IV. Borromini: a Life as an Architect

Authors

  • Tommaso Manfredi Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria

Keywords:

Francesco Borromini, architect, profession, corporation, Accademia di San Luca, Ticinese architects, Rome, Carlo Maderno, Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Abstract

IV.1 «Borromini Alone Understood the Profession of the Architect»: A Profile of a Singular Career

Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s affermation, recounted by Virgilio Spada in 1657, that «Borromini alone understood the profession of the architect», demonstrates the enormous professional respect enjoyed by the Ticinese architect, even from his greatest rival. This biographical profile traces Borromini’s course in preparation for, and in the actual carrying out, of the profession of architect in Rome, and re-evaluates his original and autonomous technical, artistic and cultural contributions, notwithstanding the limitations set on him by clients and by professional and academic corporations.

Borromini’s long and difficult career, marked by his success during the papacy of Pope Innocent X Pamphilij, and concluding tragically with his suicide, at the end of the papacy of Alexander VII Chigi, was best summarized by Giovanni Battista Passeri, who, recounting the judgement of  contemporaneous connoisseurs, praised the architect for his erudition, intelligence, and a «perfect knowledge» in the exercise of architecture.

Author Biography

Tommaso Manfredi, Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria

Dipartimento Patrimonio Architettura Urbanistica (PAU)

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Published

2022-03-07

How to Cite

Manfredi, T. (2022). IV. Borromini: a Life as an Architect. ArcHistoR Architecture History Restoration - Architettura Storia Restauro, 10, 224–245. Retrieved from https://www.archistor.unirc.it/index.php/archistor/article/view/835

Issue

ArcHistoR (Extra n. 10/2022): Borromini e la professione dell’architetto a Roma nel primo Seicento

Section

vuoto1

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