BOITO, ARRIGO. — Musician and man of letters, born in Padua on 24 February 1842, died in Milan on 10 June 1918. Of a Venetian father and a Polish mother, he studied at the Milan Conservatory (1854–62), later travelling to various countries in northern Europe. He subsequently lived almost always in Milan, where he was the driving force behind that fertile circle of artists known as the “Scapigliatura milanese” (1862–74), a movement of fervent genius also called the “second romanticism” or “Lombard romanticism.”
He wrote opera libretti for G. Verdi (Falstaff, Otello, Simon Boccanegra), A. Ponchielli (La Gioconda), F. Faccio (Amleto), G. Bottesini and L. Mancinelli (Ero e Leandro); he himself composed Mefistofele and Nerone. He also left a mediocre Libro di versi, some short stories, and various cantatas.
BOITO, ARRIGO – BOLAÑOS LUIS
His theoretical work—concerned with such projects as the restoration of the Palazzo Franchetti staircase in Venice, the restoration of the Basilica of Saint Anthony in Padua, etc.—focused especially on the problems of restoration, in which, opposing the taste propagated by Viollet-le-Duc, he upheld respect for the artistically valuable restorations undergone by buildings in different periods.
Also significant was his pedagogical principle, according to which he deemed it necessary for the training of architects to combine humanistic culture with technical preparation.
Among Boito’s writings relating to art problems are: L’architettura del medioevo in Italia (Milan 1880), Il duomo di Milano (ibid. 1889), Questioni pratiche di belle arti (ibid. 1893, on the problem of restoration).