BORROMINI, FRANCESCO

born Sept. 25, 1599, Bissone, Duchy of Lombardy died Aug. 2, 1667, Rome original name Francesco Castelli Italian architect who was a chief formulator of Baroque architectural style. Borromini (who changed his name in about 1627) secured a reputation throughout Europe with his striking design for a small church, S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome. He differed from Gian Lorenzo Bernini and other contemporaries in basing his designs on geometric figures (modules) rather than on the proportions of the human body. Additional reading Opera del Borromini . . . (1720) and Opus architectonicum (1725), Borromini's discussion and engravings of S. Ivo della Sapienza and the monastery of St. Philip Neriboth reprinted in the critical edition by Paolo Portoghesi, Opera and Opus architectonicum (1964). The Graphische Sammlung Albertina in Vienna holds more than 450 Borromini drawings.Eberhard Hempel, Francesco Borromini (1924), the first complete monograph (in German), still basic to any study of Borromini and his work, though outdated in some respects; Paolo Portoghesi, Borromini (1967; Eng. trans. 1968), not distinguished by its scholarship but a most exhaustive monograph, with a thorough bibliography. Major Works: All works are in RomeS. Andrea della Valle (with Maderno, c. 1622); Palazzo Barberini (with Bernini, 162931); St. Peter's (with Bernini, baldachin, 163133; facade design to 1645); Oratory of St. Philip Neri (begun 1637); S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (163841); S. Ivo della Sapienza (164260); Palazzo Pamphili (vault, 164550); Collegio di Propaganda Fide (164667, including the Re Magi chapel ); S. Giovanni in Laterano (reconstruction, 164750); S. Agnese in Agone (continuation, begun 1652; Piazza Navona); S. Andrea delle Fratte (exterior, 165365); Biblioteca Alessandrina in S. Ivo della Sapienza (165961).