Domenico Fontana (1543 – June 28, 1607) was a Swiss-born Italian architect of the late Renaissance. Events 1098 - Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest An architect is a licensed individual who leads a design team in the Planning and Design of buildings and participates in oversight of Building Construction The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere
He was born at Melide on the Lake Lugano and died at Naples. Melide is a municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Lake Lugano ( Italian: Lago di Lugano or Ceresio) is a Lake in the south-east of Switzerland, at the border between Switzerland and Naples ( Napoli, Neapolitan: Nàpule) is a historic City in southern Italy, the Capital of the He went to Rome before the death of Michelangelo. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni Two biographies were published of him during his lifetime One of them by Giorgio Vasari, proposed that he was the pinnacle of all He won the confidence of Cardinal Montalto, later Pope Sixtus V, who 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. Pope Sixtus V ( December 13, 1521 &ndash August 27, 1590) born Felice Peretti di Montalto, was Pope from 1585 to 1590 The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (its Italian name known in English also as St Mary Major, is an ancient Catholic Basilica of Rome 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, a town and commune in the Province of Siena in southern Tuscany, ( Italy) is a medieval and renaissance hill town of exceptional beauty
For the same patron, he constructed the Palazzo Montalto near Santa Maria Maggiore, with its skilful 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. The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (its Italian name known in English also as St Mary Major, is an ancient Catholic Basilica of Rome After his 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. The Basilica of Saint Peter (Basilica Sancti Petri officially known in Italian as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St He 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 (c. The Basilica of St John Lateran ( Italian: Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano) is the Cathedral of the church of Rome and the official 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.
Among profane buildings his strong restrained style, with its suggestion of the School of Vignola, is best exemplified in the Lateran Palace (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. Vignola is a city and a Comune in the Province of Modena ( Emilia-Romagna) Italy. The Lateran Palace, sometimes more formally known as the Apostolic Palace of the Lateran (Italian Palazzo Laterano) is an ancient Palace of the Roman 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 (known in Italian as the Palazzo del Quirinale or simply the Quirinale) is the Official residence of the President
Fontana also designed the transverse arms separating the courts of the Vatican. In 1586 he erected the 327 ton obelisk in the Square of St. An obelisk (from Greek ὀβελίσκος - obeliskos, diminutive of ὀβελός - obelos, "spit nail pointed pillar" Peter's. 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) [1] [2]. The astronomer Ignazio Danti is known to have assisted Fontana in this work. Ignazio (Egnatio or Egnazio Danti (born Pellegrino Rainaldi Danti) (April 1536 - October 19, 1586) was an Italian Priest
Fontana also used his knowledge of statics, which aroused universal astonishment at the time, in the erection of three other ancient obelisks on the Piazza del Popolo, Piazza di S. There are eight Ancient Egyptian and five ancient Roman obelisks in Rome, together with a number of more modern Obelisks there was also formerly (until 2005 Maria Maggiore, and Piazza di S. Giovanni in Laterano.
After his patron's death, he continued for some time in the service of his successor, Pope Clement VIII. Not to be confused with Antipope Clement VIII. Pope Clement VIII ( February 24, 1536 &ndash March 3, 1605 Soon, however, dissatisfaction with his style, envy, and the charge that he had misappropriated public moneys, drove him to Naples where, in addition to designing canals, he erected the Palazzo Reale. The Royal Palace is a Palace in Naples, southern Italy. It is one of the four residences used by the Bourbon Kings of Naples during their rule
He died in 1607, and was buried in the church of Sant'Anna dei Lombardi. Sant'Anna dei Lombardi is a church and monastic complex in Naples, southern Italy.
Domenico's brother Giovanni Fontana was also an architect.
See also
Works
- Domenico Fontana. A crane is a lifting machine equipped with a Winder, Wire ropes or Chains and sheaves that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to Della transportatione dell'obelisco Vaticano e delle fabriche di Sisto V. Rome 1590.
- Online edition, from New York Public Library. The New York Public Library ( NYPL) is one of the leading public libraries of the world and is one of America's most significant Research libraries.
- 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
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic