88. San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane Rome, Italy (3 Images)
Francesco Borromini (architect). 1638-1646 C.E. Stone and stucco
Video at Khan Academy
first independent commission for Borromini
o He received the commission in 1634, under the patronage of Cardinal
Francesco Barberini, whose palace was across the road
iconic masterpiece of Baroque architecture
built as part of a complex of monastic buildings on the Quirinal Hill for the Spanish
Trinitarians, an order dedicated to the freeing of Christian slaves
SW corner of intersection with four fountains
Exterior:
o The concave-convex facade of San Carlo undulates in a non-classic way
o Corinthian columns, statues, ovals
Interior: The church interior is both extraordinary and complex
o The three principal parts can be identified vertically as the lower order at
ground level, the transition zone of the pendentives and the oval coffered
dome with its oval lantern.
o The oval entablature to the dome has a 'crown' of foliage and frames a view
of deep set interlocking coffering of octagons, crosses and hexagons which
diminish in size the higher they rise. Light floods in from windows in the
lower dome that are hidden by the oval opening and from windows in the
side of the lantern. In a hierarchical structuring of light, the illuminated
lantern with its symbol of the Holy Trinity is the most brightly lit, the coffering
of the dome is thrown into sharp and deep relief and light gradually filters
downwards to the darker lower body of the church
