Simone Cantoni

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Portrait of Simone Cantoni

Simone Cantoni (actually Canton Grigo ; born September 2, 1739 in Muggio , Switzerland ; † March 3, 1818 in Gorgonzola ) was an architect working in Italy from what was later to become the canton of Ticino (Switzerland). He was one of the most important neoclassical architects in Italy, heir to the tradition of the Magistri Comacini . He was active for about half a century and left countless works, especially in Milan , Gorgonzola, Bergamo , Como and Brianza .

Life

Simone Cantoni's family originally came from the Swiss municipality of Caneggio in the Muggio Valley near Mendrisio . From here and from the adjacent valleys, important artists and decorators came over the centuries (from Anselmo Lurago and Bonino da Campione to Carlo Maderno , Francesco Borromini and many others).

Simone Cantoni was the son of Anna Maria Gianazzi and master builder Pietro Cantoni, who designed various fortifications as a military architect in the service of the Republic of Genoa , including Forte Santa Tecla . His wife, Giuseppa Fontana, his niece, came from Muggio. In Genoa , Cantoni had the opportunity to learn about late Mannerist architecture (e.g. the works of Galeazzo Alessi and, in general, the palaces of Strada Nuova ).

Palazzo Mellerio in Milan

In 1764, at the age of 25, Cantoni went on an educational trip to Rome, where he visited the workshop of Luigi Vanvitelli and took part in archaeological visits to Pompeii under the direction of Francesco La Vega . In 1767 he was accepted at the Accademia di belle arti di Parma . Here he was strongly influenced by Ennemond Alexandre Petitot , who had been responsible for teaching architecture at the academy from 1753 and gave him a lasting admiration for French classical architecture .

After completing his studies in 1768 Cantoni went to Milan , where he received no public contracts. He then focused on private assignments from some of the city's wealthy aristocratic families. His first project was the facade of the Palazzo Mellerio on the edge of the Porta Romana (1772–1774), which was well received by official critics. He received numerous other commissions from the most important families in Milan, Como and Bergamo, e. B. from the families Trivulzio, Borromeo , Pezzoli, Perego, Giovio and Terzi. His most important work is the Palazzo Serbelloni (1775) in Corso di Porta Venezia (then Porta Orientale) in Milan, where references to French classicism were combined with striking quotations from Italian mannerism of the late 16th century. The work enabled him to win the trust of the Marquis Gian Galeazzo Serbelloni, who entrusted him with the renovation of the cemetery in Gorgonzola (1775–1776).

Palazzo Ducale , from the Piazza Matteotti seen from
Minor Consiglio's room

In Genoa Simone Cantoni took part in the competition for the reconstruction of the Doge's Palace (as part of the reconstruction work after the great fire of 1777). His success in Milan enabled him to gain the appropriate public recognition: between 1778 and 1783 he was involved in the reconstruction of the facade and the halls. For this he was accepted into the Accademico all'Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti. It was his only work outside of Lombardy .

Hall of the Maggior Consiglio

Finally famous, Cantoni received important commissions, especially for new sacred buildings, especially in the Milan – Como – Bergamo triangle and in the canton of Ticino : the church of San Michele in Vimercate (Oreno fraction) and the classicist Villa Gallarati Scotti; in Carate Brianza, the parish church of Sant'Ambrogio and Simpliciano and the oratory of Villa Beldosso (Agliate fraction); in Inverigo the Villa Perego; in Canzo the villa of Count Meda; in the Villa Guardia (Mosino), the villa of Count Mugiasca, later Count Greppi; in Cavenago di Brianza the villa of the Rasini princes; in Lesmo, the villa of Count Mellerio (his first patron); in Lomazzo the Church of St. Vito and Modesto and in Ponte Lambro the Church of Santa Maria Annunciata. In the canton of Ticino his sacred buildings are the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista in Morbio Superiore , the Church of San Michele in Sagno , the Church of San Salvatore in Cabbio and the Church of San Siro in Bruzella .

Ponte Lambro: Church of Santissima Maria Annunciata
Provost church of Santi Nazario e Protasio in Gorgonzola

His buildings in Como, the city very close to his birthplace Muggio and seat of the diocese to which Ticino belonged, were also important. In Breccia he built Villa Giovio from 1790 to 1795 on behalf of the famous family of the same name from Como. Marquis Innocenzo Odescalchi commissioned him to build the imposing Villa Olmo . Then he was entrusted with the episcopal seminary and the renovation of the buildings of the former Santa Cecilia monastery, in order to transfer them partly to the school (today the seat of the Liceo Classico and the scientific A. Volta) in Porta Torre. For this project he designed, among other things, the library room (1811) and the facade (1816), in which Cantoni reused the columns from the former baptistery of S. Giovanni in Atrio. In the meantime, he continued his collaboration with the Serbelloni family: Cantoni built the family mausoleum in Gorgonzola for them and, from 1806, his masterpiece of religious art, the provost church of Santi Gervasio e Protasio, which is reflected in the Naviglio. The church, an example of the Lombard neoclassical style, is the only sacred building designed and built entirely by Simone Cantoni, who died during a site visit in 1818, almost eighty years old.

