Solari Pietro Antonio

Wikipedia has articles about other people with the surname Solari.

Pietro Antonio Solari

(Italian Pietro Antonio Solari, lat.
Petrus Antonius Solarius
, also known as
Peter Fryazin
, in the chronicles of
Peter Antonin Fryazin
; around 1445 (after 1450?), Milan (?) - until November 1493 (May 1493?), Moscow) - Italian architect, famous for the construction of the Faceted Chamber and the Kremlin towers. Very little is known about the life of Pietro Antonio Solari; even information about the year of birth and date of death differs.

Biography

Pietro Antonio Solari was born in Carone in the Swiss canton of Ticino and worked as an apprentice to his father, the architect and sculptor Guiniforte Solari (English) Russian. In 1476 he was hired as a builder of the Milan Cathedral. However, the cathedral rectors did not approve the choice of Pietro Antonio as the chief builder of the cathedral after the death of his father.[1]

Solari built several buildings in Milan. The churches of St. Peter in Gessate[2], Santa Maria del Carmine, Santa Maria Incoronata and Santa Maria della Pace[3] are attributed to him (in collaboration with his father). Solari is also credited with two works of sculpture: the tomb of Bishop Marco de Capitani in the Cathedral of Alessandria (1484) and the sculpture of the Madonna in the Sforzesco Castle in Milan (1485). Solari was invited to come to Moscow by Russian ambassadors of Greek origin, Dmitry and Manuil Ralev. In 1490 he arrived in Moscow, accompanied by his student Tsanantonio, tool foundry Jacobo and silversmith Christopher with two students.[1]

Upon his arrival in Moscow, Solari attracted everyone's attention and enjoyed the favor of Ivan III, who showed him special confidence. The chronicles call him “architecton”, and not the usual terms for those times “murol” or “master of ward affairs”. A now lost document was found in Milan, on which was signed “Petrus Antonius de Solario architectus generalis Moscovie

). According to other sources, this personal letter from Solari is in the Vatican Archives, and contains the words “architectus generalis Moscovial”.

Solari did not live in Moscow for long and died in 1493, according to some sources, in May. According to other sources, the date of death is determined approximately by the fact that his mother was confirmed in inheritance rights after her son on November 22, 1493.

• Milano Santa Maria del Carmine.JPG

  Santa Maria del Carmine

• Chiesa Santa Maria Incoronata - Milano.jpg

  Santa Maria Incoronata

• 2942MilanoSMariaDellaPace.jpg

  Santa Maria della Pace

• San Pietro in Gessate - Facciata.jpg

  San Pietro in Gessate

Moscow.org Moscow city portal

The Italian architect Solari Pietro Antonio was known in Moscow as Pyotr Fryazin. Pietro Solari was presumably born in Milan (possibly in Carone in the Swiss canton of Ticino) no earlier than 1450, died in Moscow in May (according to other sources in November) 1493. Very little information about this architect has survived, and all of it is quite contradictory.

Pietro Solari worked as an apprentice and studied with his father, the architect and sculptor Guiniforte Solari. In 1476, the young architect participated in the construction of the Milan Cathedral. After the death of his father, Pietro Solari was not approved for the position of chief builder of the cathedral. Presumably, during the years of living in Milan, Pietro Antonio Solari, in collaboration with his father, built several churches, as well as the tomb of Bishop Marco de Capitani in the Cathedral of Alessandria (1484), perhaps he also owned the sculpture of the Madonna in the Sforzesco Castle in Milan (1485) .

In 1490, Pietro Antonio Solari came to Russia at the invitation of the Russian ambassadors of Greek origin, Dmitry and Manuel Ralev. The Italian architect arrived in Moscow together with his student Tsanantonio, the weapons foundry maker Zhdako. Also with the master came the silversmith Christopher with two students. In Moscow, Pietro Solari was renamed in the Russian way, he was nicknamed Pyotr Fryazin or Pyotr Antonin Fryazin.

John III himself was very friendly towards the visiting architect. In the chronicles of those years, Pyotr Fryazin is mentioned as “architecton,” in contrast to the generally accepted designation “murol” or “ward master.” A now lost document was found in Milan, which referred to Pietro Antonio Solari as the chief architect of Moscow. According to another version, these words are a quote from a personal letter from Solari, which is kept in the Vatican.

Pyotr Fryazin did not work in Moscow for long. The date of his death is not known exactly, but the approximate date was calculated from the date of his mother’s confirmation of inheritance rights (November 22, 1493). Despite the fact that this master worked in Moscow for only three years, he managed to build here, together with the architect Marco Ruffo (Mark Fryazin), the famous Faceted (Great Golden) Chamber (1491). The independent works of Pyotr Fryazin include such Kremlin towers as: Borovitskaya, Vodovzvodnaya, Konstantino-Eleninskaya, Spasskaya (Frolovskaya), Nikolskaya, Senate and Corner Arsenalnaya (Sobakina).

