![Pietro Antonio Solari and Marco Ruffo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Pietro_Antonio_Solari_and_Marco_Ruffo.jpg)
Pietro Antonio Solari (Latin: Petrus Antonius Solarius)
[Z. Davidov. Stars on the towers. (Звезды на башнях) Moscow, 1963] (c. 1445 – May 1493), also known as Pyotr Fryazin, was an Italian architect and sculptor.
He was born in
Carona and apprenticed under his father
Guiniforte Solari
Guiniforte Solari (c. 1429 – c. 1481), also known as ''Boniforte'', was an Italian sculptor, architect and engineer.
Born in Milan, he was the son of the architect Giovanni Solari, and brother of Francesco Solari.
Guiniforte was chief engineer ...
, who was the leading architect of the
Duomo di Milano
Milan Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Milano ; lmo, Domm de Milan ), or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary ( it, Basilica cattedrale metropolitana di Santa Maria Nascente, links=no), is the cathedral church of Milan, Lombard ...
.
In his fathers workshop, he learned to draw plans and sculpture statues.
In 1476, he was hired to contribute to the construction of the Duomo di Milano. With twenty six-years of age, he was appointed a deputy of his father by the Duke of the
Duchy of Milan
The Duchy of Milan ( it, Ducato di Milano; lmo, Ducaa de Milan) was a state in northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti family, which had been ruling the city sin ...
.
When his father died, he was appointed his successor for the buildings of the Duke but not at the Catherdral of Milan. Later he also sculpted a tomb of the bishop
Marco de Capitani in the Cathedral of
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.
Alessandria ...
.
In 1487, he was invited to Russia by
Ivan III to construct the walls and towers of the
Moscow Kremlin
The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (R ...
. Within the next two years, Solari built most of the walls (excluding the western wall built by his successor
Aleviz) and
towers of the Kremlin, including the Borovitskaya, Konstantino-Eleninskaya, Spasskaya, Nikolskaya, and Corner Arsenalnaya towers. Engineering methods, technique and architectural forms, used by Solari, were reminiscent of the
fortification
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
s of Northern Italy.
![VasnecovA VMoskovskom](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/VasnecovA_VMoskovskom.jpg)
On top of the Spasskie Gates there was inscribed the following inscription:
IOANNES VASILII DEI GRATIA MAGNUS DUX VOLODIMERIAE, MOSCOVIAE, NOVOGARDIAE, TFERIAE, PLESCOVIAE, VETICIAE, ONGARIAE, PERMIAE, BUOLGARIAE ET ALIAS TOTIUSQ(UE) RAXIE D(OMI)NUS, A(N)NO 30 IMPERII SUI HAS TURRES CO(N)DERE F(ECIT) ET STATUIT PETRUS ANTONIUS SOLARIUS MEDIOLANENSIS A(N)NO N(ATIVIT) A(TIS) D(OM)INI 1491 K(ALENDIS) M(ARTIIS) I(USSIT) P(ONERE).
Together with
Marco Ruffo
Marco Ruffo as known as Marco Fryazin (Марк Фрязин, Марко Фрязин and Марко Руффо in Russian) was an Italian architect active in Moscow in the 15th century.
The Fryazin title originates from the old Russian word ''ф ...
, Solari also built the
Palace of Facets
The Palace of the Facets (russian: Грановитая Палата, ''Granovitaya Palata'') is a building in the Moscow Kremlin, Russia, which contains what used to be the main banquet reception hall of the Muscovite Tsars. It is the oldest pr ...
in the Kremlin.
He died in Moscow in May 1493. The Fryazin title originates from the old Russian word ''фрязь'' (fryaz), derived from ''frank'', that was used to denote people from Northern Italy.
Notes
References
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1440s births
1493 deaths
Architects from Ticino
15th-century Italian sculptors
15th-century Italian architects
{{Italy-architect-stub