Francesco Borromini - architect

Rival of Bernini and Da Cortona was pioneer of Roman Baroque

The undulating facade of the church
of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane

The architect Francesco Borromini, who was a pivotal figure alongside Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Pietro da Cortona in the development of the Roman Baroque style in the 17th century, was born on this day in 1599 in the village of Bissone, now in Switzerland but at that time part of the Duchy of Lombardy.

Borromini, who was born Francesco Castelli, gained widespread recognition for his innovative design of the small San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane church on the Quirinal Hill in Rome, which was his first independent commission and is regarded by some historians as one of the starting points for Italian Baroque.

His other major works include the church of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza, which was part of Rome’s Sapienza University, the Re Magi Chapel, the Palazzo Spada and the church of Sant'Andrea delle Fratte.

As Francesco Castelli, he began his career as a stonemason, following in the footsteps of his father, Giovanni, who was in the service of the noble Visconti Borromeo family. He began his apprenticeship in the trade at just nine years old, moving to Milan even though he was still a boy. His father believed he would gain more practical experience there and it is thought he cut some of the stone used in the building of Milan Cathedral’s magnificent Gothic facade.

By 1619 he had moved to Rome, where he began working for Carlo Maderno, his uncle. He became involved in the construction of St. Peter's Basilica and the Palazzo Barberini. 

When Maderno died in 1629, he and Pietro da Cortona continued to work on the palace under the direction of Bernini. The smaller of two staircases flanking the main hall in the Palazzo was built to Castelli’s design. 

Borromini left his home to work in
Milan and then Rome while still a boy 

He decided to change his name to Borromini once he had become established in Rome. It is not known exactly why he chose to be Borromini, but it may have been because of his family’s connections with the Borromeo family, or because he had been in Milan when Carlo (Charles) Borromeo, the former Archbishop of Milan who had died in 1584, was made a saint. 

Borromini’s relationship with Da Cortona was stormy at times, while his tendency to be stubborn and easily angered led to clashes with Bernini, whom he is said to have resented for not passing on more of the huge commissions he was able to secure for his work, although some accounts say Bernini paid him handsomely. 

The two also had fundamental differences in their approach to design. Bernini, in line with convention, argued that the proportions of buildings should be derived from those of the body of man and woman, while Borromini based his buildings on geometric configurations. 

While working with Bernini at St Peter’s to execute Maderno's design for a monumental bronze canopy above the tomb of St Peter, Borromini began to seek patronage as an independent architect and set up on his own in 1633.

His first significant independent commission, in 1634, was for the church and monastery of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, built for the Spanish Trinitarians, at the corner of Via del Quirinale and Via delle Quattro Fontane in the centre of Rome. With its undulating facade, alternating between convex and concave curves, and an oval dome, the church served to announce the theatrical Baroque style that would become Borromini’s trademark.

Borromini's oval spiral staircase at
the Palazzo Barberini in Rome

Borromini’s works are generally characterised by their inventive use of geometry, dynamic forms, and the masterful manipulation of light and space, embracing bold curves and complex structures that have left a lasting impact on the world of architecture.

His use of light and space was particularly noteworthy in the characteristics of the church of Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza and of the Re Magi Chapel, while the Palazzo Spada is famous for its Galleria Prospettica - Perspective Gallery - which creates an optical illusion that makes a corridor appear much longer than it actually is.

His elegant juxtaposing of concave and convex curves can also be seen on the church of Sant’Agnese in Agone in Piazza Navona and the Oratorio dei Filippini, adjacent to the nearby Chiesa Nuova.

In the 1660s, Borromini’s fortunes declined. He was increasingly frustrated by the fame and success of his rival, Bernini, and succumbed to bouts of depression. He found relief by spending time in Lombardy, away from the sources of his irritation, but when he returned to Rome his melancholy also returned. 

Eventually, during one tormented, sleepless night in the summer of 1667 he took his own life, literally by falling on a sword he had propped up against the side of his bed, blade upright. In his testament, he requested that he be buried in the tomb of his teacher, Carlo Maderno, in San Giovanni dei Fiorentini.