And now above the Spassky Gate hangs a memorial plaque (a copy, the original is kept in the funds of the Kremlin Museum) with an inscription in Latin about which Solari’s authorship is imprinted. On the inside there is an inscription in Russian - this is the original text that has come down to us since the construction of the tower.

Historical reference:

1450 - approximate year of birth of Pietro Solari 1476 - Pietro Solari takes part in the construction of the Milan Cathedral 1490 - the architect comes to Moscow 1487-1491. – Peter Fryazin (Solari) joins Marco Rufo for the construction of the Faceted Great Chamber 1490 – Borovitskaya Tower is erected 1490 Konstantino-Eleninskaya Tower 1491 – completes the construction of the Spasskaya (Frolovskaya) Tower 1491 – completes the construction of the Nikolskaya Tower 1491 – The Senate Tower was built by Peter Fryazin 1492 - the Corner Arsenal (Sobakina) Tower was built 1493 - Peter Fryazin died

Buildings in the Kremlin

• 1487-1491 - Faceted (Great Golden) Chamber, together with Marco Ruffo
• 1490 – Borovitskaya Tower
• 1490 – Konstantino-Eleninskaya Tower
• 1491 – Spasskaya (Frolovskaya) tower
• 1491 - Nikolskaya Tower
• 1491 – Senate Tower
• 1492 – Corner Arsenal (Dog) tower

Above the Spassky Gate hangs a memorial plaque (a copy; the damaged original is in the collections of the Kremlin Museum[4]) with the inscription in Latin:

IOANNES VASILII DEI GRATIA MAGNUS DUX VOLODIMERIAE, MOSCOVIAE, NOVOGARDIAE, TFERIAE, PLESCOVIAE, VETICIAE, ONGARIAE, PERMIAE, BUOLGARIAE ET ALIAS TOTIUSQ(UE) RAXIE D(OMI)NUS, A(N)NO 30 IMPERII SUI HAS TURRES CO(N ) DERE F(ECIT) ET STATUIT PETRUS ANTONIUS SOLARIUS MEDIOLANENSIS A(N)NO N(ATIVIT) A(TIS) D(OM)INI 1491 K(ALENDIS) M(ARTIIS) I(USSIT)P(ONE-RE)

On the inside of the wall there is an inscription in Russian, preserved from the time of construction:

IN THE SUMMER OF 6999 JULIA, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, SIA STRELNITSA WAS MADE BY THE COMMAND OF JOHN VASILIEVICH GDR AND THE SELF-PRIEST OF ALL RUSSIA. AND THE GREAT PRINCE OF VOLODIMERSKY. AND MOSCOW AND NOVOGORODSKY. AND PSKOVSKY. AND TVERSKY. AND YUGORSKY AND VYATSKY. AND PERM. AND BULGARIAN. AND OTHERS IN THE 30TH SUMMER OF THE CITY OF HIS A DID PETER ANTHONY FROM THE CITY OF MEDIOLAN

ANTONIO PIETRO SOLARI (after 1450 - 1493) - Italian architect. From 1490 he worked in Russia, participated in the construction of walls, towers (1490–1493) and the Faceted Chamber (1487–1491, together with M. Fryazin) of the Moscow Kremlin. He was probably born in Milan in the family of the sculptor and architect Guiniforte Solari. He studied with his father. In 1476 he was appointed builder of the Milan Cathedral. He took part in the construction of the Ospedale Maggiore and the famous Certosa monastery in Pavia, as well as other buildings in Milan. All of his sculptural works dating from 1484 and 1485 have survived. Arriving in Moscow at the beginning of 1490, he continued work on the construction of the Faceted Chamber in the Moscow Kremlin, replacing Mark Fryazin (Marco Ruffo), who supervised its construction three years before Solari’s arrival. The Faceted Chamber, the first stone civil building on the territory of the Kremlin, occupies the same place in the history of ancient Russian civil architecture as the Assumption Cathedral in religious architecture. The “ancestor” of the Moscow Faceted Chamber was the Novgorod single-pillar chamber, mentioned back in 1169. The architectural and spatial design belongs to Mark Fryazin, Solari apparently completed the facades and decorative decoration of the interiors. The name “Faceted” chamber received its name from the eastern façade, decorated with faceted stone rustication. Its expressive facades changed somewhat in 1682, when Osip Startsev cut out the windows and made platbands on them. The Faceted Chamber itself is a hall on the second floor, covered with cross vaults resting on a central pillar. Being the ceremonial reception hall of the Grand Duke's palace, the chamber served for holding meetings of the Boyar Duma, meetings of Zemstvo assemblies, and various ceremonial celebrations (for example, in honor of the conquest of Kazan, etc.). During Solari’s three years in Moscow (1490–1493), he also built part of the Kremlin walls, four passage towers: Borovitskaya, Konstantino-Eleninskaya, Frolovskaya (Spasskaya), Nikolskaya, corner, faceted Arsenalnaya and rectangular Senate (Frolovskaya and Nikolskaya towers laid by Mark Fryazin). Passage towers were powerful defensive structures, the system of which included diversion arrows, bridgehead towers (similar to the preserved Kutafya Tower), stone bastions, and drawbridges. The Arsenal Tower (1492) is the most powerful of all the Kremlin towers - its 16-sided cylinder was intended to defend the crossing of the river. Neglinnaya; a spring-well was hidden at the foundation level. The Frolovskaya Tower, renamed Spasskaya in 1678, is the main tower of the Moscow Kremlin. Its construction was completed in 1493, as reported by a white stone slab embedded in the wall: “...and Peter Anthony Solario did it from the city of Mediolan” (Milan). In the chronicles, Solari is respectfully called an “architect”; in one of his letters to his homeland, he calls himself “the chief architect of the city.”

Notes

1. ↑ 12
   Diplomatic relations between Moscow and Rome in the 15th and 16th centuries. Russian antiquity, [books.google.com/books?id=djUFAAAAAYAAJ volume 115], St. Petersburg, 1903. pp. 626-627
2. [www.timeout.com/milan/attractions/venue/7308/san-pietro-in-gessate Description of the Church of St. Peter in Gessate on timeout.com]
3. [www.artnet.com/library/07/0795/t079587.asp Biography in The Grove Dictionary of Art]
4. O. A. Belobrova. [web.archive.org/web/20110718101802/www.kremlin.museum.ru/img/uploaded/files/MaterialsInvestigations/part05/v05s04_Belobrova.pdf Latin inscription on the Frolov Spassky Gate of the Moscow Kremlin and its fate in Old Russian writing] // GMMK . Materials and research New attributions. 1987, V. 5. P.51-57

The highest salaries in Moscow

Aristotle Fioravanti Lorenzo Lotto

Rodolfo "Aristotle" Fioravanti came to Russia in 1475, when he was already about 60 years old.

He specialized in the restoration and relocation of bell towers and castle towers, as well as the construction of bridges.

In 1474, in Europe, Semyon Tolbuzin, an envoy of the Grand Duke of Moscow, approached Aristotle and hired him for 10 Moscow rubles a month - then in Russia, for just a ruble, a serf could buy his entire family, house and land from the landowner.

Aristotle's salary was perhaps the highest in the Moscow state.

Ivan needed him to restore the Assumption Cathedral, the main temple of the Moscow state, which partially collapsed during the earthquake.

Arriving in Moscow in 1475, Aristotle ordered the removal of the remains of the destroyed cathedral, designed a new brick kiln and a new brick mixture, and founded the First Italian-style brick factory in Moscow.

His methods allowed him to complete the 35-meter, five-domed cathedral in just 2 years (the decoration took another two years).

Palace of Facets (L) and Assumption Cathedral (R)

But Aristotle was not the only Italian architect in Moscow.

Perhaps even more important is Pietro Solari (c. 1445-1493?).

He came to Moscow in 1490 from Milan and designed the faceted palace in the Moscow Kremlin, as well as the six towers of the current Moscow Kremlin, including the clock tower - the Spasskaya Tower, which became the main symbol of the Moscow Kremlin.

Other Italians, most notably Antonio Ghislardi and Marco Ruffo, also worked on the construction of the Kremlin walls and towers.

So if you notice that the Kremlin walls remind you of Italian architecture, this is truly Italian design.

But this was not the only thing the Italians did in Moscow in the 15th-16th centuries.

