Italian Baroque architecture
Encyclopedia
Italian
Baroque architecture
refers to baroque architecture in Italy:
of the basilica
with crossed dome and nave
. One of the first Roman structures to break with the Mannerist conventions exemplified in the Gesù
, was the church of Santa Susanna
, designed by Carlo Maderno
. The dynamic rhythm of columns and pilasters, central massing, and the protrusion and condensed central decoration add complexity to the structure. There is an incipient playfulness with the rules of classic design, still maintaining rigor. They had domed roofs.
The same emphasis on plasticity, continuity and dramatic effects is evident in the work of Pietro da Cortona
, illustrated by San Luca e Santa Martina (1635) and Santa Maria della Pace
(1656). The latter building, with concave wings devised to simulate a theatrical set, presses forward to fill a tiny piazza in front of it. Other Roman ensembles of the period are likewise suffused with theatricality, dominating the surrounding cityscape as a sort of theatrical environment.
Probably the best known example of such an approach is trapezoidal Saint Peter's Square
, which has been praised as a masterstroke of Baroque theatre. The square is shaped by two colonnades, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
on an unprecedented colossal scale to suit the space and provide emotions of awe. Bernini's own favourite design was the polychromatic oval church of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale
(1658), which, with its lofty altar and soaring dome, provides a concentrated sampling of the new architecture. His idea of the Baroque townhouse is typified by the Palazzo Barberini
(1629) and Palazzo Chigi-Odescalchi (1664), both in Rome.
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 diminutive 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 would disseminate 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 the ideas of Borromini. 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
.
The last phase of Baroque architecture in Italy is exemplified by Luigi Vanvitelli
's Caserta Palace
, reputedly the largest building erected in Europe in the 18th century. Indebted to contemporary French and Spanish models, the palace is skillfully related to the landscape. At Naples and Caserta, Vanvitelli practiced a sober classicizing academic style, with equal attention to aesthetics
and engineering, a style that would make an easy transition to Neoclassicism
.
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 mask
s 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 earthquake in 1693
. Previously, the Baroque style had been used on the island in a naïve and parochial
manner, having evolved from hybrid
native architecture rather than being derived from the great Baroque architects of Rome. After the earthquake, local architects, many of them trained in Rome, were given plentiful opportunities to recreate the more sophisticated Baroque architecture that had become popular in mainland Italy; the work of these local architects — and the new genre of architectural engraving
s that they pioneered — inspired more local architects to follow their lead. Around 1730, Sicilian architects had developed a confidence in their use of the Baroque style. Their particular interpretation led to further evolution to a personalised and highly localised art form on the island. From the 1780s onwards, the style was gradually replaced by the newly-fashionable neoclassicism
.
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
into whose hands ownership of the primarily agricultural economy was highly concentrated. Its Baroque architecture gives the island an architectural character that has lasted into the 21st century.
In the north of Italy, notably Turin
, the monarchs from the House of Savoy
were particularly receptive to the new style. They employed a brilliant triad of architects—Guarino Guarini, Filippo Juvarra
and Bernardo Vittone
—to illustrate the grandiose political ambitions and the newly acquired royal status of their dynasty.
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 Rococo
. Although his practice ranged well beyond Turin
, Juvarra's most arresting designs were created for Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia
. The visual impact of his Basilica di Superga (1717) derives from its soaring roofline and masterful placement on a hill above Turin. Rustic ambience encouraged a freer articulation of architectural form at the royal hunting lodge of the Palazzina di Stupinigi (1729). Juvarra finished his short but eventful career in Madrid, where he worked on the royal palaces at La Granja
and Aranjuez
.
Among the many who were profoundly influenced by the brilliance and diversity of Juvarra and Guarini none was more important than Bernardo Vittone
. This Piedmontese architect is remembered for an outcrop of flamboyant Rococo
churches, quatrefoil in plan and delicate in detailing. His sophisticated designs often feature multiple vaults, structures within structures and domes within domes.
(1584-1658) was the most important Milanese
architect.
Between 1607 and 1630 he built the Church of San Giuseppe, which, like Chiesa del Gesu in Rome, was meant to practice the excess over the Mannerism academic vogue until then.
Richini introduced a combined plant, consisting of two central areas derived from Church of St. Alexander, also in Milan; plastic effect is also notable for the facade, decorated by a series of overlapping niches.
