Everything about Camillo Boito totally explained
Camillo Boito (
October 30 1836 -
June 28 1914) was an
Italian architect, engineer and art historian. He taught at the Venice School of Fine Arts, and was a noted art critic and novelist.
Biography
Boito was born in
Rome.
He studied in
Padua and then architecture at the
Accademia (School of Fine Arts) in
Venice. During his time there, he was influenced by Selvatico Estense, an architect who championed the study of medieval art in Italy. He taught architecture at the School of Fine Arts until 1856 when he moved to
Tuscany.
During his extensive work restoring ancient buildings, he tried to reconcile the conflicting views of his contemporaries on architectural restoration, notably those of
Eugene Viollet-le-Duc and
John Ruskin. This reconciliation of ideas was presented at the III Conference of Architects and Civil Engineers of Rome in 1883 in a document later to be known as the "Primera Carta del Restauro" or the Charter of Restoration. This inaugural charter develops eight points to be taken into consideration in the restoration of historical monuments:
1. The differentiation of style between new and old parts of a building.
2. The differentiation in building materials between the new and the old.
3. Suppresion of moldings and decorative elements in new fabric placed in a historical building.
4. Exhibition in a nearby place of any material parts of a historical building that were removed during the process of restoration.
5. Inscription of the date (or a conventional symbol)on new fabric in a historical building.
6. Descriptive epigraph of the restoration work done attached to the monument.
7. Registration and description with photographs of the different phases of restoration. This register should remain in the monument or in a nearby public place. This requirement may be substituted by publication of this material.
8. Visual notoriety of the restoration work done.
The concern was for maintaining authenticity in terms of the identification of original materials. At the same time, the intention was to promote a "scientific" attitude toward restoration. Boito's principles were well accepted and inspired modern legislation on restoration of historical monuments in several countries.
Boito is perhaps most famous for his restoration of the Church and Campanile of Santi Maria e Donato at
Murano, inspired by the theories and techniques of Viollet-Le-Duc. He also worked on the
Porta Ticinese in
Milan between 1856-1858 and famed
Basilica of Saint Anthony in
Padua in 1899.
Other architectural designs include
Gallarate Hospital (in
Gallarate, Italy) and a school in Milan. His most famous building in Milan is the
Casa di Riposo per Musicisti Giuseppe Verdi which was built 1895 - 99. It was financed by the composer
Giuseppe Verdi and serves as a resting home for retired musicians, and as a memorial for the composer, who is buried in the cellar. In the early 1900s, Boito helped shape Italian laws protecting historical monuments.
He also wrote several collections of short stories, including a
psychological horror short story titled
A Christmas Eve, a tale of
incestuous obsession and
necrophilia, which bears a striking similarity to
Edgar Allan Poe's "
Berenice." Around 1882 he wrote his most famous novella,
Senso, a disturbing tale of sexual decadence. In 1954,
Senso was memorably adapted for the screen by Italian director
Luchino Visconti and then, later, in 2002 into a more sexually disturbing adaptation by
Tinto Brass. Another story,
Un Corpo (also dealing with themes of sexual decadence and necrophilia), has recently been adapted into an opera by the Greek composer
Kharálampos Goyós.
Boito died in Milan in 1914.
Arrigo Boito, Camillo's younger brother, was a noted poet and librettist.
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