Domenico Fontana (154328 June 1607) was an
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
of the late
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
, born in today's
Ticino
Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...
.
He worked primarily in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, at Rome and Naples.
Biography
He was born at
Melide, a village on the
Lake Lugano
__NOTOC__
Lake Lugano ( it, Lago di Lugano or , from la, Ceresius lacus; lmo, Lagh de Lugan) is a glacial lake which is situated on the border between southern Switzerland and northern Italy. The lake, named after the city of Lugano, is situated ...
, at that time
joint possession of some Swiss cantons of the
old Swiss Confederacy, and presently part of
Ticino
Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...
,
Switzerland, and died at
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
.
[ He went to ]Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
in 1563, to join his elder brother. He began his career as a plasterer, and then as a mason and master builder, with particular expertise in measuring and technical skills.
Fontana’s first architectural project was a villa in the Piazza Pasquino for Cardinal Montalto, constructed between 1577-78. Montalto later entrusted him in 1584 with the erection of the Cappella del Presepio (Chapel of the Manger) in Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, a powerful domical building over a Greek cross. It is a marvellously well-balanced structure, notwithstanding the profusion of detail and overloading of rich ornamentation, which in no way interferes with the main architectural scheme. It is crowned by a dome in the early style of S. Mario at Montepulciano
Montepulciano () is a medieval and Renaissance hill town and ''comune'' in the Italian province of Siena in southern Tuscany. It sits high on a limestone ridge, east of Pienza, southeast of Siena, southeast of Florence, and north of Rome b ...
.[Sauer, Joseph. "Domenico Fontana." The Catholic Encyclopedia]
Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 7 December 2022
For the same patron, he constructed the Palazzo Montalto near Santa Maria Maggiore, with its skillful distribution of masses and tied decorative scheme of reliefs and festoons, impressive because of the dexterity with which the artist adapted the plan to the site at his disposal. After the cardinal's accession as Sixtus V, he appointed Fontana Architect Of St. Peter's, bestowing upon him, among other distinctions, the title of Knight of the Golden Spur. Fontana added the lantern to the dome of St. Peter's and proposed the prolongation of the interior in a well-defined nave.[
Of more importance were the alterations he made in ]Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano
The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran ( it, Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e dei Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano), also known as the Papa ...
(c. 1586), where he introduced into the loggia of the north facade an imposing double arcade of wide span and ample sweep, and probably added the two-story portico the ''Scala Santa''. This predilection for arcades as essential features of an architectural scheme was brought out in the fountains designed by Domenico and his brother Giovanni, e.g. the Fontana dell'Acqua Paola, or the ''Fontana di Termini'' planned along the same lines.[ He became a member of the ]Accademia di San Luca
The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fi ...
in 1585.
Among secular buildings his strong restrained style, with its suggestion from Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola
Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola ( , , ; 1 October 15077 July 1573), often simply called Vignola, was one of the great Italian architects of 16th century Mannerism. His two great masterpieces are the Villa Farnese at Caprarola and the Jesuits' Churc ...
, is best exemplified in the Lateran Palace
The Lateran Palace ( la, Palatium Lateranense), formally the Apostolic Palace of the Lateran ( la, Palatium Apostolicum Lateranense), is an ancient palace of the Roman Empire and later the main papal residence in southeast Rome.
Located on St. ...
(begun in 1586), in which the vigorous application of sound structural principles and a power of co-ordination are undeniable, but also the utter lack of imagination and barren monotony of style. It was characteristic of him to remain satisfied with a single solution to an architectural problem, as shown in the fact that he reapplied the motif of the Lateran Palace in the later part of the Vatican containing the present papal residence, and in the additions to the Quirinal Palace
The Quirinal Palace ( it, Palazzo del Quirinale ) is a historic building in Rome, Italy, one of the three current official residences of the president of the Italian Republic, together with Villa Rosebery in Naples and the Tenuta di Castelporzia ...
.
Fontana also designed the transverse arms separating the courts of the Vatican.
Egyptian obelisks
In 1586 he erected the 327 ton obelisk in St. Peter's Square. This feat of engineering took the concerted effort of 900 men, 75 horses and countless pulleys and meters of rope.
He gives a detailed account of it in ''Della transportatione dell'obelisco Vaticano e delle fabriche di Sisto V'' (Rome, 1590). The astronomer Ignazio Danti
Ignazio (Egnation or Egnazio) Danti, O.P. (April 1536 – 10 October 1586), born Pellegrino Rainaldi Danti, was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate, mathematician, astronomer, and cosmographer, who served as Bishop of Alatri (1583–1586). ''(in ...
is known to have assisted Fontana in this work.
Fontana also used his knowledge of statics, which aroused universal astonishment at the time, in the erection of three other ancient obelisks
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...
on the Piazza del Popolo, Piazza di S. Maria Maggiore, and Piazza di S. Giovanni in Laterano.
Other works
File:Rzym swiete schody kaplica san Lorenzo.jpg, San Giovanni: north facade.
File:Fontana dell'Acqua Felice (Rome).jpg, Fountain of Moses in Rome.
File:Plafond_Sale_Sistine_-_Salle_des_Archives_pontificales_(2).jpg, Ceiling design for ''Sale Sistine'' - Vatican Library
The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...
After his patron's death, he continued for some time in the service of his successor, Pope Clement VIII
Pope Clement VIII ( la, Clemens VIII; it, Clemente VIII; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1592 to his death in March 1605.
Born ...
. Soon, however, dissatisfaction with his style, envy, and the charge that he had misappropriated public moneys, caused him to be dismissed from his post, and he was driven to Naples. There he accepted the appointment of architect to the Viceroy, the count of Miranda. In addition to designing canals, he erected the Palazzo Reale.
He died in 1607, and was buried in the church of Sant'Anna dei Lombardi
Sant'Anna dei Lombardi, ( it, St. Anne of the Lombards), and also known as Santa Maria di Monte Oliveto, is an ancient church and convent located in ''piazza Monteoliveto'' in central Naples, Italy. Across Monteoliveto street from the Fountain in ...
.
Domenico's brother Giovanni Fontana was also an architect, and his son Giulio Cesare succeeded him as Royal Architect in Naples.
See also
* History of cranes
Works
* Domenico Fontana. ''Della transportatione dell'obelisco Vaticano e delle fabriche di Sisto V''. Rome 1590.
*
Online edition
from New York Public Library.
*
Online edition
from Rare Book Room
Rare Book Room is an educational website for the repository of digitally scanned rare books made freely available to the public.
Story
Starting around 1996 the California-based company Octavo began scanning rare and important books from librarie ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fontana, Domenico
1543 births
1607 deaths
Architects from Ticino
Engineers from Rome
16th-century Italian architects
17th-century Italian architects
Italian Mannerist architects
Engineers from Naples