Subsequently in 1627 devoted himself to the front College Elvetico (now the seat of 'State Archives), Where he aimed at an integration between interior and exterior through a prospectus concave the interesting solutions, anticipate certain themes expressed by BorrominiConfirms Richini as one of the greatest architects of the early Baroque.
Venetian Baroque according to local practice e vide in Baldassarre Longhena (1598-1682) il suo principale esponente. and saw Baldassarre Longhena (1598--1682) Its principal exponent. He, after pestilence of 1630 began the construction of Church of Santa Maria della Salute, Using a central plan. Octagonal body of the basilica, Longhena added a sanctuary bordered on either side by two abisdi and this solution, similar to that adopted by Andrea Palladio
in the Church of the Redeemer strengthens the longitudinal axis of the temple, which in fact became the central body in the proper nave. The baroque style of the temple is evident in the conformation of the external mass, located along the scenically Grand Canal: The octagonal body, covered by a large dome are flanked by the crown of the shrine and two bell towers. Furthermore, the imposing arch facade which finds correspondence in the shape of the interior spaces, reinforces the presence of the longitudinal axis.
Longhena also tried his hand in the civic: its Ca' Pesaro
presents a scheme apparently conventional, but the play of light and shadows that are set on richly ornate facade leads to a plasticity typically Baroque.
In any case, the exasperation of the details of plastic Longhena peaked in the facade of Church dell'Ospedaletto (completed in Seventies of 17th century), Decorated with a fanciful and rich apparatus consists telamons, giant heads and lion masks.
This solution was taken up by Bartholomew White (1590--1657) In what may be considered his masterpiece: The college of Jesuits, who later became the headquarters of the University of Genoa
(1634, approximately). The building has a U-shaped plan, but compared to previous shows greater permeability between the inside and the yard, in fact, using the conformation of the very steep terrain, white created a unique urban scenery, with a porch as wide as the yard and a series of overlapping arches and stairways.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
refers to baroque architecture in Italy:
Rome
The sacred architecture of the Baroque period had its beginnings in the Italian paradigmParadigm
The word paradigm has been used in science to describe distinct concepts. It comes from Greek "παράδειγμα" , "pattern, example, sample" from the verb "παραδείκνυμι" , "exhibit, represent, expose" and that from "παρά" , "beside, beyond" + "δείκνυμι" , "to show, to point out".The original Greek...
of the basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
with crossed dome and nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
. One of the first Roman structures to break with the Mannerist conventions exemplified in the Gesù
Church of the Gesu
The Church of the Gesù is the mother church of the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic religious order also known as the Jesuits. Officially named , its facade is "the first truly baroque façade", introducing the baroque style into architecture ,. The church served as model for innumerable Jesuit...
, was the church of Santa Susanna
Santa Susanna
The Church of Saint Susanna at the baths of Diocletian is a Roman Catholic parish church on the Quirinal Hill in Rome, with a titulus associated to its site that dates back to about 280...
, designed by Carlo Maderno
Carlo Maderno
Carlo Maderno was a Swiss-Italian architect, born in Ticino, who is remembered as one of the fathers of Baroque architecture. His façades of Santa Susanna, St. Peter's Basilica and Sant'Andrea della Valle were of key importance in the evolution of the Italian Baroque...
. The dynamic rhythm of columns and pilasters, central massing, and the protrusion and condensed central decoration add complexity to the structure. There is an incipient playfulness with the rules of classic design, still maintaining rigor. They had domed roofs.
The same emphasis on plasticity, continuity and dramatic effects is evident in the work of Pietro da Cortona
Pietro da Cortona
Pietro da Cortona, by the name of Pietro Berrettini, born Pietro Berrettini da Cortona, was the leading Italian Baroque painter of his time and also one of the key architects in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture. He was also an important decorator...
, illustrated by San Luca e Santa Martina (1635) and Santa Maria della Pace
Santa Maria della Pace
Santa Maria della Pace is a church in Rome, central Italy, not far from Piazza Navona.The current building was built on the foundations of the pre-existing church of Sant'Andrea de Aquarizariis in 1482, commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV. The church was rededicated to the Virgin Mary to remember a...
(1656). The latter building, with concave wings devised to simulate a theatrical set, presses forward to fill a tiny piazza in front of it. Other Roman ensembles of the period are likewise suffused with theatricality, dominating the surrounding cityscape as a sort of theatrical environment.
