"Il Liviano" buildingfor the Facultyof Letters at Padua University, Piazza del Capitanato

Padua

Frescoes by Massimo Campigli

Realized works

Today in Padua one can see frescoes by Giotto, Mantegna, Altichiero, Menabuoi, Campigli (and Ponti). It is part of my expression as an architect to have wanted, with Carlo Anti, Rector of the University of Padua, this great fresco by Campigli; the atrium of the Liviano now the seat of the Faculty of Letters at Padua University was designed by Ponti for this fresco a fresco that covers two hundred and fifty square meters, an image of antiquity as excavation (both the ground and the underground level are populated). It took five months to execute (Campigli would have preferred three years).A work of sculpture by Martini, his Livy Alone with History, is also located in the atrium. The atrium is in a central position in the building of the Liviano; it substitutes for the portico (or the court) as a place for students to meet. A combination of flights of stairs and balconies replaces the usual grand staircase: as crowded as Campigli's fresco, on different levels, this atrium transforms ceremonies into spectacles.