NICCOLO DI GIOVANNI FIORENTINO AND TROGIR’S RENOVATIO URBIS

Among the urban renewal operations carried out after the 1460s in Trogir, the Re¬naissance renovation of the city can be seen in the planned reconstruction of the main city square, transformed in the same way that some of the prominent Renaissance centres on the other side of the Adriatic were also redesigned. This refers primarily to the redevelopment of the central square of Corsignano, birthplace of Pope Pius II, better known as Pienza, and the remodelling of the Piazza del’ Erbe in Mantua, seat of the Gonzaga family and its dukes.
In this book is identified a similar redevelopment scheme for the centre of the city of Trogir, started in 1460, which, respecting the medieval structure, was content with the expansion of the city centre, remodelled with monumental buildings, as in the Pienza case. A painterly approach to the remodelling of the Tro¬gir square similar to that of the two Alberti plans executed by his architects Bernardo Rossellino and Luca Fancelli is adduced. In these examples, he drew mainly on the use of a perspective inside a painting framed by an architectural framework; indeed, the view onto the square of Trogir from the portico of the cathedral is a direct quote of the redevelopment of the Piazza del’ Erbe in Mantua already mentioned. No plans or drawings of the redevelopment of Pienza and Mantua, or indeed of Trogir, are in existence, which is not surprising since we are dealing with the 15th century, but it can be indirectly concluded that the drawings of the Trogir operation did exist, and that they were used to define the monumental buildings of the square.
The appearance of Niccolò di Giovanni in Trogir long ago drew the attention of the scholarly public although he was almost entirely seen as a sculptor and not as an architect; although nevertheless, his architectural work outweighs the other, in quantity and quality, particularly if later realisations like the completion of the building of Šibenik Cathedral are taken into consideration. His work as architect in Trogir is proven by the working diagrams for the construction of the chapel carved into the terrace of the loggia above the northern aisle, which was also the master’s workshop during the time of the works.
Arrival of Niccolo di Giovanni in Dalmatia might be connected with the crisis in Bosnia and the support that the pope was lending to the resistance to the Turks, but it is undeniable that Niccolo di Giovanni arrived in Dalmatia probably after he composed his will in Venice in 1462, a common precaution in those days before un¬dertaking a voyage. He was to create his oeuvre in Trogir, Split, Hvar and Šibenik, and after Trogir, the Florentine was to achieve his great architectural exploit in Šibenik, taking over the place of master builder for the completion of Šibenik Cathedral after the death of Juraj Dalmatinac.
Book is first published in Croatian in June 2012., translation in English is made by Vivian Grisogono.

ISBN  978-953-163-418-2