Probably the best known example of such an approach is trapezoidal Saint Peter's Square
Saint Peter's Square
Saint Peter's Square is located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave within Rome .-History of St...
, which has been praised as a masterstroke of Baroque theatre. The square is shaped by two colonnades, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect...
on an unprecedented colossal scale to suit the space and provide emotions of awe. Bernini's own favourite design was the polychromatic oval church of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale
Sant'Andrea al Quirinale
The Church of Saint Andrew's at the Quirinal is a Roman Catholic titular church in Rome, built for of the Jesuit seminary on the Quirinal Hill....
(1658), which, with its lofty altar and soaring dome, provides a concentrated sampling of the new architecture. His idea of the Baroque townhouse is typified by the Palazzo Barberini
Palazzo Barberini
Palazzo Barberini is a palace in Rome, facing the piazza of the same name in Rione Trevi and is home to the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica.-History:...
(1629) and Palazzo Chigi-Odescalchi (1664), both in Rome.
Francesco Borromini
Francesco Borromini, byname of Francesco Castelli was an architect from Ticino who, with his contemporaries, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Pietro da Cortona, was a leading figure in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture.A keen student of the architecture of Michelangelo and the ruins of...
, 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
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
. His iconic masterpiece is the diminutive church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
The Church of Saint Charles at the Four Fountains is a Roman Catholic church in Rome, Italy. Designed by the architect Francesco Borromini, it was his first independent commission. It is an iconic masterpiece of Baroque architecture, built as part of a complex of monastic buildings on the Quirinal...
, distinguished by a corrugated oval plan and complex convex-concave rhythms. A later work, Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza
Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza
The Church of Saint Yves at La Sapienza is a Roman Catholic church in Rome. The church is considered a masterpiece of Roman Baroque church architecture, built in 1642-1660 by the architect Francesco Borromini.- History :...
, 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
Carlo Fontana
Carlo Fontana was an Italian architect, who was in part responsible for the classicizing direction taken by Late Baroque Roman architecture.-Biography:...
emerged as the most influential architect working in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. His early style is exemplified by the slightly concave façade of San Marcello al Corso
San Marcello al Corso
San Marcello al Corso is a church in Rome, Italy, devoted to Pope Marcellus I. It is located in via del Corso, the ancient via Lata, connecting Piazza Venezia to Piazza del Popolo....
). 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 would disseminate the Baroque idioms throughout 18th-century Europe.
The 18th century saw the capital of Europe's architectural world transferred from Rome to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The Italian Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
, which flourished in Rome from the 1720s onward, was profoundly influenced by the ideas of Borromini. The most talented architects active in Rome — Francesco de Sanctis
Francesco de Sanctis (architect)
Francesco De Sanctis was a late Baroque Italian architect, most notable for his design of the Spanish Steps in Rome in collaboration with Alessandro Specchi...
(Spanish Steps
Spanish Steps
The Spanish Steps are a set of steps in Rome, Italy, climbing a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church at the top. The Scalinata is the widest staircase in Europe...
, 1723) and Filippo Raguzzini
Filippo Raguzzini
Filippo Raguzzini was an Italian architect best known for a range of buildings constructed during the reign of Benedict XIII.-Biography:...
(Piazza Sant'Ignazio, 1727) — had little influence outside their native country, as did numerous practitioners of the Sicilian Baroque
Sicilian Baroque
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 17th and 18th centuries...
, including Giovanni Battista Vaccarini
Giovanni Battista Vaccarini
Giovanni Battista Vaccarini was an Italian architect, notable for his work in the Sicilian Baroque style in his homeland during the period of massive rebuilding following the earthquake of 1693. Many of his principal works can be found in the area in and around Catania.- Biography :Vaccarini was...
, Andrea Palma
Andrea Palma
Andrea Palma was an 18th century Sicilian architect, working in the Baroque style. He is credited with being one of the most notable architects of the Sicilian Baroque movement....
, and Giuseppe Venanzio Marvuglia
Giuseppe Venanzio Marvuglia
Giuseppe Venanzio Marvuglia was an Italian architect.He received his first training in his native Palermo. This was followed by a period in Rome from 1747 to 1759...
.
Naples
Luigi Vanvitelli
Luigi Vanvitelli was an Italian engineer and architect. The most prominent 18th-century architect of Italy, he practiced a sober classicizing academic Late Baroque style that made an easy transition to Neoclassicism.-Biography:Vanvitelli was born at Naples, the son of a Dutch painter of land and...
