Ars Adriatica, No. 7, 2017.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15291/ars.1375
The Schiavoni and the Holy House of Loreto in the 15th and 16th Centuries: The Confraternity, Architects, Workforce, and Materials between Historiographical Tradition and Documentary Verification
Francesca Coltrinari
; Department of Educational Sciences, Cultural Heritage and Tourism, University of Macerata
Abstract
The article analyses the relationship between the building site of the Holy House of Loreto and the Eastern Adriatic in view of the stories about the Sanctuary’s foundation and historical documents, which show a strong presence of Schiavoni, organized from 1476 as an ethnic confraternity with their own priests, canons, and a hospital for the pilgrims. Having examined the role of bishops such as Francesco Morosini, Bishop of Poreč, and Giovanni Venieri from Recanati, Archbishop of Ragusa, the author focuses on the architects Marino di Marco Cedrino and Pietro Amorosi, documented in Loreto between 1470 and 1474 and between 1487 and 1512, respectively. Both were active as masters at the building site of the Basilica of Loreto and have been traditionally considered as originating from “Dalmatia”. However, an in-depth analysis of the sources concerning the two masters, including some newly discovered documents, have made it possible to prove different origins for both: Venetian for Cedrino and Lombard for Amorosi. Notwithstanding these results, Loreto can still be considered as an “Illyrian” building site: in fact, this sanctuary was one of the major engines of artistic contacts between the two shores of the Adriatic. These contacts concerned the transport and working of Istrian stone for the church and the apostolic palace, which involved a great number of architects, stonemasons, sculptors, and ship owners from the mid-15th until the end of the 16th century. In Rovinj, suitable supervisors and trusted stonemasons were in charge of the first selection and the first working of the stone. For the transport from Rovinj to Loreto, the architect of the Holy House, Giovanni Boccalini from Carpi (1555-1580) had a specially built ship for transporting wheat, oil, and other agricultural products of the Holy House to be sold in Istria in exchange for stone, which is a typical entrepreneurial strategy.
Keywords
Loreto; Rovinj; architects of the Holy House; Istrian stone
Hrčak ID:
191205
URI
Publication date:
20.12.2017.
Visits: 2.453 *