Un confronto di modernità: cultura adriatica e maestri fiorentini nella basilica di Loreto, in Le Marche e l’Adriatico nel Quattrocento. Arte e architettura tra eredità gotica e Rinascimento dell’antico

The Basilica della Santa Casa in Loreto defies comprehension through formalist criteria. Instead, its uniqueness in 15th-century architecture stems from its typological choices. This essay endeavors to trace the lineage of Loreto’s double-shell architecture, connecting its origins to the Anastasis in Jerusalem. The Constantinian church, spawning various derivatives like San Simeone in Qalat Siman, presents intriguing resemblances to Loreto, linked by akin liturgical practices. San Vitale in Ravenna, another double-shell structure, likely served as a reference for Loreto’s early designers, potentially including Marino di Marco Cedrino from Romagna. The essay underscores how the Florentine masters who completed the construction couldn’t, and perhaps didn’t intend to, embrace a classicist style due to existing layout constraints and the demands of contemporary warfare using artillery. Ultimately, the Basilica della Santa Casa stands as a splendid embodiment of Renaissance modernity that diverged from classical Antiquity.