San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
Rome, Italy. Francesco Borromini (architect) 1638-1646 C.E. Stone and stucco
He was much criticized as an architect who ignored the rules of the Ancients in favour of whimsy. However it is his clear knowledge of those rules, and the facility and ingenuity with which he manipulated them, which has ensured his reputation as one of the great geniuses in the history of architecture.
Facade with 3 bays
Plan
Two triangles (diamond) inscribed in an oval
Circles inscribed in triangles
Intersecting circles
No right angles—curves
Sophisticated inter connection of geometrical shapes
Musical and mathematical
stacking together three distinct units
undulating lower zone
Middle zone standard Greek cross plan
oval dome
The dome appears to be floating above the interior of the church because its springing point and light sources are concealed by the zone below.
combination of precedent and novelty
complex interweaving rhythms.
- Bold illusionistic effects, achieved by calculated lighting, intensify the space.
Dedicated to St. Charles Borromeo and the Holy Trinity (for the Trinitarians)
- Make a great church within a very small and cramped space
Facade
Undulating waves
Upper part= concave bays
Sectioned entablature
Center = oval held by asymmetrically placed angels
upper facade completed only after Borromini's death
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
Lower stories = 2 outer concave bays and a convex center
United by continuous entablature
central niche above the portal
statue of St. Charles Borromeo by Antonio Raggi
sides are statues of the founders of the Trinitarian order, St. John of Matha and St. Felix of Valois
Dome
Windows at the base add to ethereal effect (@hagia sophia)
coffering= circles with octagonal molding, unequal hexagons, and Greek crosses
Has window of real sunlight where an oculus might be
series of oppositions
lower and upper levels
the center and the edges
tall columns and the smaller niches
Convex and concave
Paradox of imagination/ fantasy/ emotion vs. intellect
Adds to the mystical effect of the church, and describes the mysteriousness of religion
Impact of emotion when you’re there— you don't even realize how incredibly complicated it is
Decorations
Symmetrical
Many carvings (Borromini =stonecutter by trade)
Cherubs
Head and wings but no body
Fills the complex spaces beautifully
Light unifies the space
- Perk of white interior
Characteristic of the Baroque:
Undulating movements and sculptural effects
Eliminated the corner in architecture (almost all corners on this are soft)
Borromini built it basically for free
Very thankful to the trinitarians - his first clients
Also allowed himself full creative freedom
- Because small sometimes called San Carlino alle Quattro Fontane
- In english, “Saint Charles at the Four Fountains”
- Gets name from the intersection it’s on with four fountains, one of each corner Fountain on the corner of the church is preexisting
- depiction of Neptune, also defined as a personification of the Arno River
- Borromini’s first independent commission
- except for the tall facade, which was added about 1677
- Italian architect who was a chief formulator of Baroque architectural style.
- based his designs on geometric figures
- Contemporary and rival of Bernini
- Gloomy man
- lonely, withdrawn
- he prided himself on his highly specialized training
- resented his modest degree of recognition
- based his art on geometry: handling of form, volume and light.
- Mathematics before everything
- Geometry, light, shapes— inseparable
- declared antiquity and nature to be his points of departure
- Also had medieval, Florentine, and mannerist influences
- Always alert to the context of his commissions
- deep sensitivity to the relationship of his buildings to the surrounding area and buildings
- Suffered severe melancholia
- made worse by hypochondriac hallucinations
- Fell upon a sword during a fit
- recovered his mind after mortally wounding himself, repented, received the last sacraments of the church, and wrote his will before he died
- At his own request, he was buried anonymously in the grave of his teacher and friend, Maderno
- It has been suggested that Borromini’s suicide was the result of an increasing schizophrenia and that this pathological process is reflected in his architecture (not supported theory)
- https://www.bluffton.edu/homepages/facstaff/sullivanm/italy/rome/carlofontane/carlino.html
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/San-Carlo-alle-Quattro-Fontane
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francesco-Borromini
- http://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/22/travel/borromini-s-rome.html?pagewanted=all
