Fontana, Carlo

Fontana, Carlo (kär`lō fōntä`nä), 1634–1714, Italian architect. During his early years he worked for three of the most important architects of the high baroque period—Rainaldi, Cortona, and Bernini. His works include various palaces, fountains, tombs, and the Church of San Marcello al Corso (1682–83) in Rome and plans for the Jesuit church and college in Loyola, Spain. His accomplished academic style influenced important architects, such as James Gibbs, Filippo Juvarra, and the German baroque architects. He published his projects for the completion of St. Peter's, along with an erudite history of its origins, in Templum Vaticanum (1694).

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Fontana, Carlo 

Born 1634 in Brusiate, Switzerland; died Feb. 5, 1714, in Rome. Late baroque Italian architect.

Circa 1656, Fontana went to Rome, where he studied with L. Bernini. Also influential in Fontana’s artistic development was F. Borromini. Fontana’s work combines love for dramatic effects with harmonious balance and tectonic totality. It greatly influenced the development of the increasingly classical trend in 18th-century European architecture. Fontana wrote numerous works on architecture, architectural archaeology, and civil engineering.

WORKS

Il tempio Vaticano e sua origine. Rome, 1694.

REFERENCE

Coudenhove-Erthal, E. Carlo Fontana. Vienna, 1930.