He had added a condition that his name should not be on the tomb, which was observed until 1955, when the Swiss embassy in Rome commissioned a marble commemorative plaque to be placed on a pillar next to the tomb.

Bissone, Borromini's place of birth, occupies a
position on the shore of Lake Lugano

Travel tip:

Bissone, where Borromini was born, is a pretty village located on the shore of Lake Lugano, nowadays falling within the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Part of the Lugano metropolitan area, it has a population of around 1,100. The village’s history dates back at least to the eighth century, when it appeared on maps as Blixuni and was home to a Lombard garrison. During the Middle Ages, at the site of today's Casa Tencalla, a castle was built. It occupied a strategic position and Bissone became the centre of the Ghibellines' resistance during the 12th century dispute between Milan and Como. Much later, following the French invasion in 1798 and the end of the Old Swiss Confederacy, it became a stronghold of supporters of the Cisalpine Republic. The local economy used to be based on fishing and the income generated by providing ferries across the lake, although that was ended by the construction of rail and road links. Nowadays, Bissone relies on tourism and the production of high-quality cheeses, wine, and chocolate. 

Rome's Palazzo Quirinale, which since 1946 has
been the official residence of Italy's President

Travel tip:

The Quirinale neighbourhood is located on one of Rome's seven hills. As well as being home to Borromini’s masterpiece, the church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, the area also contains the Palazzo Quirinale, designed by Ottaviano Mascherino in the 16th century and since 1946 the official residence of the President of Italy, having previously been home to monarchs and popes. Just a short walk from the Palazzo Quirinale are the iconic Trevi Fountain, one of Rome's most famous landmarks, the ruins of the Baths of Constantine, the last great thermal complex built in imperial Rome, and the Piazza and Palazzo Barberini, built by Bernini and Maderno.  Also in the neighbourhood is Bernini’s church of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, which is regarded as one of the most elegant examples of Baroque architecture in the city. 

Also on this day:

1733: The birth of biologist Agostino Bassi

1930: The birth of fashion designer Nino Cerruti

1955: The birth of singer-songwriter Zucchero

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Francesco Barberini – Cardinal

Patron of the arts sympathised with Galileo

Francesco Barberini knew Galileo from his
days as a student at the University of Pisa

Francesco Barberini, a cardinal who as Grand Inquisitor of the Roman Inquisition refused to condemn the scientist Galileo Galilei as a heretic, was born on this day in 1597 in Florence.

As a cardinal working within the Vatican administration, Barberini also became an important patron of literature and the arts.

The son of Carlo Barberini and Costanza Magalotti, Francesco was assisted by Galileo during his studies at the University of Pisa. The scientist was also a family friend. Francesco graduated in canon and civil law at the age of 25 in 1623.

Later that year, his uncle, Maffeo Barberini, who had been recently elected as Pope Urban VIII, made him a cardinal and sent him to be papal legate to Avignon.

He was sent to Paris as a special legate to negotiate with Cardinal Richelieu and then to Spain as a papal legate, but both his missions were unsuccessful.

From 1628 onwards Barberini led the foreign diplomacy of the Papal States, always favouring France.

Galileo subscribed to the view that the Earth
was not the centre of the universe

From 1633 until his death more than 40 years later, Barberini was the Grand Inquisitor of the Roman Inquisition. He was part of the Inquisition tribunal investigating Galileo after the publication of writings supporting the arguments put forward by the German scientist Nicolaus Copernicus that the sun and not the earth was the centre of the universe.

He was one of three members of the tribunal who refused to condemn the scientist, although the majority verdict was that Galileo was "vehemently suspect of heresy" and he was sentenced him to indefinite imprisonment, later commuted to house arrest, where he remained until his death in 1642.

The Barberini family fortunes declined after hostilities between the papacy and the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza led to the First War of Castro in which the papacy did badly. Peace was concluded only a few months before the death of Urban VIII.

Once it became clear that the Barberini candidate for the papacy was not going to be elected. Francesco and his brother, Antonio, switched their support to Giovanni Battista Pamphili.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini's bust of  Barberini,
 in the National Gallery of Art in Washington

But after Pamphili became Pope Innocent X, he launched an investigation into their handling of the finances during the War of Castro, forcing the Barberini brothers to flee to Paris.

