BAROQUE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE RECTOR’S PALACE IN DUBROVNIK

The Rector’s Palace in Dubrovnik has hitherto been evaluated mainly in terms of its predominant Gothic and Renaissance phases of construction. However, comprehensive research on Dubrovnik’s Baroque architecture has demonstrated that a revalorisation of the Baroque phase of the Rector’s Palace is due. This re-evaluation has been stimulated by research on archival documents in the State Archives of Dubrovnik (particularly the Libro della Fabbrica del Palazzo Publico of 1685-1704), which has brought to light hitherto unpublished information on the reconstruction of this building following the earthquake of 1667. The rebuilding of the Palace took place in several phases, an examination of which reveals changes in relations between the Senate and the state architects, as well as how these changes were reflected in the nature of the work itself. During the initial period, members of the Senate produced models of reconstruction incorporating the restoration of the Palace’s Gothic-Renaissance appearance. However, the arrival in Dubrovnik in 1689 of an architect of international renown—the Sicilian Tommaso Napoli—opened a new phase of reconstruction, whereby the Palace acquired a Baroque stamp