1.
Francesco Borromini
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He seems to have had a sound understanding of structures, which perhaps Bernini and Cortona, who were principally trained in other areas of the visual arts, lacked. His soft lead drawings are particularly distinctive and he appears to have been a self-taught scholar, amassing a large library by the end of his life. His career was constrained by his personality, later critics of the Baroque, such as Francesco Milizia and the English architect Sir John Soane, were particularly critical of Borromini’s work. From the late nineteenth century onwards, interest has revived in the works of Borromini, Borromini was born at Bissone, near Lugano in the Ticino, which was at the time a bailiwick of the Swiss Confederacy. He was the son of a stonemason and began his career as a stonemason himself and he soon went to Milan to study and practice his craft. He moved to Rome in 1619 and started working for Carlo Maderno, his distant relative, at St. Peters, when Maderno died in 1629, he and Pietro da Cortona continued to work on the palace under the direction of Bernini. Once he had established in Rome, he changed his name from Castelli to Borromini. In 1634, Borromini received his first major independent commission to design the church, cloister, situated on the Quirinal Hill in Rome, the complex was designed for the Spanish Trinitarians, a religious order. The monastic buildings and the cloister were completed first after which construction of the church took place during the period 1638-1641, the church is considered by many to be an exemplary masterpiece of Roman Baroque architecture. San Carlino is remarkably small given its significance to Baroque architecture, the site was not an easy one, it was a corner site and the space was limited. Borromini positioned the church on the corner of two intersecting roads, Borromini devised the complex ground plan of the church from interlocking geometrical configurations, a typical Borromini device for constructing plans. The area of the marks the transition from the lower wall order to the oval opening of the dome. Illuminated by windows hidden from a viewer below, interlocking octagons, crosses, in the late sixteenth century, the Congregation of the Filippini rebuilt the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella in central Rome. In the 1620s, on an adjacent to the church. These exercises combined preaching and music in a form which became immensely popular, the architect Paolo Maruscelli drew up plans for the site and the sacristy was begun in 1629 and was in use by 1635. After a substantial benefaction in January 1637, however, Borromini was appointed as architect, by 1640, the oratory was in use, a taller and richer clock tower was accepted, and by 1643, the relocated library was complete. The striking brick curved facade adjacent to the entrance has an unusual pediment. The white oratory interior has a vault and a complex wall arrangement of engaged pilasters along with freestanding columns supporting first level balconies
2.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
3.
Church (building)
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A church building, often simply called a church, is a building used for Christian religious activities, particularly worship services. The term in its sense is most often used by Christians to refer to their religious buildings. In traditional Christian architecture, the church is arranged in the shape of a Christian cross. When viewed from plan view the longest part of a cross is represented by the aisle, towers or domes are often added with the intention of directing the eye of the viewer towards the heavens and inspiring church visitors. The earliest identified Christian church was a church founded between 233 and 256. During the 11th through 14th centuries, a wave of building of cathedrals, a cathedral is a church, usually Roman Catholic, Anglican, Oriental Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox, housing the seat of a bishop. In standard Greek usage, the word ecclesia was retained to signify both a specific edifice of Christian worship, and the overall community of the faithful. This usage was retained in Latin and the languages derived from Latin, as well as in the Celtic languages. In the Germanic and some Slavic languages, the word kyriak-ós/-ē/-ón was adopted instead, in Old English the sequence of derivation started as cirice, then churche, and eventually church in its current pronunciation. German Kirche, Scottish kirk, Russian церковь, etc. are all similarly derived, according to the New Testament, the earliest Christians did not build church buildings. Instead, they gathered in homes or in Jewish worship places like the Second Temple or synagogues, the earliest archeologically identified Christian church is a house church, the Dura-Europos church, founded between 233 and 256. During the 11th through 14th centuries, a wave of building of cathedrals, in addition to being a place of worship, the cathedral or parish church was used by the community in other ways. It could serve as a place for guilds or a hall for banquets. Mystery plays were performed in cathedrals, and cathedrals might also be used for fairs. The church could be used as a place to thresh and store grain, a common architecture for churches is the shape of a cross. These churches also often have a dome or other large vaulted space in the interior to represent or draw attention to the heavens. Other common shapes for churches include a circle, to represent eternity, or an octagon or similar star shape, another common feature is the spire, a tall tower on the west end of the church or over the crossing. The Latin word basilica was used to describe a Roman public building
4.
