Lorenzo Vigotti - Università di Bologna
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Lorenzo Vigotti
Università di Bologna
DAR-Dipartimento delle Arti
Post-Doc
Università degli Studi di Firenze (University of Florence)
Architettura
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Lorenzo is an architect and architectural historian and currently the recipient of a three-year Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship funded by the European Union. His project investigates the circulation of architectural knowledge between medieval Persia and Italy, with particular attention to the materiality and preservation challenges of medieval brick dome structures, in partnership with Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran and the University of Bologna (www.iraniandomes.eu).
His archival project, Pupilli, examines more than 3,000 household inventories to trace shifts in domestic spatial organization between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, with a focus on early collecting practices and the emergence of the studiolo as a manifestation of power within the urban oligarchy (www.pupilli.org). As Senior Fellow at the Medici Archive Project, he oversaw the virtual reconstruction of the now-lost Florentine ghetto for an exhibition at the Uffizi Galleries.
Lorenzo received an M.Arch. from the University of Florence and a Ph.D. in architectural history from Columbia University. His research has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Kress and Mellon Foundations, the Society of Architectural Historians, the Council of Europe, and the Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio. He has taught courses on Western architecture and urban planning at Columbia University, New York University, Stanford University (Florence), Pratt Institute, the University of Utah, Union College, and the University of Bologna.
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Books & Articles by Lorenzo Vigotti
Migrating Inventions. Piero Sanpaolesi and the Case of the Double-Shelled Domes in Sultanyeh and Santa Maria del Fiore
by
Dario Donetti
and
Lorenzo Vigotti
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2025 selection and e...
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2025 selection and editorial matter, Claire Farago, Susan Lowish, and Jens Baumgarten; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Claire Farago, Susan Lowish, and Jens Baumgarten to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. With the exception of the Introduction and the Coda, no part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Migrating Inventions Brunelleschi’s Dome and the East
Transcultural Histories of Art and Artisanal Epistemologies
, 2025
In 1971, the Italian conservator Piero Sanpaolesi presented an ambitious research hypothesis that...
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In 1971, the Italian conservator Piero Sanpaolesi presented an ambitious research hypothesis that challenged the canonic view of the Early Renaissance as shaped by a distinctly humanistic ingenuity, by contesting such a traditional Western-centered narrative at its very heart: Brunelleschi’s design for the dome of the Florentine cathedral. Sanpaolesi, in particular, addressed an outstanding comparison with the mausoleum of Oljaitü in Soltaniyeh, an Iranian domed building of the late 13th century, far in time and space, but surprisingly similar in its constructive technique and typology. After almost fifty years, the critical potential of this critical intuition still awaits to be unlocked and gains new credibility within a global and comparative approach, as the groundbreaking hypothesis for a study on the evolving history of domed structures along the Silk Road. Rather than proposing a study on the evolution of forms, this contribution builds on Sanpaolesi’s premise to pursue an architectural history of materials that aims to expand the traditional boundaries of the discipline by drawing attention to the circulation of technical knowledge. The uniqueness of Brunelleschi’s dome is, in fact, a material one: its technological innovation lies in the double-shell structure of self-supporting brickwork, which had no precedents in the Western context. Only in these terms, one can understand the outstanding familiarity of Santa Maria del Fiore with the tradition of Iranian brick-domes. Their affinity is a structural one, only vaguely mirrored by formal similarities. It is rather the material composition of Oljaitü’s mausoleum, built more than a century earlier, that speaks to a theory of the circulation of craftsmanship and building techniques in a global, early modern world that included both Europe and the Mongol Empire. Indeed, the evidence of continuous streams of communication that persisted between Florence and Iranian cities, such as Tabriz and Soltaniyeh, throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth century, provides a scenario in which news and people traveled fast between the two nations, and oral communication played a major role. Within a broader Mediterranean context, this essay provides for a new system of classification of medieval and early modern domed structures: one based on the process of making, and with a focus on material qualities and technical devices, inspired by the parallel between Brunelleschi’s dome and the mausoleum of Oljaitü, reshaping the traditional boundaries of the discipline and questioning its typological tools for a more inclusive understanding of the history of construction.
Ipotesi dell’intervento di Michelozzo nel complesso di Santa Croce (2025)
Santa Croce tra passato e futuro. Conoscere conservare condividere
, 2025
Michelozzo di Bartolomeo’s (1396–1472) involvement in the Santa Croce convent complex in Florence...
