Francesco Borromini (1599-1667)

Tomb of Cardinal Giussano Borromini After 1655 The Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome

- Asked to reorganize tombs of Popes in the basilica - Removes altars + burials --> creates new frame for them - Showcases his love of novelty and detail - Bernini accuses Borromini of extravagant goth who corrupted architecture - Starts an architectural revolution with this controversy - Faulty proportions, breaking up elements (chimerical)

Oratory Borromini 1650-53 San Filippo Neri

- Assembly hall - Behind the brick facade - Straight forward ground plan - Web-like vaulting system - Solves mechanical problem

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane Façade Borromini 1633-77

- Borromini's first major independent commission, receives it because of his Palazzo work - Tiny plot of land on a corner of a street - Short funds as are most of his clients, need to est. a monastery (courtyard, library, cells, church, etc.) - Borromini works on this site off and on - Same site as Bernini's St. Andrea (sense of rivalry) - Both felt compelled to address one another's works - Building history is long, with the upper part of the facade completed only after Borromini's death - Three bays, facing the street, and the second facade (see above), a narrow bay at the corner with its own tower, were designed years after the interior was completed - Most sources believe that the top heavy look of the top half is a result of Borromini's nephew's taking over the project in about 1675-77 - The lower story has three bays, two outer concave bays and a convex center. - - Upper story has concave bays - Lower bays united by continuous entablature, the upper bays have an entablature in sections, the central one with the oval medallion swinging forward. Angels, asymmetrically placed, hold the medallion which has an onion-shaped crown. - Limited space like Bernini's Sant'Andrea (rival of him) - Wave, angulating surface - Balance between convex and concave = hallmark of his architecture - Approaches it by trying to figure out how a viewer would approach the building (evident through his sketches)

Prospettiva Borromini 1652 Palazzo Spada

- False perspective hallway within building - Didn't create building - Lives near building - Folly-fake hallway - Appears to extend into distance, illusionistic - Works with a mathematician

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane Cloister Borromini 1633-77

- He begins with the cloister (accessible by the street) - Fountain in the middle - The space is longer along the entrance axis than it is wide, but the rectangular ordering is interrupted by cutting the corners so it could also be understood as an elongated octagon. - Working with limited funds and freedom but nonetheless still trying to create a highly original inventive space - Traces over drawings in pen that he likes

Francesco Borromini

- Italian Baroque architect - Developed an inventive and distinctive, if somewhat idiosyncratic, architecture employing manipulations of Classical architectural forms, geometrical rationales in his plans and symbolic meanings in his building - Melancholic and quick in temper which resulted in him withdrawing from certain jobs - Flowing, organic feel that contrasts the strict linearity of the Renaissance, emphasizing shapes like ovals over squares or rectangles - It was also characterized by a sense of the dramatic and a heavy use of elaborate ornamentation. - Studied Michelangelo's architecture, appreciated the shapes in his structures - Known for taking the Classical elements of architecture (those of ancient Greece and Rome) that were so popular in the Renaissance, and molding them into new form - Innovative and organic - Obsessively precise draftsmanship and brilliant grasp of perspective and spatial relationships --> ideally suited for the purpose of making detailed demonstration renderings - Rule-breaker -- never had a workshop or a school unlike Bernini

Counter-Facade Borromini 1646-55 The Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome

- Mother church of Catholicism - One of the most important structures - Wear and tear they needed to fix - Thought he was the new Bramante when asked to commission this - As little time and $$ as possible - Able to systematize critical areas but he's not able to start from scratch - Simply cosmetic repairs

Façade Borromini Begun 1638 San Filippo Neri

- Mother church of order - Same time working on San Carlo - Asked to do the facade (brick because of lack of funds) - Trying to revive brick building style - Humble, cheap - Makes sure it doesn't overpower the San Carlo (humble contrast) - Designing everything from the ground-up

Side Aisles Borromini 1646-55 The Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome

- Ornate arched aisles --> characteristically Borrominian

Entry Narthex Borromini 1646-55 The Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome

- Redoes inner-facade of the basilica - Same twisting of bays as usual - Technical interventions - Making the walls firm again but inserts his unique touch

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane Interior Borromini 1633-77

- Science of mathematics meshed - Undulating oval - Circles inscribed within triangles (motif throughout the church) - sophisticated interconnection of geometrical shapes - Geometrical complexity resolves in a perfect number --> dome - Paradox of imagination and fantasy and emotion on the one hand and on the other, intellect resolve in the end - Renaissance-like = involving us intellectually (pondering shapes, geometrics, etc.) - Detailed painstaking stone cutting (clear in capitals and flowers and cherubs) - Ornate cherubs - Small, tight - Giant ordered columns supporting four niches that support an oval dome - Two different categories of columns: 1) Minor columns that frame the altarpice 2) Major load bearing columns - Not just decorative but also allows us to understand the different functions and how the construction works - "restless movement" characterizes the building - Boromini studied seashells then translated them to the structure - Sense of expansion of the dome that counteracts the compactness of the church (heavy cornice that juts out (illusionistic), narrowing))

Façade design for Palazzo Pamphilj Borromini 1645 Vatican

- Symmetrical plan centering on grand entrance - Colossal orders - Marked second floor as most important because it's framed by a motif (selida) - Borromini is pushed aside and project is given to Girolamo

Preparatory Drawings for the Facade of Palazzo Barberini Borromini 1627-31 Pen and Ink Sketch

- Translates Moderno's ideas into reality - Moderno (commissioner) commissions Borromini and Bernini to construct this Palazzo - Modern does and then a battle ensues between Bernini and Borromini - Borromini assigne dot finish top floor (classic looking window frame, classical ornaments, entablature based on dimensions of window but edges are bent 45 degrees which is a gesture that he repeats in all of his buildings, gives the building movement and character)

Preparatory Drawings for the Baldacchino in St. Peter's Borromini 1624-31 Pen and Ink Sketch St. Peter's Basilica, Rome

- Translates Moderno's ideas into reality - Shows how complicated bronze spiral will look in the end - First makes rough tiny sketches and then larger format sketches (very different from Caravaggio who didn't do any preparatory work)

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane Plan Borromini 1633-77

Borromini had to build his church on a highly limited and asymmetrical corner sit (this plan shows the complexity and difficulty of the given space) To squeeze a whole church into the little, strangely shaped area he had to work with, Borromini designed a unique plan. The church, which is only 66 feet wide and 39 feet long, is tucked neatly between pre-existing buildings. Its entrance and primary facade faces Northwest and opens onto a narrow street. A smaller, secondary facade angles off from the main entrance and incorporates one of the four fountains that already stood in the square. Notice Borromini's attention to geometry and detail. Lines, angles and curves all come together in his plan. He combines the primary oval with a hint of a cross, a rather abrupt rectangle for the sacristy and some asymmetrical polygons for chapels and other spaces. His plan makes the most of the church's limited space and still creates a wealth of visual interest.