's Caserta Palace
Caserta Palace
The Royal Palace of Caserta is a former royal residence in Caserta, southern Italy, constructed for the Bourbon kings of Naples. It was the largest palace and one of the largest buildings erected in Europe during the 18th century...
, reputedly the largest building erected in Europe in the 18th century. Indebted to contemporary French and Spanish models, the palace is skillfully related to the landscape. At Naples and Caserta, Vanvitelli practiced a sober classicizing academic style, with equal attention to aesthetics
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
and engineering, a style that would make an easy transition to Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
.
Sicily
Sicilian Baroque
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 17th and 18th centuries...
is the distinctive form of Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
that took hold on the island of Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, 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 mask
Mask
A mask is an article normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance or entertainment. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes...
s and putti
Putto
A putto is a figure of an infant often depicted as a young male. Putti are defined as chubby, winged or wingless, male child figure in nude. Putti are distinct from cherubim, but some English-speakers confuse them with each other, except that in the plural, "the Cherubim" refers to the biblical...
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 earthquake in 1693
1693 Sicily earthquake
The 1693 Sicily earthquake refers to a powerful earthquake that struck parts of southern Italy, notably Sicily, Calabria and Malta on January 11, 1693 around 9 pm local time. This earthquake was preceded by a damaging foreshock on January 9th...
. Previously, the Baroque style had been used on the island in a naïve and parochial
Parochialism
Parochialism means being provincial, being narrow in scope, or considering only small sections of an issue. It may, particularly when used pejoratively, be contrasted to universalism....
manner, having evolved from hybrid
Cross-genre
A cross-genre is a genre in fiction that blends themes and elements from two or more different genres.-Examples:*Action comedy *Comedy-drama or dramedy *Comedy-horror...
native architecture rather than being derived from the great Baroque architects of Rome. After the earthquake, local architects, many of them trained in Rome, were given plentiful opportunities to recreate the more sophisticated Baroque architecture that had become popular in mainland Italy; the work of these local architects — and the new genre of architectural engraving
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
s that they pioneered — inspired more local architects to follow their lead. Around 1730, Sicilian architects had developed a confidence in their use of the Baroque style. Their particular interpretation led to further evolution to a personalised and highly localised art form on the island. From the 1780s onwards, the style was gradually replaced by the newly-fashionable neoclassicism
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
.
The highly decorative Sicilian Baroque period lasted barely fifty years, and perfectly reflected the social order
Social order
Social order is a concept used in sociology, history and other social sciences. It refers to a set of linked social structures, social institutions and social practices which conserve, maintain and enforce "normal" ways of relating and behaving....
of the island at a time when, nominally ruled by Spain, it was in fact governed by a wealthy and often extravagant aristocracy
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
into whose hands ownership of the primarily agricultural economy was highly concentrated. Its Baroque architecture gives the island an architectural character that has lasted into the 21st century.
Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, the monarchs from the House of Savoy
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...
were particularly receptive to the new style. They employed a brilliant triad of architects—Guarino Guarini, Filippo Juvarra
Filippo Juvarra
Filippo Juvarra was an Italian architect and stage set designer.-Biography:Filippo Juvarra was an Italian Baroque architect working in the early part of the eighteenth century. He was born in Messina, Sicily, to a family of goldsmiths and engravers...
and Bernardo Vittone
Bernardo Vittone
Bernardo Antonio Vittone was an Italian architect and writer. He was one of the three most important Baroque architects active in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy; the other two were Filippo Juvarra and Guarino Guarini. The youngest of the three, Vittone was the only one who was born in the...
—to illustrate the grandiose political ambitions and the newly acquired royal status of their dynasty.
Guarini was a peripatetic monk who combined many traditions (including that of Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance 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
Palazzo Carignano
The Palazzo Carignano is a historical building in the centre of Turin, Italy, which currently houses the Museum of the Risorgimento. It was once a private residence of the Princes of Carignano, after whom it is named. It is famous for its unique rounded façade...
(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 Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
. Although his practice ranged well beyond Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, Juvarra's most arresting designs were created for Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia
Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia
Victor Amadeus II was Duke of Savoy from 1675 to 1730. He also held the titles of marquis of Saluzzo, duke of Montferrat, prince of Piedmont, count of Aosta, Moriana and Nizza. Louis XIV organised his marriage in order to maintain French influence in the Duchy but Victor Amadeus soon broke away...
