The Architecture of Francesco Borromini

An innovative 17th-century Baroque architect

Francesco Borromini was one of three architects of the Roman Baroque who were chiefly responsible for changing the face of 17th-century Rome from the classicism of the Renaissance, and who introduced a bold new style in both sacred and secular buildings. Of the three (the other two being Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Pietro da Cortona) Borromini was probably the most influential as he devoted a greater proportion of his time to architecture, Bernini being known mainly as a sculptor and Cortona as a painter.

Francesco Borromini (real name Castelli) was born on 25th September 1599 at Bissone on Lake Lugano in southern Switzerland. He arrived in Rome in about 1620 where he worked for some time as a stonemason and draughtsman.

His first independent commission came as late as 1634, this being for the church of the monastery of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane. However, the building was not finally completed until after Borromini’s death in 1667. The design was a revolutionary one, based on a roughly oval plan and with the walls flowing in a continuous movement of concave and convex shapes. The use of the curve was to be Borromini’s trademark, and the feature that most distinguished his work from the classicism of the past.