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Biography of Carlo MadernoName: Carlo MadernoBirth Date: 1556 Death Date: January 30, 1629 Place of Birth: Capolago, Italy Nationality: Italian Gender: Male Occupations: architect Carlo Maderno The Italian architect Carlo Maderno (1556-1629) was the creator of the early baroque style in architecture.Carlo Maderno was born at Capolago on Lake Lugano. He went to Rome before 1588 and worked for his uncle, Domenico Fontana, the architect to Pope Sixtus V. Not until 1596 did Maderno receive an important architectural commission--the church of S. Susanna; until then he lived as a stuccoworker and decorator.The facade of S. Susanna was completed in 1603 and is considered the first baroque facade. Maderno started from the type established by Giacomo da Vignola's design for, and Giacomo della Porta's executed version of, the Church of the Gesù in Rome, but the significance of Maderno's contribution lies in his reversal of Della Porta's alterations to Vignola's design. In its original form the Gesù facade had a slight emphasis on the center, building up from the pilasters at the edges to attached columns …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…the figure of the pope when he appeared in public. These conflicting requirements were met as far as possible by Maderno's adaptation of a typical Roman palace facade, with decorative motives taken from Michelangelo's works. The plan to provide bell towers at the ends to enframe the dome in distant views had to be abandoned because the foundations gave trouble. The work, including the decoration, was completed and consecrated on Nov. 18, 1626.Among Maderno's other works are the church of S. Maria della Vittoria (1605; facade by G. B. Soria, 1626) and the church of S. Andrea della Valle (1608-1628; facade completed by Carlo Rainaldi in 1665), which has the largest dome in Rome after St. Peter's. In 1628 he designed the huge Palazzo Barberini, altered and completed by others. He died in Rome on Jan. 30, 1629. Further Reading The best account of Maderno in English is in Rudolf Wittkower, Art and Architecture in Italy, 1600-1750 (1958; 2d ed. 1965). |