Giacomo Fontana
Giacomo Fontana , also Jakob Fontana (* 1710 in Szczuczyn , Podlaskie Voivodeship ; † April 13, 1773 in Warsaw ) was a Polish Baroque architect who worked mainly in Warsaw. He was the court architect of the last Polish king and was raised to the nobility in 1764. Fontana was the son of the architect Józef Fontana, who immigrated to Poland from Mendrisio, Canton Ticino, and a brother of Jan Kanty Fontana (1731–1800). His sister Marianne Magdalene's husband was Johann Georg Plersch .
Life
He learned his trade from his father, then studied in northern Italy, in Rome , Paris and Vienna . His first work - still under the supervision of his father - was the erection of the towers of the Piarist Church in Łowicz . Together with his father, he also built the Franciscan Church in Warsaw (consecrated in 1737) based on a design by Giovanni Battista Ceroni from Valsolda . In 1737 he returned to Warsaw from his studies in northern Italy and Rome as well as Paris and Vienna; after that he began to work independently as an architect and builder. After his father's death in 1741, Giacomo Fontana took over his business.
In 1742 Fontana began the geodetic survey of all Warsaw buildings. From 1743 onwards, as a now renowned specialist, Fontana received numerous commissions from nobles and monasteries . For the Franciscan Church in Warsaw, he designed the main facade in 1750, which, however, was redesigned by Josef Boretti in 1788. In 1750 he also received an order from Jan Klemens Branicki to rebuild the Branicki Castle in Białystok . Eustachy Potocki commissioned him to remodel his residence in Radzyń Podlaski . His permanent staff included u. a. the sculptor Johann Georg Plersch .
After Stanislaus II. August Poniatowski , patron of the arts , he was appointed to the throne , Fontana was appointed Polish court architect. In the second half of the 18th century he promoted the transition from Rococo to Classicism in Polish architecture.
Buildings (selection)
- Building of the Piarist School Collegium Nobilium in Warsaw (1743)
- Reconstruction of the Malachowski Palace in Warsaw (1750)
- Expansion of the Branicki Palace in Warsaw (1750–1754)
- Reconstruction of the Potocki Palace in Radzyń Podlaski (1750–1758)
- Reconstruction of the interior of the Warsaw Royal Castle (from 1751)
- Reconstruction of the Bieliński Palace in Otwock Wielki (1750–1760)
- Facade of the Kreuzkirche in Warsaw (from 1753)
- Construction of the St. Bernard Church in Góra Kalwaria (1755–1759)
- Reconstruction of the Warsaw Lubomirski Palace (from 1760)
- Reconstruction of the Palace of the Krakow Bishops in Warsaw (1760–1762)
- Reconstruction of the Potocki Palace in Warsaw (1760–1762)
- Reconstruction of the Młodziejowski Palace (until 1771)
- Construction of the Karaś Palace (1769–1772)
- Construction of the so-called Mokronowski Palace (1770/71)
- Staircase in the Branicki Palace in Białystok
- Participation in the design of the Sanguszko Palace in Isjaslav ( Ukraine )
- Reconstruction of the Prażmowski Palace in Warsaw
- Draft for the reconstruction of the Jabłonowski Palace in Warsaw (1773)
Church in Góra Kalwaria
Palace in Otwock Wielki
Cruciform Church in Warsaw
Collegium Nobilum in Warsaw
Web links
- About Giacomo Fontana in the Warsaw Wiki (in Polish)
literature
- Mariusz Karpowicz: Artisti ticinesi in Polonia nella prima metà del '700. Edito dallo Stato del Canton Ticino, Arti Grafiche Bernasconi SA, Agno 1999, pp. 14, 37, 39-42, 84-86, 89, 92, 95, 114, 159, 192, 202, 205.
- Stanisław Łoza: Architekci i budowniczowie w Polsce (architects and builders in Poland), Warszawa 1954
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Fontana, Giacomo |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Fontana, Jakob |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Polish Baroque architect |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1710 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Szczuczyn , Podlaskie Voivodeship |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 13, 1773 |
| Place of death | Warsaw |