UNDER THE SIGN OF BRAMANTE: TWO MOSCOW PERIODS OF ALOISIO NOVI FROM LANZO

Aloisio Novi da Lanzo is a representative of the extraordinary category of artists from the Lombard lakes, originating from the region between Lake Como (Lario) and Lake Lugano (Ceresio) and active throughout Europe (and later the world) from the 5th to the 21st century. Compared to the traditional destinations of his family (primarily Genoa and Liguria), Aloisio belongs to the lineage inaugurated by Aristotele Fioravanti, which focuses on Eastern Europe. Indeed, he was initially active at the Khan’s Palace in Bakhchisarai in Crimea (1504–1514), and later in Moscow (1514–1531) for the Grand Prince, during the critical phase when the Muscovite state, under Vasily III, was beginning to establish itself as the imperial center of the Russian world. From his interventions in the Kremlin cathedrals to the Church of St. Peter in the Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery and culminating in the masterpiece of the Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoe, Novi’s architectural activity is analyzed in terms of its dependence on Lombard architecture, both during his formative years and afterward, given the lake region’s tradition of information exchange. Thus, his connection with Giovanni Antonio Amadeo and the Solari family, whose excessive decorativeness is clearly present in the Crimean works, gave way to an admiration for Bramante. Bramante’s solutions (ranging from general architectural concepts to detailed citations) are echoed in Moscow, both in numerous Kremlin constructions and, most notably, in the Gothic-Renaissance gigantism of the Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoe, dense with Bramante-inspired elements drawn from his Milanese and Roman work. The crucial problem, therefore, lies in Novi’s ability to blend his strong Lombard heritage (whose components were often seen as innovations in the Russian context) with the local building tradition and the liturgical needs of Orthodox Christianity. This, incidentally, was a common technique among artists from the Lombard lakes who, since the Middle Ages, sought to conquer Central and Eastern Europe.