Baroque
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The style began around 1600 in Rome and Italy, and spread to most of Europe. The aristocracy viewed the dramatic style of Baroque art and architecture as a means of impressing visitors by projecting triumph, power, Baroque palaces are built around an entrance of courts, grand staircases, and reception rooms of sequentially increasing opulence. However, baroque has a resonance and application that extend beyond a reduction to either a style or period. It is also yields the Italian barocco and modern Spanish barroco, German Barock, Dutch Barok, others derive it from the mnemonic term Baroco, a supposedly laboured form of syllogism in logical Scholastica. The Latin root can be found in bis-roca, in informal usage, the word baroque can simply mean that something is elaborate, with many details, without reference to the Baroque styles of the 17th and 18th centuries. The word Baroque, like most periodic or stylistic designations, was invented by later critics rather than practitioners of the arts in the 17th, the term Baroque was initially used in a derogatory sense, to underline the excesses of its emphasis. In particular, the term was used to describe its eccentric redundancy and noisy abundance of details, although it was long thought that the word as a critical term was first applied to architecture, in fact it appears earlier in reference to music. Another hypothesis says that the word comes from precursors of the style, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and he did not make the distinctions between Mannerism and Baroque that modern writers do, and he ignored the later phase, the academic Baroque that lasted into the 18th century. Long despised, Baroque art and architecture became fashionable between the two World Wars, and has remained in critical favour. In painting the gradual rise in popular esteem of Caravaggio has been the best barometer of modern taste, William Watson describes a late phase of Shang-dynasty Chinese ritual bronzes of the 11th century BC as baroque. The term Baroque may still be used, usually pejoratively, describing works of art, craft, the appeal of Baroque style turned consciously from the witty, intellectual qualities of 16th-century Mannerist art to a visceral appeal aimed at the senses. It employed an iconography that was direct, simple, obvious, germinal ideas of the Baroque can also be found in the work of Michelangelo. Even more generalised parallels perceived by some experts in philosophy, prose style, see the Neapolitan palace of Caserta, a Baroque palace whose construction began in 1752. In paintings Baroque gestures are broader than Mannerist gestures, less ambiguous, less arcane and mysterious, more like the stage gestures of opera, Baroque poses depend on contrapposto, the tension within the figures that move the planes of shoulders and hips in counterdirections. Baroque is a style of unity imposed upon rich, heavy detail, Baroque style featured exaggerated lighting, intense emotions, release from restraint, and even a kind of artistic sensationalism. There were highly diverse strands of Italian baroque painting, from Caravaggio to Cortona, the most prominent Spanish painter of the Baroque was Diego Velázquez. The later Baroque style gradually gave way to a more decorative Rococo, while the Baroque nature of Rembrandts art is clear, the label is less often used for Vermeer and many other Dutch artists. Flemish Baroque painting shared a part in this trend, while continuing to produce the traditional categories
5.
