LAURANA, LUCIANO. - Architect, born in Zara probably between 1420 and 1425, and active in Naples, Mantua, Urbino, Pesaro, Senigallia; died in Pesaro in 1479.
To him is attributed the Arch of Alfonso of Aragon in Castelnuovo in Naples, but his documented activity is limited to the Marches, with Urbino as its center, so much so that there has been talk of an “urban architecture,” having as its prototype the Ducal Palace of that city and as its creator L. The Ducal Palace (not entirely completed) may be considered the first modern royal residence, where architecture is not an end in itself, but marvelously harmonized with nature; it determines a scenographic environment of intense harmony, which fits perfectly into the landscape. To what extent all this is due to the merits of the Dalmatian is a subtle matter to demonstrate. In truth, his figure is even more enigmatic than that of his namesake fellow-countryman and contemporary Francesco Laurana (q.v.), the sculptor. It is difficult to define his training and his very activity; so much so that recently this uncertainty has led to attempts to deny him the Ducal Palace itself, to the advantage of Francesco di Giorgio, the Sienese artist who was long at the court of the Montefeltro, and to whom is rightly attributed the church of S. Bernardino near the city.
Probably the designer of the building had to submit to two wills that seem to dominate and have contributed to giving stylistic coherence to a building so vast and constructed over a long period of time: namely, the mind of Duke Federico, who was knowledgeable about architecture, and the genius of Piero della Francesca, to whose taste the solemn and clear architecture of the Palace so well relates. Since the hypothesis that the entire urban fabric is by Francesco di Giorgio seems rash, it is fitting to attribute to L. that part of the building which most corresponds to the Peruginesque aesthetic, namely the entire central body. There the forms are balanced, of a crystalline purity and a solemn calm. The courtyard of honor, which gathers and harmonizes the various members of the Palace, is certainly the purest part of it, inasmuch as it has not been altered by additions or decorations. There the author achieved absolute harmony. It may be concluded that the architect of the Palace of Urbino (and there is no reason to believe it is not L.) although having felt most strongly the influence of Piero, who is all-powerful in this work, must be numbered among the purest and greatest architects of the Renaissance, as one who knew how to give to his building a solemn and musical harmony, with a truly sublime sensitivity for enclosed space.
The style of L. is visible, besides in various urban palaces, in the “Corte Alta” of Fossombrone, in the Ducal Palaces of Gubbio, Fossombrone and Pesaro and in the fortress of the latter city; but they are much altered. — See pl. LVIII.