Francesco Borromini

Francesco Borromini was an architect from Ticino who trained as a stonemason and worked under Carlo Maderno at Saint Peter’s in Rome. With Bernini, his great rival, and Pietro da Cortona he created Roman Baroque architecture. His small church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane and the chapel of Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza use curving walls and complex geometry in entirely new ways. He also rebuilt the interior of the Lateran basilica and worked on Sant’Agnese in Agone in Piazza Navona. He took his own life in Rome in 1667.