Emilio De Fabris

Emilio De Fabris (28 October 1808 – 3 June 1883) was an Italian architect best known for his design of the west facade of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence.

De Fabris was born in Florence, Italy. He initially studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, then traveled to Rome, where he med the archeologist Antonio Nibby and to Venice where he met the historial and art-critic Pietro Selvatico. In 1857-1860, he helped design, alongside Michelangelo Maiorfi, the Palazzo della Borsa in Florence. He was professor at the Florentine Academy of Fine Arts and Architect to the Opera di Santa Croce.

The original facade design for Santa Maria del Fiore, by Giotto, was found outdated for the cathedral and so a series of three competitions were held to modify Giotto's original design, keeping with the main lines of the structure. The challenge for the competition was to create a facade which brought together two periods in architecture: the Gothic style, which had faded out, and the Renaissance style, which was more recent. In 1871, Fabris' design won, and he immediately went to work embellishing the cathedral with red, green, and white marble. Florence was extremely proud of De Fabris' devotion of his time and energy to make this a truly monumental landmark of the city. Fabris died in 1883.

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