Why is Bologna red?
Why is Bologna red? Or ranter why did Bologna develop a longstanding love affair with flaming orange and red colours that cover house walls and roof tops?
For obvious reasons Bologna deserves its nicknames ‘la dotta, la grassa e la rossa’ or ’the learned, the fat and the red’, but I can’t help wondering why the medieval city developed a longstanding love affair with the flaming orange and red colours that cover house walls and roof tops?
Was it a coincidence as in special offer, bulk sales and the unavailability of yellow, green and white house paint? Was the city coloured by design of a renaissance city planner with artistic aspirations? Or does the pallet convey a hidden symbolic meaning, red being the colour of courage and sacrifice, sin, pain, passion and anger?
The old photos may exaggerate the colour, but they emphasize the Bologna red.
All the explanations I have found maintain that Bologna is called ‘la rossa’, because it is … red, and appropriately left-wing, too. Noone seeks to explain why, which is nice, because it gives you a chance to develop your own theories, while you are walking beneath endless colonnades feasting your eyes on every shade of red from cardinal and carmine over orange, rust and scarlet to vermillion.
I think the red colour is meant to keep us warm in winter, when the ‘gran gelo’ descends over the Po valley. And to leave an unforgettable, overwhelming impression, making Bologna one of those cities that forever stays in the mind and merits another visit.
Interesting point! I guess Bologna is also called “red” because of political factors, but I can’t imagine why red is the predominant colors of the city buildings. I don’t think the reason is the same! Maybe the reason has to be searched in some ancient municipal edict that promoted that color for some reason.
I’ve seen references to ‘regole’ somewhere, but I’ve no idea what they are and when they were instituted.
Red is my favorite color, so much so that my house is red.
gola, a rule, I’ve also read something about it but didn’t find anything more specific.
sorry, it was regola and not gola :)
My research on the “red” color subject concluded that the nickname “la Rossa” is strictly referred to the political orientation of the city, and the entire region for that matter, particularly when the Partito Comunista Italiano was still active and strong. Bologna has been for long time associated with the political left and always a symbol to look at for the “classe operaia” in Italy. Why the houses are painted bright red could a mere coincidence and the desire to have some bright and warm in the Winter season that at time can be very cold in the area.
Great input – and very interesting. Thanks.
I assume it’s related to the “Piano del Colore” that every city is required to devise for its conservation areas (“centri storici”). This is Bologna’s: https://goo.gl/EPmha.
More on “Piani del Colore”: https://goo.gl/9Fbrz.
Why certain towns and cities pick certain colours is something you would need to go into with an “urbanista”.
Thanks for this thought-provoking piece!
I really appreciate those links.
It is interesting that something so simple is so controlled in Italy, when anarchy rules in many other parts in society. In Denmark, people start a riot if someone presumes to decide what colours, they are allowed to use on their mail boxes. The result looks a mess. So to me the Italian kind of colouristic hegemony seems fascinating.