Santa Maria della Vita in Bologna: New Sources on a Collaborative Composition

Abstract

The church of Santa Maria della Vita in Bologna was designed by Giovanni Battista Bergonzoni in 1688. Thanks to the discovery of unpublished archival documentation, it is possible to understand how the final project was drawn up. The study of the congregation records of the confraternity, which promoted the construction, highlights an ideational process that involves the architect himself and the brothers, who intervened directly by proposing planimetric models, suggesting drawings made by other architects, and presenting critical reports on the work of the technicians. The archival documentation presents drawings relating to at least three projects. In fact, the final draft by Bergonzoni is based on a plan by an anonymous Florentine architect. Ultimately, Santa Maria della Vita is the result of a sequence of events that can be considered a collaboration between various architects, as well as among architects and clients.