Alessandro Antonelli (July 14, 1798 – October 18, 1888) was an Italian

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

of the 19th century. His most famous works are the Mole Antonelliana in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

(named for him) and both the

Novara Cathedral Novara Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Novara or ''Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta'') is a Roman Catholic cathedral, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, located at the Piazza della Repubblica in Novara, Piedmont, Italy. It is the seat of the ...

and the Basilica of St. Gaudenzio in

Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It i ...

Biography

Antonelli was born in

Ghemme Ghemme is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located on the river Sesia about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Novara. It is the birthplace of architect Alessandro Antonelli and t ...

, near Novara. He studied in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

and Turin, and for years he worked in the state territorial planning offices. After winning an architecture contest in the

Accademia Albertina The Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti ("Albertina Academy of Fine Arts") is an institution of higher education in Turin, Italy History In the first half of the seventeenth century, there was a "University of Painters, Sculptors and Architects" ...

, he moved to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1828, where he studied deep descriptive geometry. He elaborated a functional ideal of architecture, which inspired him with an ambitious plan of renovation of Turin's historical centre. When he returned there in 1836 (remaining until 1857), he became a professor of the

Albertina Academy The Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti ("Albertina Academy of Fine Arts") is an institution of higher education in Turin, Italy History In the first half of the seventeenth century, there was a "University of Painters, Sculptors and Architect ...

. He was also a deputy in the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

's Parliament, and a member of Turin's communal council and of the Province of Novara's one. In this period he designed numerous works: several residences, the communal seta and the Sanctuary of Boca (whose cupola was never completed due to crumbling risks), a villa at

Romagnano Sesia Romagnano Sesia is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) of about 4,000 inhabitants in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Novara. Romagnano Sesia borders the following ...

, the Orphans' Hospice in

Alessandria Alessandria (; pms, Lissandria ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, about east of Turin. Alessandri ...

, the regulation plans of

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

and Novara, the church of San Clement and the ''Asilo de Medici'' in

Bellinzago Novarese Bellinzago Novarese ( Lombard: ''Branzagh'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about north of Novara. Bellinzago Novarese borders the following muni ...

. The church of

Borgolavezzaro Borgolavezzaro ( Piedmontese: ''Borghlavzar'', Lombard: ''Burglavsàr'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about southeast of Novara. Borgolavezzaro bo ...

(1858–1862) was also finished without the cupola, due to high costs. Noteworthy is the Basilica of San Gaudenzio in Novara, finished in 1887. It is an audacious construction in brickwork, standing 121 m tall. Also from him in Novara are the Casa Bossi and the Cathedral. Antonelli's most famous work is the Mole Antonelliana, the symbol of Turin, named after him and begun in 1863 as a Jewish synagogue. It was completed in 1897 by the city's council as the

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

Museum. The

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires a ...

, demolished by a violent cloudburst accompanied by a tornado in 1953, was rebuilt in 1961 according to the original drawings. Antonelli died in 1888 and was buried in the family cemetery of

Maggiora Maggiora is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Novara. Maggiora borders the following municipalities: Boca, Borgomanero Borgomanero ( ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Antonelli, Alessandro 1798 births 1888 deaths People from Ghemme 19th-century Italian architects Accademia Albertina alumni Accademia Albertina faculty