BELTRAMI, LUCA. – Architect and art writer, b. in Milan on 13 Nov. 1854, d. in Rome on 8 Aug. 1933. Professor at the Brera Academy and director of the office for the conservation of Lombard monuments, he devoted his activity to numerous restorations, including those of the Sforza Castle, Santa Maria delle Grazie, the Certosa of Pavia, and the façade of Monza Cathedral.
He was also a prolific scholar: among his publications were Il codice di Leonardo da Vinci nella biblioteca del principe Trivulzio a Milano, transcribed and annotated (Milan 1891); La basilica ambrosiana primitiva e la ricostruzione completa nel sec. IX (2nd ed., ibid. 1905); Disegni di Raffaello Sanzio nella biblioteca Ambrosiana (ibid. 1906); Documenti e memorie riguardanti la vita e le opere di Leonardo da Vinci (ibid. 1919). These works lent authority and esteem to his poetic writings, while at the same time confining his architectural style within the patterns of erudite eclecticism with a classical-gigantic imprint. Among his original works we recall the new façade of Palazzo Marino (1890), facing Piazza della Scala, the Banca Commerciale in Milan and Rome, numerous funerary monuments, and the design for the building of the new Vatican Pinacoteca.