Milan and one of the biggest citadels in Europe and now houses several of the city's museums and art collections.-History:...
or Sforza Castle and on the Duomo di Milano
Duomo di Milano
Milan Cathedral is the cathedral church of Milan, Italy. Dedicated to Santa Maria Nascente , it is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan, currently Cardinal Angelo Scola....
or Milan Cathedral.
Filarete's Treatise on Architecture and the ideal city of Sforzinda
Filarete completed his substantial book on architecture some around 1464, which he referred to as his Libro architettonico ("Architectonic book"). Neither he nor his immediate contemporaries ever referred to it as a Trattato ("Treatise"), though it is usually now called such. The Libro, which comprises twenty-five volumes, enjoyed a fairly wide circulation in manuscript form during the Renaissance. The most well known and best preserved copy of the Libro is a profusely illustrated manuscript known as the Codex Magliabechiano (probably drafted c. 1465; now held in the archives of the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze). The fact that the Codex Magliabechiano is dedicated to Piero de' MediciPiero de' Medici
Piero de' Medici may refer to:*Piero di Cosimo de' Medici , father of Lorenzo the Magnificent...
and was conserved in Florence suggests that Filarete was well regarded in his native Florence despite his loyalty to Milan. The book, which is written as a fictional narrative, consists principally of a detailed account of the technical aspects of architecture (e.g., site and material selection, drawing, construction methods, and so on) and a sustained polemic against the Gothic style
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
of Northern Italy, which Filarete calls the "barbarous modern style." Filarete argues instead for the use of classical Roman
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
models.
The most famous part of his book is his plan for Sforzinda, an ideal city
Ideal city
Ideal city refers to a plan for a city that has been conceived in accordance with the dictates of some "rational" or "moral" objective.-Concept:...
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 Filarete’s interest in magic and astrology. Consistent with Quattrocento or fifteenth century notions concerning the talismanic power of geometry and the crucial importance of astrology, Filarete provides, in addition to pragmatic advice on materials, construction, and fortifications, notes on how to propitiate celestial harmony within Sforzinda.
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 prince’s 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 Filarete’s House of Vice and Virtue, a ten-story structure with a brothel on the bottom and an academy of learning on the higher levels. Filarete did much study on representation of Vices and Virtues, and there are suggestions that his radial design for the city was inspired by St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
’s Earthly City, whose circular shape was divided into sections, each of which had its own Vice and Virtue.
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. In part, the Renaissance humanist interest in classical texts may have stimulated preoccupations with geometry in city layouts, as for example, in Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
's description of Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
. Filarete’s ideal plan was meant to reflect on society – where a perfect city form would be the image of a perfect society, an idea that was typical of the humanist views prevalent during the High Renaissance. The Renaissance ideal city, ironically, implied the centralized power of a prince in its organization, an idea following closely on the heels of Dante
DANTE
Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
’s that “The human race is at its best under a monarch.” Thus it could be argued that the Renaissance ideal city form was tensioned between the perceived need for a centralized power and the potential reality of tyranny.
Influence on Architecture and Urbanism
Filarete's plan of Sforzinda was the first ideal city plan of the Renaissance and his thorough organization of its layout embodied a greater level of conscious city planning than anyone before him. Despite the many references to medieval symbolism incorporated into Sforzinda's design, the city's principles became the archetype for the humanist city during the High Renaissance. The treatise gained interest from many important leaders such as Giangaleazzo Sforza and Piero de' MediciPiero de' Medici
Piero de' Medici may refer to:*Piero di Cosimo de' Medici , father of Lorenzo the Magnificent...
and later when Francesco di Giorgio
Francesco di Giorgio
Francesco di Giorgio Martini was an Italian painter of the Sienese School and a sculptor, as well as being, in Nikolaus Pevsner's terms, "one of the most interesting later Quattrocento architects'" and a visionary architectural theorist; as a military engineer he executed architectural designs and...
and Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
began to plan their ideal cities they borrowed ideas from Filarete.
Although it was never built, Sforzinda served as an inspiration for many future city plans. For example, in the 16th century, Renaissance military engineers and architects combined Filarete's ideal city schemes with defensive fortifications deriving from a more sociopolitical agenda. This notion of combining the ideal and the fortified city became widely disseminated throughout Europe and beyond.