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Michelozzo di Bartolomeo’s (1396–1472) involvement in the Santa Croce convent complex in Florence is not supported by archival documentation. However, scholars widely accept his attribution based on literary tradition and stylistic analysis. The former associates Michelozzo with the novitiate area south of the basilica, including the corridor, chapel, dormitory, and staircases linking the corridor to the first cloister. The latter suggests that he may have also contributed to the Pazzi Chapel, which is traditionally credited to Filippo Brunelleschi. This study seeks to reconstruct the chronology and key themes of the stylistic debate that connects Michelozzo’s work in Santa Croce with his other architectural projects, particularly those of religious buildings in Florence and its vicinity. As will be explored, critics have often portrayed Michelozzo as a crucial mediator between the Florentine Gothic tradition and the emerging Brunelleschian architectural style.
La ricostruzione virtuale del Ghetto di Firenze dagli archivi alla realtà tridimensionale [Gli Ebrei i Medici e il Ghetto di Firenze 2023]
Gli Ebrei i Medici e il Ghetto di Firenze
, 2023
This essay explains the methodology followed and the issues incurred into during the 10-year long...
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This essay explains the methodology followed and the issues incurred into during the 10-year long project of digitally recreating the now lost Jewish Ghetto in the center of Florence.
L'architettura del Ghetto di Firenze: dall'emergenza alla pianificazione [Gli Ebrei i Medici e il Ghetto di Firenze 2023]
Gli Ebrei i Medici e il Ghetto di Firenze
, 2023
This essay covers the architectural history of the Jewish Ghetto in Florence, from its creation i...
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This essay covers the architectural history of the Jewish Ghetto in Florence, from its creation in 1571 to the end of the 18th century when the Jewish community abandoned the area.
Towards the Renaissance palace typology: Palazzo da Uzzano’s architectural innovations (1408-1417)
Annali di Architettura
, 2022
This study aims to introduce a palace built by the brothers Agnolo and Niccolò da Uzzano between ...
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This study aims to introduce a palace built by the brothers Agnolo and Niccolò da Uzzano between 1408 and 1417 as a crucial turning point for the development of the Renaissance Florentine palace typology. Additionally, it shows how the Uzzano design responds to the location on the River Arno and how it embodies the new prominent financial and political status of its owners. The ground-floor plan displays three features that were unique at the time of its construction and became the standard design for palatial domestic architecture built in Europe for the following three centuries: first, a regular courtyard at the center with four loggias; second, the alignment of the main entrance with the courtyard; and third, the location of the main staircase of the palace at the end of the loggia parallel to the main facade.
2022 - Prima diffusione delle opere di Giovanni Boccaccio a Firenze: Nuove acquisizioni dal Magistrato dei Pupilli Avanti il Principato (1384-1439)
by
Elsa Filosa
and
Lorenzo Vigotti
Studi sul Boccaccio
, 2022
Nel volume nono di Studi sul Boccaccio (anni 1975-76), Christian Bec
pubblicava un saggio intitol...
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Nel volume nono di Studi sul Boccaccio (anni 1975-76), Christian Bec
pubblicava un saggio intitolato "Sur la lecture de Boccace à Florence au Quattrocento," nel quale includeva un elenco delle opere di Giovanni Boccaccio riscontrate all’interno degli inventari domestici, conservati presso il fondo Magistrato dei Pupilli avanti il Principato dell’Archivio di Stato di Firenze. La ricerca che qui si presenta si avvale di una nuova lettura degli
inventari domestici conservati presso il fondo. Grazie a tale lettura, si possono far riemergere ancora molti altri inventari: Oltre ai 559 inventari
studiati da Bec per cercare la presenza di libri in ambiente domestico prima
del 1440, se ne possono aggiungere ora altri 551, che offrono un’idea più
completa delle letture private dei fiorentini in quegli anni.
La Villa del Palco di Francesco di Marco Datini (1392-1410)
Archivio Storico Pratese
, 2022
The focus of this study is the suburban villa built by the merchant Francesco di Marco Datini nor...
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The focus of this study is the suburban villa built by the merchant Francesco di Marco Datini north of Prato, researched through detailed household inventories, the expenses annotated during the construction, and cartographic representations. The result is the idea that the villa was a true extension of Datini's palace in the center of the city, both socially and financially, and enjoyed the same careful frescoed decorations and furnishing.
