Edoardo Arborio Mella (18 November 1808 – 8 January 1884) was an Italian architect, restorer and scholar. Well known at the time for his ‘stylish’ restorations of medieval buildings in Piedmont,“ ��notissimo all’epoca per i suoi restauri ‘in stile’ a molti edifici medievali piemontesi.” he has been described as ‘one of the most representative protagonists of the

Gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

in northern Italy’.Alexander Cambitoglou and Maurizio Harari
''The Italiote red-figured vases in the Museo Camillo Leone at Vercelli ''
Studia archaeologica, 85 (Rome: L’Erma di Bretscheider, 1997).

Biography

He was born in Vercelli to Count Carlo Emanuele Arborio Mella, who for many years was mayor of Vercelli, and Vittoria Gattinara, daughter of Ludovico count of Zubiena. He was educated first at home. From 1820 to 1827 he attended the Collegio-Convitto del Carmine in Turin, a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

-run boarding school then popular among the Piedmontese aristocracy, where he displayed a particular talent for mathematical subjects.. In 1834 he married Adele Clotilde Olgiati, daughter of Giuseppe Alessandro Olgiati. She died five years later in 1839, having given birth to three children: Carlo Alessandro, Maria Vittoria and Federico. The last of these became an architect and

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

, and worked on various projects with his father. Mella's interest in Gothic architecture took him to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, France and Germany; there were further trips to Monaco, Constantinople,

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Athens and Vienna. He was responsible for the nineteenth-century restoration of the Duomo of

Casale Monferrato Casale Monferrato () is a town in the Piedmont region of Italy, in the province of Alessandria. It is situated about east of Turin on the right bank of the Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montferrat hills. Beyond the river lies the v ...

; the works began in 1857 and were completed in 1861. Subsequently, he worked on restorations at

Rosignano Monferrato Rosignano Monferrato is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about northwest of Alessandria. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,659 and an area o ...

, Mirabello,

Villanova Monferrato Villanova Monferrato is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about northwest of Alessandria and about south of Vercelli. Located in the plain to the left of t ...

and of the church of Sant’Ilario in Casale. Mella's publications included treatises on geometry and architecture and monographs on medieval monuments. His obituary in the ''Salesian Bulletin'' of February 1884 points to two works of particular interest: ''Elementi di architettura archi-acuta o gotica'' (‘Elements of Ogival or Gothic Architecture’; 1857) and ''Elementi di architettura romano-bizantina, detta lombarda'' (‘Elements of the Romano-Byzantine Architecture called Lombard’, 1885).

Notes

:''The article originated as a translation o
this version
of its counterpart in the '' Italian Wikipedia'', current on 14 August 2008. 1808 births 1884 deaths People from Vercelli 19th-century Italian architects Architects from Piedmont Gothic Revival architects {{italy-architect-stub