. The visual impact of his Basilica di Superga (1717) derives from its soaring roofline and masterful placement on a hill above Turin. Rustic ambience encouraged a freer articulation of architectural form at the royal hunting lodge of the Palazzina di Stupinigi (1729). Juvarra finished his short but eventful career in Madrid, where he worked on the royal palaces at La Granja
La Granja (palace)
The Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso is an 18th century palace in the small town of San Ildefonso in the hills near Segovia, 80 km north of Madrid, central Spain, formerly the summer residence of the Kings of Spain since the reign of Philip V...
and Aranjuez
Palacio Real de Aranjuez
The Royal Palace of Aranjuez is a residence of the King of Spain, located in the town of Aranjuez, Community of Madrid, Spain. The palace is open to the public as one of the Spanish royal sites....
.
Among the many who were profoundly influenced by the brilliance and diversity of Juvarra and Guarini none was more important than Bernardo Vittone
Bernardo Vittone
Bernardo Antonio Vittone was an Italian architect and writer. He was one of the three most important Baroque architects active in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy; the other two were Filippo Juvarra and Guarino Guarini. The youngest of the three, Vittone was the only one who was born in the...
. This Piedmontese architect is remembered for an outcrop of flamboyant Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
churches, quatrefoil in plan and delicate in detailing. His sophisticated designs often feature multiple vaults, structures within structures and domes within domes.
Milan
Francesco Maria RichiniFrancesco Maria Richini
thumb|250px|The inner court of Palazzo Brera in Milan.Francesco Maria Richini was an Italian Baroque architect....
(1584-1658) was the most important Milanese
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
architect.
Between 1607 and 1630 he built the Church of San Giuseppe, which, like Chiesa del Gesu in Rome, was meant to practice the excess over the Mannerism academic vogue until then.
Richini introduced a combined plant, consisting of two central areas derived from Church of St. Alexander, also in Milan; plastic effect is also notable for the facade, decorated by a series of overlapping niches.
Subsequently in 1627 devoted himself to the front College Elvetico (now the seat of 'State Archives), Where he aimed at an integration between interior and exterior through a prospectus concave the interesting solutions, anticipate certain themes expressed by BorrominiConfirms Richini as one of the greatest architects of the early Baroque.
Venice
Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio was an architect active in the Republic of Venice. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily by Vitruvius, is widely considered the most influential individual in the history of Western architecture...
in the Church of the Redeemer strengthens the longitudinal axis of the temple, which in fact became the central body in the proper nave. The baroque style of the temple is evident in the conformation of the external mass, located along the scenically Grand Canal: The octagonal body, covered by a large dome are flanked by the crown of the shrine and two bell towers. Furthermore, the imposing arch facade which finds correspondence in the shape of the interior spaces, reinforces the presence of the longitudinal axis.
Longhena also tried his hand in the civic: its Ca' Pesaro
Ca' Pesaro
The Ca' Pesaro is a baroque marble palace facing the Grand Canal of Venice.Originally designed by Baldassarre Longhena in mid-17th century, the construction was completed by Gian Antonio Gaspari in 1710...
presents a scheme apparently conventional, but the play of light and shadows that are set on richly ornate facade leads to a plasticity typically Baroque.
In any case, the exasperation of the details of plastic Longhena peaked in the facade of Church dell'Ospedaletto (completed in Seventies of 17th century), Decorated with a fanciful and rich apparatus consists telamons, giant heads and lion masks.
Genoa
To Genoa Baroque architecture was translated, since the end of Sixteenth century, in a series of large buildings that critics have counted among the most important of the Italian landscape. Among these was the Palazzo Doria Tursi, where planimetric configuration of the vestibule, combined with the highest indoor garden through a wide staircase, denounces the presence of a movement in depth.This solution was taken up by Bartholomew White (1590--1657) In what may be considered his masterpiece: The college of Jesuits, who later became the headquarters of the University of Genoa
University of Genoa
The University of Genoa is one of the largest universities in Italy.Located in Liguria on the Italian Riviera, the university was founded in 1471. It currently has about 40,000 students, 1,800 teaching and research staff and about 1,580 administrative staff.- Campus :The University of Genoa is...
(1634, approximately). The building has a U-shaped plan, but compared to previous shows greater permeability between the inside and the yard, in fact, using the conformation of the very steep terrain, white created a unique urban scenery, with a porch as wide as the yard and a series of overlapping arches and stairways.