Aristotele Fioravanti [...] architect and engineer of the Municipality of Bologna, very skilled in regulating water and designing new hydraulic works… - Guido Zucchini

Towards C.E.1199, Bologna saw the two most singular and famous towers rise simultaneously: slender and vibrant, like a sword pointed towards the sky, the one built by the Asinelli and thrown upwards for more than ninety-seven meters above a square base of approximately eight meters on each side; slightly less wide, still resting on a base covered with selenite blocks, but inclined towards the east and unfinished due to the subsidence of the land, that of the Garisendi, who in the new competition of noble emulation had to stop the construction of the symbol of their strength. (pp. 28-30)

[...] if the decorations of the candlesticks and the capitals and moldings are due to Tuscan stonecutters, the architectural ensemble of the [del Podestà] palace appears to be the creation of a local craftsman who, in designing the model, had guided by the technical needs of the construction, the new renaissance forms and especially the design of the pilasters imported from Pagno di Lapo and finally some purely local uses, such as that of placing small circular windows in the frieze to illuminate the large and traditional flat ceiling rich in carved wood and paintings. (p. 83)

As the towers thickened, the great bell tower of San Pietro was added to the marvelous group of two hundred dark brick piers, built by Alberto, inzigniero of the Municipality and the Chapter in pure Romanesque style: at his feet the bishop Enrico della Fratta raised his episcopal seat by adorning it with a very high portico with round columns and circular arches. (pp. 38-39)