Francesco Borromini

Borromini, Francesco 

(or F. Borromino, pseudonym of F. Castelli). Born Sept. 25, 1599, in Bissone, Switzerland; died Aug. 3, 1667, in Rome. Italian architect.

Borromini went to school in Milan. His architecture was an expressive realization and original resolution of the principles of the Baroque period (above all, a concept of the dominance of irrational forces, typical of the Baroque Weltanschauung). Borromini’s works are distinguished by spatial mobility and the restless dynamics of elastic forms, which at times deprive the buildings of plastic wholeness. Borromini made free use of the classic order; typical of his constructions are curvilinear outlining of volumes, curved walls, varied combinations of convex and concave forms, and sharpened silhouettes of the crowning parts. With unrestrained imagination, Borromini created new decorative details and complicated construction plans. He designed the churches of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1634–67), San Ivo alla Sapienza (1642–60), and Sant’Andrea delle Fratte (1656; facade, 1816); the facade of the Church of Santa Ag-nese in the Piazza Navona (1653–55); the Oratorio dei Filippine (1637–62); the Falconieri Palace (1639–41) and the Barberini Palace (1625–63; jointly with C. Maderna and L. Bernini); and other buildings in Rome. He enlarged Villa Falconieri in Frascati.

REFERENCE

Portoghesi, P. Borromini nella cultura europea. Rome, 1964.