Girolamo Rainaldi
Encyclopedia
Girolamo Rainaldi was an Italian
architect who worked on the whole in a conservative Mannerist style
, often with collaborating architects, yet was a successful competitor of Bernini
. His son, Carlo Rainaldi
, became an even more notable, more fully Baroque architect.
.
He trained with the architect-engineer Domenico Fontana
and collaborated as a junior partner with Giacomo Della Porta
, whom he succeeded as the papacy's chief architect, under the patronage of Pope Sixtus V
. He became the chief Papal architect of Rome in 1602, and thus was constantly at work on lesser projects such as altars and church furnishings, and with on-going projects of other designers, especially at St Peter's and in completing Michelangelo
's project at the Campidoglio with the Palazzo Nuovo dicreetly designed to mirror Michelangelo's masterful Palazzo dei Conservatori.
Rainaldi's most influential single design was the façade of the Chiesa di Gesù e Maria; the project began in 1642, and was not completed before Rainaldi's death. In his official capacity Rainaldi also designed the palazzo to house the Jesuits in the Piazza del Gesù, a Mannerist façade without a trace of Baroque in its details. As the favored architect of Cardinal Pamphili, he temporarily eclipsed Bernini when Pamphili became Pope as Innocent X
in 1644. The elder Rainaldi's important projects in Rome the Palazzo Pamphilj
in Piazza Navona (c. 1645 – 1650), where he designed the ground plan of Sant'Agnese and laid its foundations beginning in 1652, but was replaced the following year by Francesco Borromini
, who erected quite a different façade on Rainaldi's foundations; after Rainaldi's death his son Carlo
was called in to replace Borromini.
The elder Rainaldi was all but house architect for the Farnese family. In the Farnese stronghold of Caprarola
, near Rome, Cardinal Odoardo Farnese commissioned Rainaldi to build for the Discalced Carmelites the Church of SS Maria e Silvestro (1621–23), a beautiful and original church adapted to exigencies of the site. Cardinal Odoardo also commissioned the enriched interior of Santa Maria della Consolazione at Caprarola. Rainaldi, who had adapted for the Farnese two monumental antique granite basins as matching fountains in Piazza Farnese
in 1626, was taken to Parma
by the Farnese to build their town palaces there, and also did the vaulting of Santissima Annunziata in that city.
Rainaldi was also active in Bologna
, where he designed the vaulting to cover the vast and ambitious church of San Petronio
(finished on-site by Francesco Martini), and designed the Church of Santa Lucia (1623). For Francesco d’Este
, who, with the loss of the Este seat of Ferrara
to the Papal States, concentrated his patronage in his Duchy of Modena, Rainaldi contributed to the construction of the Ducal Palace
to supplant the ancient castello, and was in particular charged with the layout and elaborate hydraulics of its gardens, with giochi di acque
and a theater clipped in green hedges
, 1631-34 (Roganti).
Girolamo Rainaldi is modestly buried next to his father in the Church of Santi Luca e Martina
; designed in part by Rainaldi's father, and part by Pietro da Cortona
.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
architect who worked on the whole in a conservative Mannerist style
Mannerism
Mannerism is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century throughout much of Europe...
, often with collaborating architects, yet was a successful competitor of Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect...
. His son, Carlo Rainaldi
Carlo Rainaldi
Carlo Rainaldi was an Italian architect of the Baroque period.Born in Rome, Rainaldi was one of the leading architects of 17th century Rome, known for a certain grandeur in his designs. He worked at first with his father, Girolamo Rainaldi, a late Mannerist architect in Rome. After his father's...
, became an even more notable, more fully Baroque architect.
Biography
The son of a painter from Norcia, Rainaldi was born in RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
.
He trained with the architect-engineer Domenico Fontana
Domenico Fontana
Domenico Fontana was a Swiss-born Italian architect of the late Renaissance.-Biography:200px|thumb|Fountain of Moses in Rome....
and collaborated as a junior partner with Giacomo Della Porta
Giacomo della Porta
Giacomo della Porta was an Italian architect and sculptor, who worked on many important buildings in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica. He was born at Porlezza, Lombardy and died in Rome.-Biography:...
, whom he succeeded as the papacy's chief architect, under the patronage of Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V , born Felice Peretti di Montalto, was Pope from 1585 to 1590.-Early life:The chronicler Andrija Zmajević states that Felice's family originated from modern-day Montenegro...
. He became the chief Papal architect of Rome in 1602, and thus was constantly at work on lesser projects such as altars and church furnishings, and with on-going projects of other designers, especially at St Peter's and in completing Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
's project at the Campidoglio with the Palazzo Nuovo dicreetly designed to mirror Michelangelo's masterful Palazzo dei Conservatori.
