Come finestre aperte: vedute riconoscibili in alcuni cori lignei dell’Italia settentrionale tra Quattrocento e Cinquecento
Abstract
This article investigates the use of urban views in the decorative programs of choir stalls in Northern Italy between the 15th and early 16th centuries, focusing on a particular motif: the cityscape as seen through an illusionistic "open window." Traditionally dominated by still lifes and architectural niches, the intarsia decoration of choir stalls also began to include realistic depictions of recognizable urban settings. Starting with pioneering examples in Padua by the Canozi brothers and continuing with the work of Giovanni Maria Platina in Cremona, the study explores how such views reflected a growing interest in perspective, geographic specificity, and civic or religious identity. It also examines the role of printed city views and the symbolic meanings these images could acquire in monastic and liturgical contexts. Special attention is given to the lost Olivetan choir in Venice’s Sant’Elena, described by contemporaries as an atlas of cities under Venetian rule. Far from being mere backgrounds, these cityscapes served as complex visual devices, mediating between representation, devotion, and identity.
Submitted: Aug. 31, 2025 | Accepted: Nov. 4, 2025 | Published Dec. 15, 2025 | Language: it
Keywords Renaissance perspective • Intarsia • Urban views • Visual identity • Choir stalls
Copyright © 2025 Lorenzo Mascheretti. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/VA/2385-2720/2025/01/005