Francesco Fontana (architect)

Rome S. Maria della Neve al Colosseo, facade by Francesco Fontana

Francesco Fontana (* 1668 ; † 1708 ) was an Italian Baroque architect .

Life

Son of the architect Carlo Fontana and also his students and employees. One of his first works was the chapel of San Gesualdo in the cathedral of Velletri in the years 1694–1698 , which was built on behalf of Cardinal Alderano Cibo . In 1695 he became prefect of the Acqua Felice and a year later published a treatise on this aqueduct, which Sixtus V had built using Roman buildings. From 1696 to 1699 he worked on behalf of Cardinal Bandino Panciatichi on his palace in Florence. From 1697 to 1701 he built the transept of the church of San Salvatore in Lauro designed by Ottaviano Mascherino . A design for the Fulda Cathedral goes back to him or his father, but it was never realized. From 1701 to 1705 he carried out the renovation of S. Pietro in Vincoli in Rome and built the facade of the church of S. Maria della Neve. His main work is the new building of the Roman church SS. Apostoli, which was commissioned by Clement XI. 1701–1724 (after his death by his father and Nicola Michetti ). He also worked in the Vatican at Belvederhof and restored the model for the dome of St. Peter's Basilica by Michelangelo . Francesco Fontana was a close friend of Filippo Juvarra, who also designed his tomb.

literature

Fontana, Francesco: Relazione dello stato vecchio, e nuovo dell'Acqua Felice con la notizia sel suo accrescimento nel presente anno 1696; essendo presidente della medesima l'Illustriss. e Reverendiss. Monsignor Lorenzo Corsini, Rome with GF Buagni 1696.

Finocchi Ghersi, Lorenzo: Francesco Fontana e la basilica dei Santi Apostoli a Roma, in: Storia dell'arte, 1991, pp. 332-360.