Gaspare Nadi
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Gaspare Nadi or Guasparo di Nadi (2 November 1418 – 9 January 1504) was an Italian builder famous for his diary (''diario''). He was mistaken by later historians for an architect. He built, but did not design, the library of the
Basilica of San Domenico The Basilica of San Domenico is one of the major churches in Bologna, Italy. The remains of Saint Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), are buried inside the exquisite shrine Arca di San Domenico, made by Nicola Pisano and hi ...
.Quaquarelli (2012). Nadi was born in a house on the Via dei Pelacani (now Via G. Petroni) in the parish of San Vitale in
Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
. His father, Filippo di Domenico, was a tanner who died in 1427. That same year his mother, Chiara, remarried to Giacomo Senzabarba, a shoemaker. At the age of fifteen Nadi moved to
Faenza Faenza (, ; ; or ; ) is an Italian city and comune of 59,063 inhabitants in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated southeast of Bologna. Faenza is home to a historical manufacture of majolica-ware glazed earthenware pottery, known ...
in the following of the jurist Graziolo Accarisi, but two years later he returned to Bologna. Senzabarba refused to maintain him there and so within months he had moved into the house of Gaspare di Guido, where he was taught to read and write under a private instructor. In 1436 he began learning to work with wool and then apprenticed with a barber, but since his mother could not afford his training, he moved into masonry—''arte del muro'', the art of the wall—and found work with the master builder Bartolomeo Negri. Nadi's first work was the installation of the bell of the
Palazzo d'Accursio 260px, Palazzo d'Accursio. Palazzo d'Accursio (or Palazzo Comunale) is a palace once formulated to house major administrative offices of the city of Bologna, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is located on the Piazza Maggiore, and is the city's ...
(with the engineer
Aristotele Fioravanti Ridolfo "Aristotele" Fioravanti (also spelled Fieraventi; ; – ) was an Italian Renaissance architect and engineer. He was active in Moscow from 1475, where he designed the Dormition Cathedral, Moscow, Dormition Cathedral during 1475–1479. B ...
), completed, he proudly noted in his diary, on 16 May 1436. In July he joined the master builder Cristoforo Zani, and worked on the church of
San Michele in Bosco San Michele in Bosco is a religious complex in Bologna, central Italy, including the church with the same name and the annexed Olivetan monastery. The buildings of the monastery were acquired in 1955 by the municipality of Bologna, to house an ...
. In 1440 he went to
Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) 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 ...
to complete his training under Pietrobono Brasavola, the chief engineer of
Niccolò III d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara Niccolò is an Italian male given name, derived from the Greek Nikolaos meaning "Victor of people" or "People's champion". There are several male variations of the name: Nicolò, Niccolò, Nicolas, and Nicola. The female equivalent is Nicole. The f ...
. He worked on the
reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', ''Chasse (casket), chasse'', or ''phylactery'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary, or the room in which one is stored, may also be called a ''feretory''. Relics may be the purported ...
(''arca'') of the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, construction on which was never complete owing to the destruction wrought by the earthquake of 1570. In 1442 Nadi returned to Bologna, to his stepfather's house in the parish of San Mamolo. In 1444 he married Catelina di Antonio di Bernardo, the daughter of a tailor from
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
, and in 1445 he moved to
Prato Prato ( ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of , at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana ch ...
to live with his in-laws. In 1450 his mother died and Nadi entered the company of masons of Prato. Around this time he had his first child, Filippo. During his time in
Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...
he was involved in a physical fight while trying to avenge a slight against his father. In 1452 Nadi returned to Bologna once more and began keeping his famous ''diario''. In 1456 he entered the local masons' guild. He served his first of many terms as guild manager (''massaro'') in 1459. He also served once each as syndic (''sindaco'') and auditor (''revisore''). Around this time he had another son, Gianfrancesco, and a daughter, Maria. In total his wife bore him six children and had six abortions before her death in 1462. He then remarried to Francesca, who bore him a daughter, Bernardina, and a son, Girolamo, the only one of his children to learn their father's trade. In 1467 his eldest son and second wife died during an outbreak of plague. He married for a third time to Caterina, who had two children from a prior marriage. His third marriage was not a happy one, and he expressed sorrow in his diary when his wife joined him in
Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...
in 1480. After the death of Girolamo, relations with Caterina soured further and Nadi often slept in his shop with his employees. Nadi continued to quarrel with his stepchildren and in 1503, after selling the house, he moved in with his son Giovanni. The date of his death is recorded in the diary of a certain Tommaso di Gerardo Alessandrini, perhaps a fellow mason. Nadi was buried "with the great honour of the company of masons" (''con grande onore de la conpagnia di moraduri'') in the church of San Vitale in the place of his birth.


Notes


Sources

*Quaquarelli, Leonardo. (2012). "Nadi, Gaspare". ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' 77. Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nadi, Gaspare 1418 births 1504 deaths Writers from Bologna Italian builders Italian diarists