Two years later, Francesco Barberini was pardoned, his properties were restored to him and he was able to continue as a patron of the arts.

He was a member of various literary associations and secured altarpiece commissions for St Peter’s from prominent artists, such as Pietro da Cortona and the French Baroque painter, Poussin.

Barberini bought several paintings by Poussin for himself during the artist’s early years living in Rome.

In 1625 he had acquired the former Sforza palace and, after buying further land, he engaged the architect, Carlo Maderno, to transform it into a much larger and grander building, which eventually became Palazzo Barberini.

Francesco Barberini died in Rome in 1679 at the age of 82.

The Palazzo alla Giornata on the Arno embankment is
one of the main buildings of the University of Pisa

Travel tip:

The University of Pisa, where Galileo taught and Francesco Barberini studied, was founded in 1343 making it the 10th oldest in Italy and it houses Europe’s oldest academic botanical garden. The main University buildings are in and around Lungarno Antonio Pacinotti, overlooking the River Arno, a short walk from the city’s famous Leaning Tower.

The Palazzo Barberini was Barberini's home in the
centre of Rome, just off Piazza Barberini

Travel tip:

Palazzo Barberini is just off Piazza Barberini in the centre of Rome. It was completed in 1633 as a home for Francesco Barberini and was the work of three great architects, Carlo Maderno, Francesco Borromini and Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The palace now houses part of the collection of Italy’s National Gallery of Ancient Art.

More reading:

Galileo Galilei convicted of heresy

How Carlo Maderno created the facade of St Peter's  

Pope Innocent X and revenge for Castro

Also on this day:

1943: Mussolini proclaims the puppet republic of Salò

1956: The birth of World Cup hero Paolo Rossi


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Amedeo Guillet – army officer

Superb horseman helped keep the British at bay

Amedeo Guillet, pictured in his military dress
uniform, was a brilliant horseman

Amedeo Guillet, the last man to lead a cavalry charge against the British Army, was born on this day in 1909 in Piacenza.

His daring actions in Eritrea in 1941 were remembered by some British soldiers as ‘the most frightening and extraordinary’ episode of the Second World War.

It had seemed as though the British invasion of Mussolini’s East African empire was going like clockwork. But at daybreak on January 21, 250 horsemen erupted through the morning mist at Keru, galloping straight towards British headquarters and the artillery of the Surrey and Sussex Yeomanry.

Red Italian grenades that looked like cricket balls exploded among the defenders and the guns that had been pointing towards Italian fortifications had to be quickly turned to face a new enemy.

The horsemen later disappeared into the network of wadis - ravines - that crisscrossed the Sudan-Eritrean lowlands.

Guillet’s actions at Keru helped the Italian army regroup and go on to launch their best actions in the entire war. Guillet was to live on until the age of 101 and become one of the most decorated people in Italian history.

Guillet was born into a Savoyard-Piedmontese family, who were minor aristocracy that had, for generations, served the Dukes of Savoy and later the Kings of Italy.

Guillet in action on the battlefield in 1940

He spent most of his childhood in the south and said he remembered the Austrian biplane bombing of Bari during the First World War. He followed family tradition by joining the army and, after attending the military academy at Modena, went into the cavalry.

Guillet excelled as a horseman and was selected for the Italian eventing team to go to the Berlin Olympics in 1936. But Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia interrupted his career as a competition rider.

He had himself transferred to a cavalry division and fought repeated actions with them. He witnessed the aerial gas attacks on Emperor Haile Selassie’s lightly-armed warriors, which appalled the world.

In Guillet’s opinion, gas was largely ineffectual against an enemy that could flee. He fought with horse, sword and pistol. He suffered a painful wound to his left hand and was later decorated for his actions.

He was flattered to be chosen by General Luigi Frusci as an aide de camp, in the division sent to support Franco in the Spanish Civil War, where he suffered shrapnel wounds, but helped to capture three Russian armoured cars and crews.

