in Bologna Little is known about Fioravanti's early years. He was born in
Bologna around 1415 into a family of architects and hydraulic engineers. He became renowned for the very innovative devices he used for the rebuilding of
the towers belonging to the noble families of the city. Between 1458 and 1467, he worked in
Florence for
Cosimo de' Medici the Elder and in
Milan, before returning to his native city. There, he created the plans for the
Palazzo Bentivoglio, but the edifice was not finished (by
Giovanni II Bentivoglio) until 1484–1494. In 1467, he worked for King
Matthias Corvinus in
Hungary. In 1475, at the invitation of
Ivan III, he went to
Moscow where he built the
Dormition Cathedral from 1475 to 1479, taking inspiration from the
Dormition Cathedral of
Vladimir, a symbol of the center of the
Russian Church, while introducing new influences at the same time. This is the work for which he is best remembered and is considered to be evidence that Moscow attracted leading Italian masters. According to some accounts, he was thrown into prison by Ivan III when he asked to return to
Italy, and died in captivity. According to other accounts, he participated as a military engineer and artillery commander in the campaigns against
Novgorod (1477–1478),
Kazan (1482) and
Tver (1485). He died around 1486. ==See also==