Francesco Borromini
Francesco Borromini (Bissone near Lugano, Switzerland, September 25 1599 – August 3 1667 in Rome) was a Baroque architect, and active in Rome alongside the more prolific papal architect, Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
Borromini (anonymous youth portrait) Son of stone mason Giovanni Domenico Castelli, Borromini began his career as a stone mason himself, and soon moved to Milan to study and practice this activity. When in Rome (1619) he changed his name (from Castelli to Borromini) and started working for Carlo Maderno, his distant relative, at St. Peter's. When Maderno died in 1629, he joined the group of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, with whom he completed Maderno's Palazzo Barberini.
In 1634, his first individual commission was the reconstruction of the church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (some authors say it is here that he changed his name). The small church is master conceit of Roman baroque, with undulating elements in the façade, and similar complex geometric rhythms that disrupt the box-like quality of the nave. It is far more bold in geometric intricacy, and yet less decorative than Bernini's Sant'Andrea al Quirinale which lies just down the street.
Borromini's works include:
For Sant'Agnese in Agone, he reverted the original plan of Girolamo Rainaldi (and his son Carlo Rainaldi), which previously had its main entrance on Via di Santa Maria dell'Anima. The façade was expanded to include parts of the bordering Pamphilii palace, gaining space for the two bell towers (each of which has a clock, as in St. Peter's, one for Roman time, the other for tempo ultramontano, European time).
Borromini lost this commission before completion due to the death of the Pope Innocent X in 1655. The new Pope, Alexander VII, and Prince Camillo Pamphili called back Rainaldi, but this one didn't change very much and the church is mainly considered a notable expression of Borromini's concepts.
Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza, courtyard and façade. From 1640-1650, he worked on the design of a the church of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza and its courtyard, near University of Rome La Sapienza (see figure). The site, like many in cramped Rome, is challenged for external perspectives. The dome and cochlear steeple are peculiar, and reflect the idiosyncratic architectural motifs that distinguish Borromini from contemporaries. Inside, the nave has an unusual centralized plan circled by alternating concave and convex cornices, leading to a dome decorated with linear arrays of stars and putti. The fusion of feverish baroque excesses with a rationalistic geometry is a excellent match for a church in a papal institution of higher learning. He is purported to be a strong influence on the Turin architect, Camillo-Guarino Guarini.
He was also called "Bissone", by the place in which he was born.
In the summer of 1667, Borromini, suffering from nervous disorders and depression, committed suicide after the completion of the Falconieri chapel (the main chapel) in San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, where he was buried.
Francesco Borromini was featured on the 100 Swiss Franc banknote current in the 1980s.
The primary inscription on Borromini's tomb, in San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, reads:
FRANCISCVS BORROMINI TICINENSIS
EQVES CHRISTI
QVI
IMPERITVRAE MEMORIAE ARCHITECTVS
DIVINAM ARTIS SVAE VIM
AD ROMAM MAGNIFICIS AEDIFICIIS EXORNANDAM VERTIT
IN QVIBUS
ORATORIVM PHILLIPINVM S. IVO S. AGNES IN AGONE
INSTAVRATA LATERANENSIS ARCHIBASILICA
S. ANDREAS DELLE FRATTE NVNCVPATUM
S. CAROLVS IN QVIRINALI
AEDES DE PROPADANDA FIDE
HOC AVTEM IPSVM TEMPLVM
ARA MAXIMA DECORAVIT
NON LONGE AB HOC LAPIDE
PROPE MORTALES CAROLI MADERNI EXUVVIAS
PROPINQVI MVNICIPIS ET AEMVLI SVI
IN PACE DOMINI QVIESCIT
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