Guillet disapproved of  the pro-
Nazi alliance and anti-semitism

But he disapproved of the pro-Nazi alliance and the anti-Semitic race laws adopted by Italy and asked for a posting to East Africa, where a family friend, Amedeo Duke of Aosta, had been appointed viceroy.

Mussolini’s decision to enter the war on the side of Germany in 1940 cut off Italian East Africa, which was surrounded by the territories of its enemies. Aosta gave Guillet command of 2,500 men, both cavalry and infantry. With almost no armour, Guillet’s horsemen were used to delay the British advance.

His actions at Keru and in subsequent battles won time for the Italian army, but eventually the British broke through. Most of the Italian army surrendered but Guillet refused to do so.

Aosta ordered his men to fight on to keep as many British soldiers as possible in East Africa.

For nine months Guillet launched a series of guerrilla actions against British troops with his mistress, Khadija, an Ethiopian Muslim, at his side. He believed he would never see Italy, or the woman he had planned to marry there, ever again.

Two British intelligence officers pursued him. One of them, Major Max Harrari, would later become an art dealer and one of his close friends. But Guillet managed to escape across the sea to neutral Yemen where he became a friend of the ruler Imam Ahmed. He sneaked back to Eritrea in 1943 in disguise, from where he returned to Italy on the Red Cross ship, Giulio Cesare.

He married his Neapolitan cousin, Beatrice Gandolfo, in 1944 and spent the rest of the war as an intelligence officer.

At the end of the war, after the decision to abolish the monarchy in Italy, Guillet told Umberto II he intended to leave the country for good, but the deposed King asked him to keep serving Italy, whatever sort of Government was installed.

Despite being wounded many times, Guillet not only survived
his wartime experiences but lived to be 101 years old

Guillet joined the diplomatic service and because his Arabic was fluent he served in the Middle East. He was later ambassador in Jordan, Morocco and India.

In 1975 he retired and went live in County Meath in Ireland to enjoy the fox hunting.

According to his biographer, Sebastian O’Kelly, Guillet was ‘a kind, generous man who thought himself lucky to have survived many bullet and grenade wounds, sword injuries and bone fractures.’ Guillet’s wife, Beatrice, died in 1990.

In 2000, Guillet was presented with the Knight Grand Cross of the Military Order of Italy, the highest military decoration, by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.

Guillet’s life story was the subject of a film made by Elisabetta Castana for the national TV channel RAI in 2007.

In 2009 he was still well enough to be able to celebrate his 100th birthday at the army officers’ club in Palazzo Barberini in Rome.

When Guillet died in June 2010 in Rome he was widely respected as one of the last men to have commanded cavalry in a war.

One of Francesco Mochi's
 statues in Piacenza

Travel tip:

Piacenza, where Guillet was born, is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The main square in Piacenza is named Piazza Cavalli because of its two bronze equestrian monuments featuring Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma and his son Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma, who succeeded him. The statues are masterpieces by the sculptor Francesco Mochi.

The Palazzo Barberini in Rome

Travel tip:

Palazzo Barberini, where Guillet celebrated his 100th birthday, is just off Piazza Barberini in the centre of Rome. The palace was completed in 1633 for Pope Urban VIII to the design of three great architects, Carlo Maderno, Francesco Borromini and Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

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Carlo Maderno - architect

Facade of St Peter's among most notable works

The facade of St Peter's Basilica in Rome is one of
Carlo Maderno's most significant architectural works

The architect Carlo Maderno, who has been described as one of the fathers of Italian Baroque architecture, died on this day in 1629 in Rome.

His most important works included the facades of St Peter’s Basilica and the other Roman churches of Santa Susanna and Sant’ Andrea della Valle.

Although most of Maderno's work was in remodelling existing structures, he had a profound influence on the appearance of Rome, where his designs also contributed to the Palazzo Quirinale, the Palazzo Barberini and the papal palace at Castel Gandolfo. 

One building designed and completed under Maderno's full control was the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in the Sallustiano district.

