Italian Baroque architecture
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Italian Baroque architecture refers to Baroque architecture in Italy.
Central Italy
Rome
The Baroque architecture period began in the Italian period of the
The same emphasis on plasticity, continuity and dramatic effects is evident in the work of
Probably the best known example of such an approach is trapezoidal
Bernini's chief rival in the papal capital was Francesco Borromini, whose designs deviate from the regular compositions of the ancient world and Renaissance even more dramatically. Acclaimed by later generations as a revolutionary in architecture, Borromini condemned the anthropomorphic approach of the 16th century, choosing to base his designs on complicated geometric figures (modules). Borromini's architectural space seems to expand and contract when needed, showing some affinity with the late style of Michelangelo. His iconic masterpiece is the church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, distinguished by a corrugated oval plan and complex convex-concave rhythms. A later work, Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza, displays the same antipathy to the flat surface and playful inventiveness, epitomized by a corkscrew lantern dome.
Following the death of Bernini in 1680, Carlo Fontana emerged as the most influential architect working in Rome. His early style is exemplified by the slightly concave façade of San Marcello al Corso. Fontana's academic approach, though lacking in the dazzling inventiveness of his Roman predecessors, exerted substantial influence on Baroque architecture both through his prolific writings and through a number of architects whom he trained and who disseminated the Baroque idioms throughout 18th-century Europe.
The 18th century saw the capital of Europe's architectural world transferred from Rome to Paris. The Italian Rococo, which flourished in Rome from the 1720s onward, was profoundly influenced by Borromini's ideas. The most talented architects active in Rome – Francesco de Sanctis (Spanish Steps, 1723) and Filippo Raguzzini (Piazza Sant'Ignazio , 1727) – had little influence outside their native country, as did numerous practitioners of the Sicilian Baroque, including Giovanni Battista Vaccarini, Andrea Palma, and Giuseppe Venanzio Marvuglia.
Southern Italy
Naples
The last phase of Baroque architecture in Italy is exemplified by
Sicily
Sicilian Baroque is the distinctive form of Baroque architecture that took hold on the island of Sicily, off the southern coast of Italy, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The style is recognizable not only by its typical Baroque curves and flourishes, but also by its grinning masks and putti and a particular flamboyance that has given Sicily a unique architectural identity.
The Sicilian Baroque style came to fruition during a major surge of rebuilding following a massive
The highly decorative Sicilian Baroque period lasted barely fifty years, and perfectly reflected the social order of the island at a time when, nominally ruled by Spain, it was in fact governed by a wealthy and often extravagant aristocracy, who controlled the primarily agricultural economy. Its Baroque architecture gives the island an architectural character used well into the 21st century.
North Italy
Turin
In the north of Italy, notably
Guarini was a peripatetic monk who combined many traditions (including that of Gothic architecture) to create irregular structures remarkable for their oval columns and unconventional façades. Building upon the findings of contemporary geometry and stereotomy, Guarini elaborated the concept of architectura obliqua, which approximated Borromini's style in both theoretical and structural audacity. Guarini's Palazzo Carignano (1679) may have been the most flamboyant application of the Baroque style to the design of a private house in the 17th century.
Fluid forms, weightless details and airy prospects of Juvarra's architecture anticipated the art of
Among the many who were profoundly influenced by the brilliance and diversity of Juvarra and Guarini, the most prominent was
Milan
Francesco Maria Richini (1584–1658) was the most important Milanese architect.[1]
Between 1607 and 1630 he built the Church of
Subsequently, in 1627 he devoted himself to the façade of the Collegio Elvetico (now the seat of Archivio di Stato), where he aimed at an integration between the interior and exterior through a concave prospectus. This interesting solution, possibly the first curved façade of the Baroque period, predates certain themes later expressed by Borromini, and confirms Richini as one of the greatest architects of the early Baroque.[2]
Venice
The Venetian Baroque, according to local practice,[3] saw Baldassarre Longhena (1598–1682) as its principal exponent.[4] After the pestilence of 1630, he began the construction of the Church of Santa Maria della Salute, using a central plan. In the octagonal body of the basilica, Longhena added a sanctuary bordered on either side by two apses, similar to that adopted by Andrea Palladio in Il Redentore; this solution strengthens the longitudinal axis of the temple, which in fact became the central body in the proper nave. The Baroque style of the church is evident in the conformation of the external mass, located along the Grand Canal: the octagonal body, covered by a large dome, is flanked by the crown of the shrine and two bell towers.
Longhena also worked within civic architecture; its Ca' Pesaro presents a seemingly conventional plan, but the play of light and shadows that are set on the richly ornate façade leads to a typically Baroque style.
In any case, the exasperation of Loghena's plastic art details peaked in the façade of Santa Maria dei Derelitti (completed in the 1670s), decorated in a fancy and rich way with atlantes, giant heads and lion masks.
Genoa
In
This solution was taken up by
See also
References
- ^ a b N. Pevsner, J. Fleming, H. Honour, Dizionario di architettura, cit., voce Richini, Francesco Maria.
- ^ C. Norberg - Schulz, Architettura Barocca, cit., p. 147.
- ^ C. Norberg - Schulz, Architettura Barocca, cit., p. 183.
- ^ N. Pevsner, J. Fleming, H. Honour, Dizionario di architettura, cit., voce Longhena, Baldassarre.
- ^ N. Pevsner, J. Fleming, H. Honour, Dizionario di architettura, cit., voce Italia.
- ^ C. Norberg - Schulz, Architettura Barocca, cit., p. 146.