Biography

Italian architect. Born in Como, he settled in Bologna, where he became the leading Baroque architect. Together with Alfonso Torreggiani and the members of the Galli Bibiena family, specialized above all in the design of theaters and theatrical scenes, Dotti is one of the most important architects of Bologna in the first half of the 18th century.

Nothing is known about the formation and the first activity of Dotti, the first known documents refer to the restoration works at the Marsigli Rossi theater from 1710-11.

His most celebrated designs are the dramatically sited pilgrimage church, the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca, near Bologna (1723-57), a vast domed church on an elliptical plan, and the Meloncello arch (1722).

In the first half of the eighteenth century he worked on the church of San Donato of Bologna, the university library and several palaces in the centre of the city. In the Palazzo Davia Bargellini he executed the monumental staircase around 1730. He was also known for the altar of Ivo of Kermartin in the San Petronio Basilica; and the Renazzo parish church, in the town of Cento in the Province of Ferrara.