Roberto Bugini e Luisa Folli: L’impiego dei materiali lapidei nell’architettura medievale lombarda

Roberto Bugini e Luisa Folli: L’impiego dei materiali lapidei nell’architettura medievale lombarda

Roberto Bugini e Luisa Folli: L’impiego dei materiali lapidei nell’architettura medievale lombarda (VI-XII secolo)

Different kinds of stone were used in the Romanesque architecture of Lombardy; thanks to the varied geology of the region. The use was linked to the local availability: igneous and metamorphic rocks from the Alps, sedimentary rocks from the Prealps, clay from the sediments of the Po plain. In particular, the Verbano province used granites (Baveno) and gneisses (Val d’Ossola); the Varese province used limestone (Viggiù) and dolomite (Angera) together with the cobbles of the glacial deposits; the Como province used again the glacial deposits (granites, gneisses) and limestone (Moltrasio); the Lecco and Bergamo provinces used limestone (Varenna or Majolica) and sandstone (Molera or Sarnico); the Brescia province used conglomerate (Verrucano), diorite (Tonalite) and limestone (Botticino); the southern provinces (Milano, Lodi etc.) used clays to make bricks. Finally the reuse of stone materials coming from roman buildings (column shafts, ashlars etc.) lasted for centuries everywhere in the region.