Gli inizi: il progetto di Gabriele Stornaloco

The construction of Milan Cathedral, the largest Gothic church ever constructed in Italy, from 1386, was one of the most important episodes in the history of Italian and European architecture. The documentation of the late Trecento and early Quattrocento discussions over how to build the Cathedral is extraordinarily rich and extensive, and permits a consideration of the project from many points of view including the relationship between medieval architectural theory and an actual project. At the same time, any enquiry has to contend with the copious modern literature and the conclusions that have been reached hitherto – often erroneously in our view – about many of the most salient points. We thus reconsider the published and unpublished documentation and the existing literature, analysing especially the following matters: the format of the building’s elevation; the proposals by Gabriele Stornaloco and Jean Mignot; the drawings attributed to Antonio di Vincenzo.