Excerpt characterizing Solari, Pietro Antonio

That same evening, Pierre went to the Rostovs to fulfill his assignment. Natasha was in bed, the count was at the club, and Pierre, having handed over the letters to Sonya, went to Marya Dmitrievna, who was interested in finding out how Prince Andrei received the news. Ten minutes later Sonya entered Marya Dmitrievna’s room. “Natasha definitely wants to see Count Pyotr Kirillovich,” she said. - Well, how about taking him to her? “Your place is not tidy,” said Marya Dmitrievna. “No, she got dressed and went into the living room,” said Sonya. Marya Dmitrievna just shrugged. - When the countess arrives, she completely tormented me. Just be careful, don’t tell her everything,” she turned to Pierre. “And I don’t have the heart to scold her, she’s so pathetic, so pathetic!” Natasha, emaciated, with a pale and stern face (not at all ashamed as Pierre expected her to be) stood in the middle of the living room. When Pierre appeared at the door, she hurried, apparently undecided whether to approach him or wait for him. Pierre hurriedly approached her. He thought that she would give him her hand, as always; but she, coming close to him, stopped, breathing heavily and lifelessly lowering her hands, in exactly the same position in which she went out into the middle of the hall to sing, but with a completely different expression. “Pyotr Kirilych,” she began to speak quickly, “Prince Bolkonsky was your friend, he is your friend,” she corrected herself (it seemed to her that everything had just happened, and that now everything is different). “He told me then to turn to you...” Pierre silently sniffled, looking at her. He still reproached her in his soul and tried to despise her; but now he felt so sorry for her that there was no room for reproach in his soul. “He’s here now, tell him... so that he can just... forgive me.” “She stopped and began to breathe even more often, but did not cry. “Yes... I’ll tell him,” Pierre said, but... – He didn’t know what to say. Natasha was apparently frightened by the thought that might occur to Pierre. “No, I know it’s over,” she said hastily. - No, this can never happen. I am tormented only by the evil that I did to him. Just tell him that I ask him to forgive, forgive, forgive me for everything...” She shook all over and sat down on a chair. A never-before-experienced feeling of pity filled Pierre's soul. “I’ll tell him, I’ll tell him again,” said Pierre; - but... I would like to know one thing... “Know what?” asked Natasha's gaze. “I would like to know if you loved...” Pierre did not know what to call Anatole and blushed at the thought of him, “did you love this bad man?” “Don’t call him bad,” said Natasha. “But I don’t know anything...” She started crying again. And an even greater feeling of pity, tenderness and love overwhelmed Pierre. He heard tears flowing under his glasses and hoped that they would not be noticed. “Let’s say no more, my friend,” said Pierre. His meek, gentle, sincere voice suddenly seemed so strange to Natasha. - Let’s not talk, my friend, I’ll tell him everything; but I ask you one thing - consider me your friend, and if you need help, advice, you just need to pour out your soul to someone - not now, but when you feel clear in your soul - remember me. “He took and kissed her hand. “I’ll be happy if I’m able to...” Pierre became embarrassed. – Don’t talk to me like that: I’m not worth it! – Natasha screamed and wanted to leave the room, but Pierre held her hand. He knew he needed to tell her something else. But when he said this, he was surprised at his own words. “Stop it, stop it, your whole life is ahead of you,” he told her. - For me? No! “Everything is lost for me,” she said with shame and self-humiliation. - Everything is lost? - he repeated. “If I were not me, but the most beautiful, smartest and best person in the world, and were free, I would be on my knees right now asking for your hand and love.” For the first time after many days, Natasha cried with tears of gratitude and tenderness and, looking at Pierre, left the room. Pierre, too, almost ran out into the hall after her, holding back the tears of tenderness and happiness that were choking his throat, without getting into his sleeves, he put on his fur coat and sat down in the sleigh. - Now where do you want to go? - asked the coachman. "Where? Pierre asked himself. Where can you go now? Is it really to the club or guests? All people seemed so pitiful, so poor in comparison with the feeling of tenderness and love that he experienced; in comparison with the softened, grateful look with which she looked at him the last time because of her tears. “Home,” said Pierre, despite the ten degrees of frost, opening his bear coat on his wide, joyfully breathing chest. It was frosty and clear. Above the dirty, dim streets, above the black roofs, there was a dark, starry sky. Pierre, just looking at the sky, did not feel the offensive baseness of everything earthly in comparison with the height at which his soul was located. Upon entering Arbat Square, a huge expanse of starry dark sky opened up to Pierre’s eyes. Almost in the middle of this sky above Prechistensky Boulevard, surrounded and sprinkled on all sides with stars, but differing from everyone else in its proximity to the earth, white light, and long, raised tail, stood a huge bright comet of 1812, the same comet that foreshadowed as they said, all sorts of horrors and the end of the world. But in Pierre this bright star with a long radiant tail did not arouse any terrible feeling. Opposite Pierre, joyfully, eyes wet with tears, looked at this bright star, which, as if, with inexpressible speed, flying immeasurable spaces along a parabolic line, suddenly, like an arrow pierced into the ground, stuck here in one place chosen by it, in the black sky, and stopped, energetically raising her tail up, glowing and playing with her white light between countless other twinkling stars. It seemed to Pierre that this star fully corresponded to what was in his soul, which had blossomed towards a new life, softened and encouraged.