Luigi Poletti (28 October 1792 – 2 August 1869) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

architect, active in a neoclassical style.

Biography

He was born in

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

. He initially obtained a doctorate in Mathematics and Philosophy in Bologna. He returns to Modena and becomes engineer of the Garfagnana, and professor of Mechanics and Hydraulics at the University. He then received a stipend to study in Rome. There he studied under Raffaele Stern. Rimini piazza cavour

In 1823, the ancient Basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura, one of the seven pilgrimage churches of Rome, was destroyed by fire. When plans for a new church were announced, a great hue arose from the neoclassic adherents of the past, such as

Carlo Fea Carlo Fea (4 June 1753 — 18 March 1836) was an Italian archaeologist. Biography Born at Pigna, Liguria, Pigna, in Liguria, Fea studied law in Rome, receiving the degree of doctor of laws from the university of University of Rome La Sapienza ...

, who advocated for the church to be rebuilt as an exact replica of the past. Initially Pasquale Belli was hired, but soon after was replaced by Poletti who promised a closer replica. But he proposed to build a church as if the original builders ''had returned and, in their spirit, availed themselves of all the erudition compiled in the interim, revisiting the design and correcting its errors.''''The Architecture of Modern Italy: The Challenge of Tradition 1750-1900''
By Terry Kirk, page 173 Poletti also added a choir to the Pantheon in 1840 and built the theaters in

Fano Fano () is a city and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the ''Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by pop ...

(1845–1863),

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

(1843–1857) and

Terni Terni ( ; ; ) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria, in Central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera (Tiber), River Nera. It is northeast ...

(1840–1848).Ashton Rollins Willard,
History of modern Italian art
', ''op. cit''., 1902, p. 527 (online from

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

) He rebuilt the church of San Venanzio in

Camerino Camerino is a town in the province of Macerata, Marche, central-eastern Italy. It is located in the Apennines bordering Umbria, between the valleys of the rivers Potenza and Chienti, about from Ancona. Camerino is home to the University of Ca ...

, which had fallen in the earthquake of 1792. After the damage from an earthquake in 1832, he rebuilt (1836–40) the

Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli The Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels () is a papal minor basilica situated in the plain at the foot of the hill of Assisi, Italy, in the ''frazione'' of Santa Maria degli Angeli. The basilica was constructed in the Mannerist style between ...

in Assisi. He built the Cathedral of Montalto delle Marche on the foundations that had been started under

Pope Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V (; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death, in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order, where h ...

. He designed the church of San Filippo in the town of Nocera (disambiguate?). He completed the chapel and altar of Santissima Maria (called dell'acqua) in San Francesco in

. He built a similar chapel in

Fossombrone Fossombrone is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pesaro and Urbino, in the Marche region of central Italy. History The ancient Roman colony of ''Forum Sempronii'' took its name from Gaius Sempronius Gracchus. Near the Furlo Pass, dur ...

. He designed the lighthouse and arsenal in the port of Ripa Grande. He designed the Palazzo Ceccopieri in Via di Monte Catino. He designed a number of funereal monuments in and around Rome including one dedicated to Vincenzo Casciani (1832) in the Costa Chapel,

Santa Maria del Popolo The Parish Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo () is a titular church and a minor basilica in Rome run by the Augustinian order. It stands on the north side of Piazza del Popolo, one of the most famous squares in the city. The church is hemmed in b ...

and to the papal architect Cavalierie Pietro Bosio in the Campo Santo. He also reconstructed

Sant'Andrea degli Scozzesi Sant' Andrea degli Scozzesi (English: St Andrew of the Scots) is a 17th century former Catholic church in Rome, near Piazza Barberini on Via delle Quattro Fontane. Once a haven for Scottish Catholics in Rome and chapel of the Pontifical Scots ...

in Rome (1869). His pupils included

Virginio Vespignani Virginio Vespignani (12 February 1808 – 4 December 1882) was an Italian architect. Biography Vespignani was born in Rome. A student of Luigi Poletti (architect), Luigi Poletti, he was highly interested in classical architecture, becoming o ...

. He also helped design the Column of the Immaculate Conception, Rome. He died in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

References

Sources

www.italycyberguide.com

External links

*Ashton Rollins Willard,
History of modern Italian art
', Longmans, Green & Co.,

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1902 (on line from

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Poletti, Luigi 1792 births 1869 deaths 19th-century Italian architects Architects from Modena Italian neoclassical architects