Guarini, Guarino

Guarini, Guarino (gwärē`nō gwärē`nē), 1624–83, Italian architect, mathematician, and writer. He was one of the first to analyze with perceptivity the structure of medieval architecture, in his Architettura civile, posthumously edited by Vittone in 1737. After studying in Rome, he returned to his birthplace, Modena, where he was ordained in the Theatine order. In 1660 he moved to Messina and designed several important church buildings there. Soon after, he traveled to Paris, where he built the Theatine church of Sainte-Anne-la-Royale (destroyed 1823) and wrote a mathematical-philosophical treatise, Placita philosophica (1665). Settling in Turin, he designed two palaces and three centralized churches; the Sindone Chapel and the Church of San Lorenzo are considered two of the finest examples of baroque architecture. Guarini reached the pinnacle of his achievement in his planning of domes that suggest the loftiness and openwork of the spires of Gothic churches.

Bibliography

See study by H. A. Meek (1988).