Room of the wooden model of the Cathedral of Pavia
In a room on the first floor of the south east tower remains a fifteenth-century fresco decoration of
garlands and foliage, set upon a red background, alongside traditional Visconti tarot iconography
such as the serpent and the firebrand with the hanging water buckets.
It is in this room that the wooden architectural model of Pavia Cathedral - one of the greatest
surviving examples of the Renaissance - is preserved.
Based on Giovanni Antonio Amadeo and Gian Giacomo Dolcebuono's architectural plans for the
Pavia Cathedral, it was in 1497 that the sculptor Gian Pietro Fugazza began to carve this wooden
model - a carpentry masterpiece - from cypress, oak and walnut wood.
Seven years earlier - in 1490 - both Leonardo da Vinci and Francesco di Giorgio Martini had been
asked to contribute their craftsmanship to this project.
At 5.05 metres long and with a maximum width and height of 3.64 metres (corresponding to the
length and width of the transept and the height of the lantern), the model is one of the largest and
most interesting in architectural history.
Artefacts such as this one, which was built to scale in order to match the dimensions of the building
that was to be erected, had the dual purpose of serving as a reference model during the
construction itself and being used to present the project to the contractor.
Completed in 1526, the model that we have today, with its "Latin cross" floor plan, is the fruit of a
number of design inputs, including the original design by Bramante and Cristoforo Rocchi, which
dictated that the building should have a centralised plan.
Although never built, the bell tower is a Renaissance reworking of the medieval Torre Civica, which
collapsed in 1989 and whose remains can still be seen next to the Cathedral.
The Renaissance project involved two belt towers, placed symmetrically on either side of the
façade.
The model for the renovation of the cathedral in the neo-classical style - designed by Marquis Luigi
Malaspina di Sannazzaro and built to a design by the architect Carlo Amati between 1810 and
1816 - is also on display in this room.
The model only shows the front of the church, which features a façade that is strongly reminiscent
of the forms of a Greek temple.
It incorporates Bramante's original design for a "Greek cross" floor plan, whereby the arms are of
equal length.
This solution was then adopted "de facto", albeit in an imperfect manner, when it came to
completing the cathedral. Indeed, as can be seen from the model, a "Latin cross" floor plan would
have been too much of an encumbrance on the churchyard.
If you take a look out of the rooms's large Gothic window, you can admire the cathedral's dome
and its striking resemblance to Gian Pietro Fugazza's wooden model.