The Duomo of Casale Monferrato underwent a comprehensive nineteenth-century restoration directed by Edoardo Arborio Mella between 1857 and 1861. As a representative figure of the Gothic Revival in northern Italy, he balanced a career as an architect, photographer, and scholar, focusing his professional efforts on the preservation and study of medieval structures throughout the Piedmont region.
Early Life and Education
Born in Vercelli in 1808 to Count Carlo Emanuele Arborio Mella and Vittoria Gattinara, he received his initial instruction at home. Between 1820 and 1827, he attended the Collegio-Convitto del Carmine in Turin, a Jesuit institution favored by the Piedmontese aristocracy. During his formal schooling, he demonstrated a significant aptitude for mathematics, a skill that would later underpin his technical approach to architectural drafting and restoration.
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Mella pursued his interest in Gothic architecture through extensive travel across Europe. His research took him to locations including Switzerland, France, Germany, Monaco, Venice, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Athens, and Vienna, as well as Constantinople. These journeys provided the comparative data necessary for his theoretical writings and his practical restorative work on ecclesiastical sites, such as the church of Sant'Ilario in Casale and projects in Rosignano Monferrato, Mirabello, and Villanova Monferrato.
Family and Personal Legacy
In 1834, he married Adele Clotilde Olgiati, with whom he had three children: Carlo Alessandro, Maria Vittoria, and Federico. Following his wife's death in 1839, he continued his professional work, eventually collaborating with his son Federico, who followed his father into the fields of architecture and archaeology. Mella died in 1884 in Casale Monferrato at the age of 76.
Scholarly Publications
Beyond his physical interventions in the built environment, Mella contributed to architectural theory through treatises on geometry and monographs concerning medieval monuments. His published works include the 1857 volume Elementi di architettura archi-acuta o gotica and the posthumously published 1885 text Elementi di architettura romano-bizantina, detta lombarda.
Fast facts
- Born: 1808, Vercelli
- Died: 1884, Casale Monferrato
- Citizenship: Kingdom of Italy
- Primary Occupations: Architect, photographer
- Key Restoration Project: Duomo of Casale Monferrato (1857–1861)
- Son and Collaborator: Federico Arborio Mella
Questions readers ask
What stylistic movement is associated with Mella?
He is identified as a primary protagonist of the Gothic Revival in northern Italy.
Did he work alone on his architectural projects?
No, he collaborated on various projects with his son, Federico Arborio Mella, who was also an architect and archaeologist.
