Francesco Borromini

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Francesco Borromini

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Francesco Borromini , 1599-1677, major Italian baroque architect. His first independent commission (begun 1634) was San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome, one of the masterpieces of the Roman baroque. The church is noted for its undulating rhythm of architectural elements within a basically geometric plan. In 1642 he began the designs for Sant' Ivo della Sapienza, Rome, a dynamic hexagonal structure. He was also entrusted with the reconstruction of St. John the Lateran, as well as the completion of Sant' Agnese in the Piazza Navona and Sant' Andrea della Fratte. Borromini's innovations in palace as well as church design had a tremendous influence in Italy and northern Europe.

Bibliography: See studies by A. Blunt (1979) and Connors (1980).

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Borromini, Francesco

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | © World Encyclopedia 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Borromini, Francesco (1599–1667) Italian Baroque architect. Borromini was the most inventive figure of the three masters of Roman Baroque (the others were Bernini and Pietro da Cortona). His hallmark was a dynamic hexagonal design based on intersecting equilateral triangles and circles, such as the spectacular Sant'Ivo della Sapienza (begun 1642). His masterpieces include San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1638–41) and Sant'Agnese in Piazza Navona (1653–55).

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Newspaper article from: The Washington Times; 5/12/1996; ; 700+ words ; ...fell on his sword and died, Francesco Borromini had not quite completed the San...Baroque imagination. The facade of Borromini's small church combined convex...blurred to mimic the energy of Borromini's design. It is one more illustration...
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