He was buried in the same church. The tomb is in the Serbelloni mausoleum, in the chapel to the left of the temple. After the death of the Cantoni, the church was completed by Giacomo Moraglia , who also built the bell tower.

literature

  • Cristina Bartolini: The "ristoro" del Salone del Maggior Consiglio: the progetto di Simone Cantoni e il dibattito in città. In Giusi Testa Grauso (ed.): Marcantonio Franceschini. I cartoni ritrovati. Cinisello Balsamo 2002, pp. 127-133.
  • Federica Bianchi, Cristina Sonderegger: Committenza pubblica e privata. In: Arte in Ticino 1803-2003. La ricerca di un'appartenenza (1803-1870). Ed. Rudy Chiappini. Lugano 2001, p. 249.
  • Sabina Carbonara Pompei: Al crepuscolo del barocco. L'attività romana dell'architetto Carlo Murena (1713–1764). Viella Arte, Rome 2008.
  • Valerio Cirio: Simone Cantoni. In Artisti di Frontiera. Lugano 2001, pp. 52-54.
  • Emmina de Negri: Intorno ai Cantoni: capi d'opera e architetti a Genova a fine Settecento e la ricostruzione di Palazzo Ducale. In: Una tecnologia per l'architettura ricostruita. Forme, strutture e materiali nell'edilizia genovese e ligure. Genoa 2001, pp. 155-174.
  • Tommaso Manfredi: L'età del Grand Tour. Architetti ticinesi a Roma. In: Giorgio Mollisi (a cura di): Svizzeri a Roma nella storia, nell'arte, nella cultura, nell'economia dal Cinquecento ad oggi. 8th year, No. 35, September / October 2007, Edizioni Ticino Management, Lugano 2007, p. 264.
  • Fernando Mazzocca, Alessandro Morandotti, Enrico Colle: Milano Neoclassica. Milan 2001, pp. 40, 103, 117, 207-209, 210, 220, 489, 537, 538, 539.
  • Riccardo Navone: Viaggio nei Caruggi, edicole votive, pietre e portali. Fratelli Frilli Editori, Genua 2007, p. 123.
  • Nicoletta Ossanna Cavadini: Simone Cantoni architetto. Electa, Milan 2003; the same: Simone Cantoni architetto, un esponente di spicco dell'emigrazione ticinese. Il progetto di Palazzo Ducale. In: Genova e l'Europa continentale. Opere, Artisti, committenti e collezionisti. Milan 2004, pp. 188-209; same: Villa Olmo. Universo filosofico sulle rive del lago di Como. A Universe a Philosophy on the Shores of Lake Como. Milan 2002. * Nicoletta Ossanna Cavadini: Simone Cantoni di Muggio in Palazzo Vailetti Albani e le sue relazioni con la committenza bergamasca. In: Giorgio Mollisi (ed.): Svizzeri a Bergamo nella storia, nell'arte, nella cultura, nell'economia dal Cinquecento ad oggi. Campionesi a Bergamo nel Medioevo. In: Arte & Storia, Vol. 10, No. 44, September / October 2009, pp. 176–199 (with literature).
  • Giorgio Perego: Gorgonzola. Tre secoli della nostra storia. Gorgonzola 2002, p. 44.
  • Eliana Perotti: Cantoni, Simone. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . Retrieved September 12, 2005 , 2020 .
  • Marco Pippione: Liberté, Fraternité, egalité: Como francese. In: Storia di Como. Dall'età di Volta all'età contemporanea (1750–1950). Vol. V, edition I. Como 2002, pp. 3, 11.
  • Ennio Poleggi: Simone Cantoni. In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani. Pp. 18, 26-52, 328-331.
  • Letizia Tedeschi (Ed.): Gli architetti ticinesi e la formazione accademica a Roma. In: La formazione degli architetti ticinesi nelle Accademie di Belle arti italiane fra il XVIII ei XX secolo. Accademia di Architettura-Archivio del Moderno di Mendrisio, Mendrisio 2008.

Web links

Commons : Simone Cantoni  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence


personal data
SURNAME Cantoni, Simone
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Grigo, Canton (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss architect
DATE OF BIRTH September 2, 1739
PLACE OF BIRTH Muggio , Switzerland
DATE OF DEATH March 3, 1818
Place of death Gorgonzola