Biography

Italian architect and sculptor, part of a family of artists, son of Guiniforte Solari. From 1476 he worked with his father in the architectural workshop of Milan Cathedral, but after Guiniforte's death in 1481 he became master builder of all the buildings for which his father had been responsible (although he shared the responsibility with Giovanni Antonio Amadeo at the Certosa di Pavia, and at Milan Cathedral). Three churches in Milan, del Carmine, Santa Maria Incoronata and Santa Maria della Pace, are ascribed on stylistic grounds to Pietro Antonio (together with Guiniforte). The only authenticated sculpture is the tomb of Marco de' Capitani, Bishop of Alexandria (1484; Alessandria Cathedral), with a somewhat crudely executed recumbent effigy.

Pietro Antonio's architectural work can be securely identified only in Moscow, where he was summoned in 1490 by Ivan III, Grand Duke of Muscovy. His known buildings there include a wooden palace (destroyed), three gate towers of the Kremlin walls (the Nikolskaya, the Spasskaya and the Borovitskaya towers) and the Faceted Palace (1487-91; Granovitaya Palata).