Single-Nave Churches with Concave Corners: Giovanni Battista Contini and the Genesis of a Late Baroque Connection

Abstract

This article focuses on a Roman church, the Stimmate di San Francesco, designed by the architect Giovanni Battista Contini, and, in particular, on Contini’s design for the interior plane, which is characterised by the feature of concave corners that unify the nave, a design element which was to prove widely influential. Investigating the origins of this innovative design is not clear-cut, although the name of Francesco Borromini has been associated with this innovation. However, given the leap in design between Borromini’s entirely original innovations in this aspect, and Contini’s more composed reflection on the same features, an intermediary source for the Stimmate design must be sought. This article will examine the projects with similar nave design innovations by the architects Bernardo Castelli Borromini, Giovanni Antonio De Rossi and Mattia De Rossi, as well as concentrating on Contini’s own designs for churches in the Marche region, where he experimented with concave solutions for nave corners.