Simone di Ser Piero della Fioraia, la sua residenza di Castelnuovo nel 1424 e un inedito Giotto
Memorie Valdarnesi dell’Accademia del Poggio, 188 (2022), 43-66
, 2022
Castelnuovo is a medieval fortification that still stands today at the southern entrance of the A...
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Castelnuovo is a medieval fortification that still stands today at the southern entrance of the Arno valley north of Arezzo, an obligatory road for accessing the Casentino. A key moment in the history of the castle was in 1385, when Arezzo and its territory were conquered by Florence, and Castelnuovo was the prize presented by Florence to one of its most important public officials, the Florentine merchant Simone di Ser Piero della Fioraia. Thanks to the transcription of an important unpublished document, we can read the full inventory of properties and movable assets drawn up at the time of Simone's death in 1424. This document also allows us to know in detail the organization of its most important possession, the fortress of Castelnuovo, at a pivotal time when it was transformed from a medieval castle with defensive functions to the refined residence of a member of the Florentine oligarchy, which included a chapel and a previously unknown panel painting by Giotto.
Il castello e i possedimenti dei conti di Montedoglio nel 1434
Pagine Altotiberine 70
, 2021
The castle of Montedoglio (near Sansepolcro) and its dependencies were described in detail in a s...
more
The castle of Montedoglio (near Sansepolcro) and its dependencies were described in detail in a series of unpublished inventories dated 1432-34, from which we can deduce the richness of the rooms and the excellent state of the possessions, which made it a strategic control point of the upper Valtiberina.
The Ilkhanid Italian Relationship during the Trecento: Medieval Persian Prototypes for Brunelleschi's Dome in Florence
New Horizons in Trecento Italian Art
, 2021
The Mausoleum of Oljaitu, built in Soltaniyeh between 1308-1312, is the largest structure covered...
more
The Mausoleum of Oljaitu, built in Soltaniyeh between 1308-1312, is the largest structure covered with a dome in Medieval Persia, and it is the ultimate example of a technological progress that started at least three centuries earlier in the region. In the early 1970s, the Florentine architect Pietro Sanpaolesi, already an expert of the Florentine dome, became the consultant for the restoration of several medieval monuments in Iran. His first survey of the Mausoleum of Oljaitu revealed important comparisons with Brunelleschi’s dome built for the cathedral of Florence in the 1420s.
My paper focus on how the stable commercial and diplomatic network between Persia and Italy provides a solid explanation for the technologies used by Brunelleschi during the planning and the construction of the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, a structure that has no precedents in Europe.
CAA Review: "New horizons are exceptionally clear in essays on international architectural exchanges. Lorenzo Vigotti’s “The Ilkhanid-Italian Relationship during the Trecento: Medieval Persian prototypes for Brunelleschi’s Dome in Florence” illuminates more distant cross-cultural networks. Enlarging upon Sanpaolesi’s analysis of the dome construction, Vigotti documents the presence of Italian friars and merchants in the Tartar court and the flow of luxury items from Tabriz to Venice. Thus far, no watertight evidence linking Brunelleschi’s dome to the mausoleum at Soltaniyeh has emerged, but international research efforts are expanding through collaborations between Italian and Iranian universities" (
).
The Emergence of the New Florentine Oligarchy: Palazzo Alessandri as a Pre-Renaissance prototype for the Palazzo Typology (1369-1376)
Palladio 65-66
, 2020
The construction of Palazzo Alessandri in Florence on Borgo degli Albizi during the 1370s signifi...
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The construction of Palazzo Alessandri in Florence on Borgo degli Albizi during the 1370s signified the beginning of an architectural process that led to the formation of the Renaissance palazzo typology. Continuously inhabited by the same family of merchants who built it, the palace is the first one specifically designed only for residential purposes, a statement by its patrons meant to declare their social and political position in the city among the Florentine élite. The absence of shops on the ground floor allowed for a first among domestic residences in Florence: a solid façade made of rusticated pietra forte. Other notable features included a plan based on a regular grid, a large porticoed area, and a garden in the back. The Alessandri, together with the following palaces built by the
members of the Albizi oligarchy (1384-1432), paved the way for
the design and the success of Palazzo Medici.
