Luciano Laurana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Luciano Laurana (de la Vrana) (c. 1420 – 1479) was a Dalmatian-born Croatian architect and engineer who worked in Italy in the late 15th century. In Croatia he was known as Lucijan Vranjanin. His most famous work was the Palazzo Ducale of Urbino. He was a relative of the sculptor Francesco Laurana (Franjo Vranjanin).
Laurana was born in Vrana, near Zara (today Zadar in Croatia, then part of the Republic of Venice). Later in life, the Italians in Urbino called him Schiavone, which meant "Slav" or Croat. Little is known about his early years. His father Martin was a stonecutter in Zara, who worked together with the famous sculptor Giorgio Orsini on the cathedral of Sebenico (Šibenik).
Around 1465 he is known to have collaborated in Mantua with Leon Battista Alberti. From 1466 to 1472 he directed the works of the new palace commissioned by Federico III da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino. The exact attribution of the works is still disputed, as it is known that also Francesco di Giorgio has a role in the construction: the innovative façade, however, is traditionally recognized as Laurana's.
Later he worked in Naples for the king Ferrante II of Naples. From 1472 he was in Pesaro, where he attended the construction of the Castle (Rocca) until his death, occurred in 1479.
The famous anonymous picture La città ideale, housed in the Urbino National Gallery, has been attributed to him. Even if internationally known as an Italian artist, he is today regularly included by Croatians in the overviews of their art, with the name 'Lucijan Vranjanin'.[1]
