L’architettura di Onorio Longhi nel suo periodo di esilio (1606-1611): aggiunte e precisazioni
In: Quaderni dell'Istituto di Storia dell'Architettura: 66, 2017
DOI: 10.1400/258362
In this essay, the author focused on the churches designed by Onorio Longhi during his years of exile, in order to look at whether or not these works should be considered as a stimulus for the increase in Roman-inspired elements used in by architects in several Lombard works, and at if his research was interrupted, or rather, characterised by innovative solutions. For the Church of the Nativity of Mary in Viggiù, which has now disappeared, it was possible to create a reconstruction plan based on the current cadastre. Above the capitals in the aisles of the church in Arzo, which Onorio completely renovated, a kind of pulvin was inserted to raise the columns without altering their proportions: a solution that developed within the synthesist trend of the late-16th-century. In these works, Onorio inserts an independent body in the longitudinal aisles, both in the renovations and new designs; while in the façades (here some controversial projects for the Milan Cathedral are also discussed) the architect succeeds in creating a spatial relationship that foreshadows the Baroque style, reiterating the complex, divided into various floors, by unifying the elements in a way that goes beyond the Mannerist concept of assembling independent units.