Beltrami, Luca (1854–1933). Italian architect and writer. He published many studies of C15 buildings in Lombardy, and helped to restore several of them, including the Certosa di Pavia (1891). His careful and rigorous researches informed the eclecticism of his architecture, and among his best-known works were the new façade of Alessi's Palazzo Marino, Piazza Scala (1890), the restoration of Santa Maria delle Grazie (1892–5), and the imaginative transformation of the Castello Sforzesco (1893–1911), all in Milan. From 1896 he was engaged in numerous architectural projects. He designed the Palazzo per l'Esposizione Permanente di Belle Arti in Milan that year, in a Renaissance Revival style, which he also employed in the Palazzo Venezia delle Assicurazioni Generali di Milano (1897–99), Casa Dario-Biandrà (1902), offices for the Corriere della Sera (1904), and Banca Commerciale Italiana (1907), all in Milan. From 1920 he lived in Rome and carried out important works at the Vatican after his friend Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (b. 1857) was elected Pope and reigned as Pius XI (1922–39). Among these may be cited the restoration of Michelangelo and della Porta's great dome and of Bramante's Cortile del Belvedere (both 1928–9), and the building of the huge new library (1929–33). The last, with its beautiful proportions, is an elegant testimony to his abilities. He founded the review Edilizia Moderna (Modern Building) (1891–1914), and his work was influential.

Bibliography

Baldrighi (ed.) (1997);
Meeks (1966);
Jane Turner (1996)