ALEVIZ NOVY - b. ~1480 ?, d. ~1540 Russia - WGA

ALEVIZ NOVY

(b. ~1480 ?, d. ~1540 Russia)

Italian architect and sculptor. He is known also as Aloisio Nuovo, and perhaps can be identified as the sculptor/architect Alvise da Montagnana. He was invited by Ivan III to work in Moscow. He was apprehended by the khan of Crimea, and at his court he built some sections of the famous palace in Bakhchisaray.

He arrived to Moscow in 1504 with a letter of recommendation from the khan. Aleviz’s first and principal work in Moscow was the Archangel Cathedral, the burial place of Muscovite monarchs. The cathedral’s elaborate Renaissance ornamentation was extensively copied throughout 16th-century Russia.

Aleviz Novy was last mentioned in 1514, when he was entrusted by Vasily III to build 11 churches in Moscow. Although only parts of these structures have been preserved, there is enough evidence to assume that they were built in strikingly differing styles. The best preserved of these churches is the cathedral of the Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery in Moscow (1514-17), admittedly the earliest rotunda in Russia.

Exterior view
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Exterior view

With the formation of a powerful Russian state centred on Moscow in the second half of the 15th century and early 16th, extensive building took place in the Kremlin, and the asymmetrical triangle of high walls and towers with the Cathedral Square at the centre and four roads running to the main gates was constructed. The fine cathedrals in the main square, those of the Dormition (Assumption), the Archangel Michael and the Annunciation, harmonized well with the bell-tower of Ivan the Great (1505-08) and the Faceted Palace (Granovitaya Palata; 1487-91), as well as with monasteries such as those of the Ascension, Miracles, and Epiphany, which have not survived. The key position of the Kremlin in the growth of Moscow was further emphasized in the 17th century by the superstructure (c. 1600) of the Ivan the Great bell-tower and by the hipped roofs that were added to the gate-towers.

The Cathedral of the Archangel (Arkhangelsky sobor) is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Archangel Michael. It was the main necropolis of the Tsars of Russia until the relocation of the capital to St. Petersburg. It was constructed between 1505 and 1508 under the supervision of an Italian architect Aleviz Novy (Aloisio the New) on the spot of an older cathedral, built in 1333.

Compared with the other two major Kremlin cathedrals, the Archangel Cathedral is substantially different in style, despite maintaining a traditional layout. It echoes the layout of the Dormition Cathedral in its use of five domes (representing Jesus Christ and the Four Evangelists). However, the exterior ornamentation points to Italian Renaissance influence.

The interior of the cathedral, however, was largely constructed in a manner typical for Russian churches.

The photo shows the view of the Archangel Cathedral from Ivan the Great Bell Tower, with the Cathedral of the Annunciation in the background.

View the ground plan of Cathedral of the Archangel, Kremlin.

Exterior view
Exterior view by

Exterior view

With the formation of a powerful Russian state centred on Moscow in the second half of the 15th century and early 16th, extensive building took place in the Kremlin, and the asymmetrical triangle of high walls and towers with the Cathedral Square at the centre and four roads running to the main gates was constructed. The fine cathedrals in the main square, those of the Dormition (Assumption), the Archangel Michael and the Annunciation, harmonized well with the bell-tower of Ivan the Great (1505-08) and the Faceted Palace (Granovitaya Palata; 1487-91), as well as with monasteries such as those of the Ascension, Miracles, and Epiphany, which have not survived. The key position of the Kremlin in the growth of Moscow was further emphasized in the 17th century by the superstructure (c. 1600) of the Ivan the Great bell-tower and by the hipped roofs that were added to the gate-towers.

The Cathedral of the Archangel (Arkhangelsky sobor) is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Archangel Michael. It was the main necropolis of the Tsars of Russia until the relocation of the capital to St. Petersburg. It was constructed between 1505 and 1508 under the supervision of an Italian architect Aleviz Novy (Aloisio the New) on the spot of an older cathedral, built in 1333.

Compared with the other two major Kremlin cathedrals, the Archangel Cathedral is substantially different in style, despite maintaining a traditional layout. It echoes the layout of the Dormition Cathedral in its use of five domes (representing Jesus Christ and the Four Evangelists). However, the exterior ornamentation points to Italian Renaissance influence.

The interior of the cathedral, however, was largely constructed in a manner typical for Russian churches.

View the ground plan of Cathedral of the Archangel, Kremlin.

Exterior view
Exterior view by

Exterior view

With the formation of a powerful Russian state centred on Moscow in the second half of the 15th century and early 16th, extensive building took place in the Kremlin, and the asymmetrical triangle of high walls and towers with the Cathedral Square at the centre and four roads running to the main gates was constructed. The fine cathedrals in the main square, those of the Dormition (Assumption), the Archangel Michael and the Annunciation, harmonized well with the bell-tower of Ivan the Great (1505-08) and the Faceted Palace (Granovitaya Palata; 1487-91), as well as with monasteries such as those of the Ascension, Miracles, and Epiphany, which have not survived. The key position of the Kremlin in the growth of Moscow was further emphasized in the 17th century by the superstructure (c. 1600) of the Ivan the Great bell-tower and by the hipped roofs that were added to the gate-towers.

The Cathedral of the Archangel (Arkhangelsky sobor) is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Archangel Michael. It was the main necropolis of the Tsars of Russia until the relocation of the capital to St. Petersburg. It was constructed between 1505 and 1508 under the supervision of an Italian architect Aleviz Novy (Aloisio the New) on the spot of an older cathedral, built in 1333.

Compared with the other two major Kremlin cathedrals, the Archangel Cathedral is substantially different in style, despite maintaining a traditional layout. It echoes the layout of the Dormition Cathedral in its use of five domes (representing Jesus Christ and the Four Evangelists). However, the exterior ornamentation points to Italian Renaissance influence.

The interior of the cathedral, however, was largely constructed in a manner typical for Russian churches.

The photo shows the Archangel Cathedral and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower.

Exterior view
Exterior view by

Exterior view

The Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery is a Russian Orthodox monastery in Moscow. It is believed to have been founded in the 1320s by Saint Peter of Moscow, the first Russian metropolitan to move his see in Moscow.

In the 16th-century development of monasteries in Moscow emphasis was placed on the creation of picturesque ensembles, as in the Simonov, Vysoko-Petrovsky and Don monasteries and the Novospassky (New Monastery of the Saviour) and Novodevichy (New Convent of the Virgin; founded 1524) complexes. Sited in the Bely Gorod and Zemlyanoy Gorod, as well as in the suburbs, they formed a virtual ring around parts of Moscow.

The main church (katholikon) of the Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery was built by Aleviz Novy in 1514-17. It was one of the first rotundas in Russian architecture.

The photo shows the main church of the monastery.

General view
General view by

General view

The Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery is a Russian Orthodox monastery in Moscow. It is believed to have been founded in the 1320s by Saint Peter of Moscow, the first Russian metropolitan to move his see in Moscow.

In the 16th-century development of monasteries in Moscow emphasis was placed on the creation of picturesque ensembles, as in the Simonov, Vysoko-Petrovsky and Don monasteries and the Novospassky (New Monastery of the Saviour) and Novodevichy (New Convent of the Virgin; founded 1524) complexes. Sited in the Bely Gorod and Zemlyanoy Gorod, as well as in the suburbs, they formed a virtual ring around parts of Moscow.

The main church (katholikon) of the Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery was built by Aleviz Novy in 1514-17. It was one of the first rotundas in Russian architecture.

The photo shows the main church of the monastery.

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