Rainaldi's most influential single design was the façade of the Chiesa di Gesù e Maria; the project began in 1642, and was not completed before Rainaldi's death. In his official capacity Rainaldi also designed the palazzo to house the Jesuits in the Piazza del Gesù, a Mannerist façade without a trace of Baroque in its details. As the favored architect of Cardinal Pamphili, he temporarily eclipsed Bernini when Pamphili became Pope as Innocent X
Pope Innocent X
Pope Innocent X , born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj , was Pope from 1644 to 1655. Born in Rome of a family from Gubbio in Umbria who had come to Rome during the pontificate of Pope Innocent IX, he graduated from the Collegio Romano and followed a conventional cursus honorum, following his uncle...
in 1644. The elder Rainaldi's important projects in Rome the Palazzo Pamphilj
Palazzo Pamphilj
Palazzo Pamphilj, also spelled Palazzo Pamphili, is a palace facing onto the Piazza Navona in Rome. It was built between 1644 and 1650.Since 1920 the palace has housed the Brazilian Embassy in Italy, and in 1964 it became the property of the Federative Republic of Brazil.-History:In 1644, Cardinal...
in Piazza Navona (c. 1645 – 1650), where he designed the ground plan of Sant'Agnese and laid its foundations beginning in 1652, but was replaced the following year by Francesco Borromini
Francesco Borromini
Francesco Borromini, byname of Francesco Castelli was an architect from Ticino who, with his contemporaries, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Pietro da Cortona, was a leading figure in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture.A keen student of the architecture of Michelangelo and the ruins of...
, who erected quite a different façade on Rainaldi's foundations; after Rainaldi's death his son Carlo
Carlo Rainaldi
Carlo Rainaldi was an Italian architect of the Baroque period.Born in Rome, Rainaldi was one of the leading architects of 17th century Rome, known for a certain grandeur in his designs. He worked at first with his father, Girolamo Rainaldi, a late Mannerist architect in Rome. After his father's...
was called in to replace Borromini.
The elder Rainaldi was all but house architect for the Farnese family. In the Farnese stronghold of Caprarola
Caprarola
Caprarola is a town and comune in the province of Viterbo, in the Lazio region of central Italy. The village is situated in a range of volcanic hills known as the Cimini Mounts....
, near Rome, Cardinal Odoardo Farnese commissioned Rainaldi to build for the Discalced Carmelites the Church of SS Maria e Silvestro (1621–23), a beautiful and original church adapted to exigencies of the site. Cardinal Odoardo also commissioned the enriched interior of Santa Maria della Consolazione at Caprarola. Rainaldi, who had adapted for the Farnese two monumental antique granite basins as matching fountains in Piazza Farnese
Palazzo Farnese, Rome
Palazzo Farnese is a High Renaissance palace in Rome, which currently houses the French embassy and the Ecole Française de Rome ....
in 1626, was taken to Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
by the Farnese to build their town palaces there, and also did the vaulting of Santissima Annunziata in that city.
Rainaldi was also active in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, where he designed the vaulting to cover the vast and ambitious church of San Petronio
San Petronio Basilica
The Basilica of San Petronio is the main church of Bologna, Emilia Romagna, northern Italy. It dominates the Piazza Maggiore. It is the fifth largest church in the world, stretching for 132 meters in length and 60 meters in width, while the vault reaches 45 meters inside and 51 meters in the facade...
(finished on-site by Francesco Martini), and designed the Church of Santa Lucia (1623). For Francesco d’Este
Este
The House of Este is a European princely dynasty. It is split into two branches; the elder is known as the House of Welf-Este or House of Welf historically rendered in English, Guelf or Guelph...
, who, with the loss of the Este seat of Ferrara
Ferrara
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
to the Papal States, concentrated his patronage in his Duchy of Modena, Rainaldi contributed to the construction of the Ducal Palace
Ducal Palace of Modena
The Ducal Palace of Modena is a Baroque palace in Modena, Italy. It was the residence of the Este Dukes of Modena between 1452 and 1859. It currently houses a portion of the Italian Military Academy.-History:...
to supplant the ancient castello, and was in particular charged with the layout and elaborate hydraulics of its gardens, with giochi di acque
Jeux d'eau
Jeux d'eau or "water games", is an umbrella term in the history of gardens for the "water features" that were introduced into mid-16th century Mannerist Italian gardens...
and a theater clipped in green hedges
Topiary
Topiary is the horticultural practice of training live perennial plants, by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, perhaps geometric or fanciful; and the term also refers to plants which have been shaped in this way. It can be...
, 1631-34 (Roganti).
Girolamo Rainaldi is modestly buried next to his father in the Church of Santi Luca e Martina
Santi Luca e Martina
Santi Luca e Martina is a church in Rome, Italy, situated between the Roman Forum and the Forum of Caesar and close to the Arch of Septimus Severus.-History:...
; designed in part by Rainaldi's father, and part by Pietro da Cortona
Pietro da Cortona
Pietro da Cortona, by the name of Pietro Berrettini, born Pietro Berrettini da Cortona, was the leading Italian Baroque painter of his time and also one of the key architects in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture. He was also an important decorator...
.
Sources
- Filippo Titi, Descrizione delle Pitture, Sculture e Architetture esposte a Roma (Rome 1763) /Professori/G.html
- Piazza Farnese fountains (in Italian)
- Gabriela Roganti, "Il giardino ducale" (in Italian)
- "SS Maria e Silvestro a Caprarola" (in Italian)