Luigi Poletti

Who was Luigi Poletti?

Luigi Poletti was an Italian neoclassical architect.

He initially obtained a doctorate in Mathematics and Philosophy in Bologna. He returns to Modena and becomes engineer of the Garfagnana, and professor of Mechanics and Hydraulics at the University. He then received a stipend to study in Rome. There he studied under Raffaele Stern.

In 1823, the ancient Basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura, one of the seven pilgrimage churches of Rome, was destroyed by fire. When plans for a new church were announced, a great hue arose from the neoclassic adherents of the past, such as Carlo Fea, who advocated for the church to be rebuilt as an exact replica of the past. Initially Pasquale Belli was hired, but soon after was replaced by Poletti who promised a closer replica. But he proposed to build a church as if the original builders had returned and, in their spirit, availed themselves of all the erudition compiled in the interim, revisiting the design and correcting its errors.

Poletti also added a choir to the Pantheon in 1840 and built the theaters in Fano, Rimini and Terni. He rebuilt the church of San Venanzio in Camerino, which had fallen in the earthquake of 1792.