Carlo Fontana

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For the Italian sculptor, see Carlo Fontana (sculptor).
Carlo Fontana

Carlo Fontana (1634/1638–1714) was an

Canton Ticino, who was in part responsible for the classicizing direction taken by Late Baroque
Roman architecture.

Biography

There seems to be no proof that he belonged to the family of famous architects of the same name, which included Domenico Fontana, although he is sometimes called his great nephew.

Born in Brusato, near

Canton Ticino, Switzerland), Fontana went to Rome before 1655. He became a draughtsman for the architectural plans of Pietro da Cortona, Carlo Rainaldi, and Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Bernini employed him for nearly a decade in diverse projects. He finished Bernini's Palazzo Ludovisi, which had been started for Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, nephew of Pope Gregory XV;[1]
and modified Bernini's plan with the addition of a bell gable above the main entrance.

His first independent project may be the church of San Biagio in Campitelli, completed by 1665. After a fire during the night of Good Friday in 1670 destroyed the roof and part of the interior of the Basilica Cattedrale di Santa Margherita in Montefiascone, the repair and completion of the construction was entrusted to Fontana. Around that time, he also designed the Ginetti Chapel in Sant'Andrea della Valle.

San Marcello al Corso, by Carlo Fontana, 1682–83

The façade at

Innocent XII commissioned Fontana to extend the Ospizio Apostolico di San Michele complex, organized around its church. The first chapel in the south aisle of St. Peter's Basilica
is the baptistry, commissioned by Pope Innocent XII and designed by Fontana.

At the request of

Clement XI he built the public oil depots (Olearie Papali) within the ruins of the Baths of Diocletian[3] He also built a new granary.[4]

In 1702 Fontana restored the façade of Santa Maria in Trastevere, replacing the ancient porch with a sloping tiled roof. He also restored the octagonal fountain in the piazza in front of the church in the Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere.[5] In 1708 he designed the Biblioteca Casanatense at Santa Maria sopra Minerva.

Fontana mainly worked in Rome, assisted by his nephews Girolamo and Francesco Fontana (1668–1708), but he sent a model for the

Jesuit Order was born. This grandiose basilica
was a major influence on the baroque architecture of the New World.

Fontana was an able artist and a good designer, but lacked the innovation that characterized early Baroque architects like Cortona and

Borromini. In addition, he was more successful as an architect than as a writer. By order of Pope Innocent XI, he wrote a diffuse historical description of the Templum Vaticanum (1694), which included his project for completing St. Peter's. In this work Fontana advised the demolition of that dense nest of medieval houses called La Spina which formed a sort of island from Ponte Sant'Angelo to the piazza of St. Peter's; the project was completed under Benito Mussolini, creating the Via della Conciliazione. Fontana made a calculation of the whole expense of St. Peter's from the beginning to 1694, which amounted to 46,800,052 crowns, without including models. He also published works on the Colosseum; the Aqueducts; the inundation of the Tiber, etc. Furthermore, twenty-seven manuscript volumes of his writings and sketches are preserved in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle
.

Fontana was principe of the

Carlo Francesco Bizzaccheri
.

Works in Rome

Santi Apostoli ceiling.
Cybo Chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo.
Utilissimo trattato dell'acque correnti (1696)

References

  1. ^ Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Carlo Fontana". Encyclopedia Britannica
  2. ^ "The Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles", Turismo Roma, Major Events, Sport, Tourism and Fashion Department
  3. ISBN 978-88-918-0313-9
    .
  4. ^ Papal Granaries
  5. ^ Maurizia Tazartes, Fontaines de Rome, (French edition translated from Italian), Citadelles & Mazenot, Paris, 2004, p. 48
  6. ^ "Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina", Turismo Roma, Major Events, Sport, Tourism and Fashion Department
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