ASC 306 Ideas Technologies and Precedents II Term Paper Individual Essay 1 Comparative Analysis of Sant Andrea by Alberti, Leon Battista in Mantua and Dormition Cathedral by Aristotele Fioravanti in Moscow. Korotayeva Yekaterina
The Dormition Cathedral (Cathedral of Assumption) is one of the most celebrated and well-‐known architectural masterpieces in Moscow. Built in 1475-‐79 by Italian architect Aristotele Fioravanti it adapts the main concepts and ideas of Italian Renaissance and translates them into the language of Russian traditional architecture. (Zonova, 11-‐12) In this paper a comparative analysis of Fioravanti’s Dormition Cathedral and Alberti’s Sant Andrea, is performed, with an emphasis on similar geometry, proportions, shared ideas and concepts. The two Early Renaissance churches are of great historical significance and despite the fact that Alberti and Fioravanti worked in different styles and used different precedents, both buildings convey the same message and follow the same canons of humanism and universal perfection. Context Being the most significant monuments, Dormition Cathedral and Sant Andrea stand on the central squares of Moscow and Mantua surrounded by governmental buildings and palaces. The Cathedral is located on the northern side of the Cathedral square in Kremlin with a Patriarch’s Palace on the northern side, Ivan the Great Bell-‐ Tower on the East side and the Archangel’s Cathedral on the south side. The church of Sant’Andrea dominates the core of Mantua’s urban life, standing on the busiest city square Piazza Sordello, across from the most important government building Palazzo Della Ragione.
14 YEKATERINA KOROTAYEVA
LEFT Northern façade of Sant Andrea. Borsi, F. (1977). Leon Battista Alberti. New York: Harper & Row. RIGHT Southern façade of Dormition Cathedral. Zonova, O.V. The Dormition Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. Moskva : Izobrazit, isskustvo, 1971.)