FFCC Review Activity
Name of Work
Artist
Style
When fully completed, email to Mr. Lugo.
San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
Francesco Borromini
Baroque Architecture
Image of the Work:
Form
Façade:
 Undulating curved motion that creates a dynamic counterpoint
of convex and concave elements in two levels
 Enhanced three-dimensional effect with recessed niches
Interior:
 Side walls move in an undulating flow that reverses façade
 Vigorously projecting columns define the space into which it
protrudes as well as accents the walls
Dome:
 Deeply coffered oval dome that seems to flow on the light from
the windows
 Dynamic curves on dome creates an interior that flows,
uninterrupted by segmentation characteristic to the
Renaissance
Plan:
 Hybrid of Greek cross and an oval, with a long axis between the
entrance and the apse
Function
 Borromini created artwork for religious worship for San Carlo
or St. Charles in Rome under the commission of Cardinal
Francesco Barberini
 Commissioned as part of a collection of architecture on the
Quirinal Hill for the Spanish Trinitarians to honor the freeing of
Christian slaves
 Borromini personally designed the church uniquely to challenge
traditional designs of Renaissance façades and centrally planned
churches
Content
Façade:
 Sculptor Antonio Raggi depicts three figures: main figure in the
center is St. Charles, and the other two: St. John of Matha and St.
Felix of Valois, the three who are founders of the Trinitarian
Order
Interior:
 Two altars: one dedicated to St. Michael and the other to St. John
the Baptist
 Left door by the main altar leads to an external chapel (Capella
Barberini) and contains a shrine for the blessed Elisabeth
Canori Mora
Dome:
 Features the Holy Trinity symbol as the brightest
Context
Artist:
 Created by Francesco Borromini
 Borromini was the leading architect in the Roman Baroque era
 Borromini was a student of Michelangelo’s architecture and
suffered from depression and melancholy, which led to his
suicide
Culture:
 Created in Rome in 1638 to 1641
 Supported the Roman Catholic Church
Impact:
 Borromini was not greatly influential because of his
idiosyncratic style, but did inspire Camillo-Guarino Guarini and
somewhat Bernini and Cortona
 Borromini’s works are widely-known and popular as well as
controversial for its radical design that distinguishes it from
traditional Renaissance architecture