Carlo Maderno was born in Capolago
on the shore of Lake Lugano

Maderno was born in 1556 in the village of Capolago, on the southern shore of Lake Lugano in what is now the Ticino canton of Switzerland, part of the finger of Italy's northern neighbouring country that extends between the Italian lakes Como and Maggiore.

Marble was quarried in the mountains around Capolago and as well as a talent for sculpture he had experience as a marble cutter when he moved with four of his brothers to Rome in 1588 to work with his uncle, Domenico Fontana.

Fontana also made his architectural mark in the city, where he worked on the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and the nearby Palazzo Montalto.  He also erected the 327-ton Egyptian obelisk at the centre of St Peter's Square as well as the obelisks in Piazza del Popolo, Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore, and Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano.

Maderno's first commission in his own right, in 1596, was to build a facade for the church of Santa Susanna at the Baths of Diocletian, located on the Quirinal Hill.

Completed in 1603, Maderno's work on Santa Susanna has earned praise from modern architectural critics and at the time won him the admiration of Pope Paul V, who appointed him as the architect of St Peters, a position previously held by Domenico Fontana.

The facade of St Peter's has attracted criticism because it
obscures the view of Michelangelo's dome from the piazza

Extensive changes to St Peter's Basilica were demanded of Maderno by Paul V, both inside and out. Principally, he was required to modify Michelangelo's plans by adding an extended nave and a palatial facade.

His work on the inside, which changed the layout from Michelangelo's Greek cross to the present Latin cross, is generally seen as a seamless expansion but the facade has been condemned by some critics as a disaster.

Their main complaint is that the massive classical structure, with its lower two levels in brown stone and the top level in white marble, severely limits the view of Michelangelo's magnificent dome, despite it being the tallest in the world, particularly for the crowds looking up from the piazza.  The eight unevenly spaced columns have also divided opinions, praised in some quarters as a forceful statement, criticised in others as incongruous.

Happily, more blame was attached to an over-ambitious and architecturally ignorant pope than to Maderno himself.  There is an acceptance that he had much less freedom over the design than in his other projects.

The Palazzo Barberini was designed by Maderno on
behalf of the the family of Pope Urban VIII

Maderno's influence is seen too in the churches of Gesù e Maria, San Giacomo degli Incurabili, Santa Lucia in Selci and San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, where he is buried.

The Palazzo Barberini, which Maderno designed for the family of Pope Urban VIII, was completed by Francesco Borromini and Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

Travel tip:

From conception to completion, St Peter's Basilica took more than 150 years to build.  Suggested by Pope Nicholas V in about 1450, at which time the original St Peter's was near collapse, it was not finished until 1615.  Although the principal design input from the laying of the first stone in 1506 came from Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Maderno and Bernini, contributions were also made by Giuliano da Sangallo, Fra Giocondo, Raphael and Antonio da Sangallo.  Michelangelo became involved with reluctance, ironically, after Pope Paul III's first choice as architect, Giulio Romano, died before he could take up the post and second choice Jacopo Sansovino refused to leave Venice.

Michelangelo's dome dominates the Rome skyline

Travel tip:

For all that the view from close quarters may have been impaired, Michelan- gelo's dome is one of the dominant features of the Rome skyline.  Situated in the Vatican City next to the Tiber river, St Peter's is the largest Christian church in the world, covering 5.7 acres with a capacity to accommodate 60,000 people, with room for a further 400,000 in the square outside.  The dome itself rises to a height of 136.57 metres (448.1 feet) from the floor of the basilica to the top of the external cross.  The Egyptian obelisk in the square, which rises to 40m (132 ft), is said to have been erected at or near the spot in which St Peter was allegedly crucified by the Romans in 64 AD.

More reading:

Why Michelangelo was called 'the greatest artist of all time'

How Gian Lorenzo Bernini's spectacular fountains adorn Rome

The consecration of St Peter's Basilica

Also on this day:

1935: The birth of movie actress Elsa Martinelli

(Picture credits: Main picture of St Peter's by Jean-Pol Grandmont; Palazzo Berberini by Jean-Pierre Dalbéra; Rome skyline by Daryl_Mitchell; all via Wikimedia Commons)

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