Before Palazzo Medici: Earlier Domestic Traditions Shaping the Renaissance Palace in Florence, 1380-1420 (Brepols 2018)
Art and Experience in Trecento Italy
, 2018
"Reconstructing a lost space" - The Ghetto Mapping Project at the MAP", in MATERIA GIUDAICA, vol. XXII, pp. 221-232, ISSN: 2282-4499
by
Piergabriele Mancuso
and
Lorenzo Vigotti
The Ghetto Florence was established by Grand Duke Cosimo I in 1570-1571, probably in attempt to a...
more
The Ghetto Florence was established by Grand Duke Cosimo I in 1570-1571, probably in attempt to appease the Church whose Pope had granted him the dynastic "update" making him Grand Duke. For more than two centuries the ghetto was the epicentre of Florentine Jewish life, an area located in the very heart of the city centre, facing the Old Market and very close to some of the most important religious sites such as the Duomo and the Archbishop's palaces. The aim of this article is to introduce and present the preliminary result of the "Ghetto Mapping Project", a research project aiming at reconstructing the architectural, economic-financial and nonetheless demographic-cultural features of the ghetto of Florence. On the basis of extensive survey of archival documentation it was possible to get the Florentine ghetto to virtual life.
From Centuries-old Squalor: The Ghetto of Florence, from History to Virtual Life
by
Lorenzo Vigotti
and
Piergabriele Mancuso
Rivista di Letteratura Storiografica Italiana
, 2017
For more than two hundred years the ghetto of Florence was the center of Florentine Jewish life. ...
more
For more than two hundred years the ghetto of Florence was the center of Florentine Jewish life. Established by Cosimo I in 1570 (probably to follow the dictates of Pius V, the Counter-Reformation pope who had granted him the grand ducal title), the ghetto was set in the very central area of 'Mercato Vecchio'. In 1888, a few decades after the Jews had been socially emancipated and given full political rights, the ghetto was demolished. This essay presents the first results of the Ghetto Mapping Project. On the basis of a comprehensive survey of the Medici archives, this ongoing research project aims at reconstructing the architectural, economic, demographic , and historical features of the old Florentine ghetto.
The Origin of the Renaissance Palace: Domestic Architecture during the Florentine Oligarchy, 1378-1432
Art and Experience in Trecento Italy
, 2018
This dissertation investigates the origin of the architectural typology of the Renaissance palace...
more
This dissertation investigates the origin of the architectural typology of the Renaissance palace as it emerged in Florence between the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries. This was a period characterized by a dramatic shift in domestic architecture, mirroring a parallel transformation of the Florentine society under the political regime of the Albizi oligarchy. This study fills a clear gap in existing scholarship, comprehensively addressing the private palatial architecture built in Florence in the sixty years before the construction of Palazzo Medici in 1446. Three palaces and their family archives have been studied for the first time: Palazzo Alessandri (built in the 1370s), Palazzo da Uzzano-Capponi (built circa 1411), and Palazzo Busini-Bardi (built before 1425). Their patrons, all pairs of brothers, used the size and urban prominence of their new residences to assess their political and social dominance on the city. They eliminated all commercial functions from their palaces and organized the space around a central courtyard with loggias, with a multiplication of dedicated rooms for the different public and private functions of the household. These palaces are representative of a period of transition in domestic architecture that inaugurated a new, successful domestic typology that was subjected to little change in—at least—the following three centuries. Built in a period of rising individuality, these private buildings, together with the ones that followed, helped set the modern concepts of the apartment and family privacy.
Le Meraviglie della Casa del Mercante
Microstoria (vol. 59)
, Jan 2009
Reviews by Lorenzo Vigotti
A Global Approach to the Architectural Palimpsest
Architectural Histories
, 2021
Jerusalem 1000-1400: Every People Under Heaven
Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians
, 2017
Museo delle Terre Nuove (Museum of New Towns)
Journal of the Society of Architecture Historians, vol. 73, no. 4, pp. 584-6
, Dec 2014
The Museum of New Towns is housed in the prestigious Palazzo di Arnolfo in the town of San Giovan...
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The Museum of New Towns is housed in the prestigious Palazzo di Arnolfo in the town of San Giovanni Valdarno, 20 miles southeast of Florence, Italy. Its thirteen galleries introduce the public to one of the most fascinating developments in medieval urban planning: the foundation of new towns during the three centuries following the demographic and urban renewal that occurred ca. 1000. The curators who successfully responded to the challenge of designing such an exhibition were David Friedman of MIT and Paolo Pirillo of the University of Bologna, the two best-qualified experts on the subject and the authors of numerous publications on the late medieval city. Their collaboration has resulted in a fully bilingual exhibition that employs multiple media, including drawings, video installations, and models produced specifically for the museum.
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