Quirinal Hill
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The Quirinal Hill is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the residence of the Italian head of state. The Quirinal Palace has an extension of 1.2 million square feet and it was originally part of a group of hills that included Collis Latiaris, Mucialis, Salutaris. These are now lost due to building in the 16th century, according to Roman legend, the Quirinal Hill was the site of a small village of the Sabines, and king Titus Tatius would have lived there after the peace between Romans and Sabines. These Sabines had erected altars in the honour of their god Quirinus, some authors consider it possible that the cult of the Capitoline Triad could have been celebrated here well before it became associated with the Capitoline Hill. The sanctuary of Flora, an Osco-Sabine goddess, was here too, according to Livy, the hill first became part of the city of Rome, along with the Viminal Hill, during the reign of Servius Tullius, Rome sixth king, in the 6th century BC. In 446 BC, a temple was dedicated on the Quirinal in honour of Semo Sancus Dius Fidius, augustus, too, ordered the building of a temple, dedicated to Mars. On a slope of the Quirinal were the gardens of Sallust. On the Quirinal Hill Constantine ordered the erection of his baths and these are now lost, having been incorporated into Renaissance Rome, with only some drawings from the 16th century remaining. In the Middle Ages, the Torre delle Milizie and the convent of St, in the same palazzo were also the two statues of river gods that Michelangelo moved to the steps of Palazzo Senatorio on the Capitoline Hill. According to the division of the center of Rome, the Hill belongs to the rione Trevi. The Quirinal Hill is today identified with the Palazzo del Quirinale, before the abolition of the Italian monarchy in 1946, it was the residence of the king of Italy, and before 1871 it was, as originally, a residence of the Pope. The healthy cool air of the Quirinal Hill attracted aristocrats and papal families that built villas where the gardens of Sallust had been in antiquity, in the 18th century, Ferdinando Fuga built the long wing called the Manica Lunga, which stretched 360 meters along via del Quirinale. In front lies the sloping Piazza del Quirinale where the pair of gigantic Roman marble Horse Tamers representing Castor and Pollux, in Piranesis view, the vast open space is unpaved. The Palazzo del Quirinale was the residence of the popes until 1870, when Rome was united to the Kingdom of Italy, the Quirinale became the residence of the kings until 1946. Several collections are in this Palazzo, including tapestries, paintings, statues, old carriages, watches, furniture and it formerly housed Mussolinis ministry of colonial affairs. The hill is the site of important monuments and buildings. The Piazza and Palazzo Barberini, built by Bernini and Maderno, Palazzo Volpi di Misurata, across from San Carlino, built in the 18th century
6.
San Carlo al Corso
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SantAmbrogio e Carlo al Corso is a basilica church in Rome, Italy, facing onto the central part of the Via del Corso. The apse of the church faces across the street, the Mausoleum of Augustus on Via di Ripetta and this church is dedicated to Saint Ambrose and Saint Charles Borromeo, both natives of Milan. It is one of at least three churches in Rome dedicated to Borromeo, others including San Carlo ai Catinari and San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane. Its construction was begun in honour of the canonization of St. Charles Borromeo in 1610, under the direction of Onorio Longhi and, after his death, the site was that of the former church of San Nicola de Tofo. The ground plan is based on the Latin cross, the dome, resembling that of Santi Luca e Martina, was designed by Pietro da Cortona, who was also responsible for the apse and rich internal decorations. The façade was designed by Cardinal Luigi Alessandro Omodei, who did not like the project prepared by Carlo Rainaldi, the central vault is frescoed with a Fall of the Rebel Angels by Giacinto Brandi. The altarpiece, depicting the Saints Ambrose and Charles Borromeo with the Virgin, the stucco decoration was by Giacomo and Cosimo Fancelli. The statue of the saints were by Francesco Cavallini, frescoes of Justice and Peace were painted by Girolamo Troppa. In the ambulatory behind the sanctuary is a niche where a reliquary containing the heart of St Charles is kept and it was donated to the church in 1614 by Cardinal Federico Borromeo, a cousin of the saint. The 16th-century oratory of St. Ambrose is beyond the left transept, the first chapel on the right is dedicated to the Crucifixion and has a fresco of Vigilance by Paolo Albertoni. The second chapel, on the right is dedicated to Mary, the third chapel on the right is dedicated to the Holy Family. On its left side is a depiction of The Redemptor and Sts Ambrose, on the exterior, to the sides of the apse and facing the ancient Mausoleum of Augustus, are two giant statues of the titular saints, among the largest in Rome. Other artists active in the church include Pasquale de Rossi, Luigi Garzi, Francesco Rosa, Giovanni Battista Buonocore, and Fabbrizio Chiari. The Chapel of St. Olav of Norway, to the left of the nave, is dedicated to the king who converted to Christianity and was slain in the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030. The chapel was inaugurated by Cardinal Lucido Maria Parocchi on 9 April 1893, the painting, by the Polish artist Pius Weloński, depicts the Viking kings victory over his own pagan past, which is represented by a dragon. It was a gift, presented on 3 March 1893, to Pope Leo XIII for the 50th anniversary of his episcopal ordination. Bishop Johannes Olav Fallize, then the Vicar Apostolic of Norway, had asked that it be placed in this chapel and it was unveiled by the Papal chamberlain, the Pope supported the idea of a Norwegian chapel in Rome. A smaller picture on the altar shows St. Anne and her daughter, St Anne was a very popular saint in pre-Reformation Norway
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Borromini, San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Smarthistory[7]
