Guarino Guarini facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Guarino Guarini
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Guarino Guarini
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| Born | 17 January 1624 Modena, Duchy of Modena and Reggio
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| Died | 6 March 1683 (aged 59) |
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| Nationality | Italian | ||||||
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| Scientific career | |||||||
| Fields | Architecture, mathematics, astronomy and physics | ||||||
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Guarino Guarini (born January 17, 1624 – died March 6, 1683) was a famous Italian architect. He was known for his amazing Baroque buildings. He worked mostly in Turin, Italy.
Guarini was also a Theatine priest, a mathematician, and a writer. His buildings often used complex shapes and designs. Many people think his work was a top example of Italian Baroque engineering.
Contents
Guarini's Life Story
Guarini was born in Modena, Italy, in 1624. When he was 15, he joined the Theatine Order. This was a religious group. He studied in Rome at the San Silvestro al Quirinale monastery. There, he learned about architecture, religion, philosophy, and math.
During his time in Rome, two other famous architects, Francesco Borromini and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, were creating amazing Baroque buildings. Guarini learned from Borromini how to use complex geometry in his building plans. For example, Borromini used a star shape made from two triangles for a church. Guarini later used a similar idea in a dome in Turin.
After finishing his studies in 1647, Guarini became a priest in 1648. He worked on churches and monasteries in Modena. He quickly rose in the Theatine Order. He became a leader, a treasurer, and a teacher. But in 1654, he had to leave Modena.
For a few years, Guarini traveled. He visited Parma, Prague, and Lisbon. Between 1657 and 1659, he was in Spain. There, he studied Moorish architecture, which is a style from North Africa and Spain. This style later influenced some of his buildings in Turin.
In 1660, Guarini became a professor in Messina, Italy. He taught math and philosophy. He also designed several buildings there. These included a church facade and other churches. During this time, he also published his first play, La Pietà Trionfante. It was a drama performed by his students.
In 1662, Guarini went back to Modena to be with his sick mother. He also drew plans for a church facade there, but it was never built.
Later in 1662, Guarini moved to Paris, France. He was asked to build the Church of Sainte-Anne-la-Royale. He didn't like the original design, so he created a new one. His design was a Greek cross shape with a large central dome. While in Paris, he also taught theology. He saw many Gothic cathedrals and learned about projective geometry. This new geometry helped him create his bold and daring dome designs.
Building Sainte-Anne-la-Royale began in 1662. But after four years, there were money problems. Guarini became frustrated and left the project. He moved to Turin in 1666.
In 1668, Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy named Guarini the Royal Engineer and Mathematician. This was a very important job. He designed many public and private buildings in Turin. Some of his most famous works include:
- The Royal Church of San Lorenzo (1666–1680)
- The Chapel of the Holy Shroud (begun in 1668), which holds the famous Shroud of Turin
- The Palazzo Carignano (1679–85), a beautiful city palace
- The Castle of Racconigi
Guarini died in Milan in 1683. Other famous architects like Filippo Juvarra and Bernardo Vittone followed in his footsteps.
Guarini's Ideas and Discoveries
Guarini wrote ten books on many topics. These included architecture, math, and astronomy. In 1665, he published Placita Philosophica. This was a large book about math and philosophy. It covered logic, biology, astronomy, physics, and more. Guarini was interested in new scientific ideas of his time. For example, he agreed with Galileo that objects in space are made of material things.
He also wrote a major book called Euclides adauctus et methodicus (1671). This book was about descriptive geometry. Geometry is the study of shapes, sizes, and positions. Guarini's strong math skills were very clear in his architectural work. He believed that the "magic of wondrous mathematicians shines brightly in marvelous and truly regal architecture."
Besides his math books, he wrote about how to measure buildings. He also wrote a book on military engineering, which is about building defenses. After he died, his designs were collected and published in a book called Disegni d’architettura civile et ecclesiastica (1686). His most important work, Architettura civile, was published in 1737. This book was very popular and influenced many architects in Europe.
Architectural Works
Here are some of the buildings Guarini designed:
- Facade of Santissima Annunziata and nearby Theatine palace (Messina, destroyed in 1908 earthquake)
- Sainte-Anne-la-Royale (1662, destroyed in 1823)
- Santa Maria della Divina Providenca (Lisbon, destroyed by the 1755 earthquake)
- San Filippo Neri (completed by Juvarra)
- Colegio dei Nobili (1678, Turin)
- Chapel of the Holy Shroud (1668–94, Turin)
- Royal Church of San Lorenzo (1668–87, Turin)
- Castle of Racconigi (1676–84, Racconigi)
- Palazzo Carignano (1679–85, Turin)
- Santuario della Consolata (restored later by others)
Images for kids
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The Carignano Palace in Turin
See also
In Spanish: Guarino Guarini para niños
