Borromini, Francesco (1599–1667)

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Numerous of Francesco Borromini’s design sketches carry the expression and passion for architecture that can be found in his built work. Displaying fluid lines and definitive vertical emphasis, his admirers continually stress his knowledge of Vitruvius and his foundation in classical architecture. He implemented classical elements, but in new combinations, employing dramatic lighting effects and integrating painting, sculpture, and architecture as a unified whole (Blunt, 1979).

The son of architect Giovanni Domenico Castelli, he was born at Bissone near Lake Lugano in 1599, acquiring the name Borromini later in life. Being related to Carlo Maderno, he found work carving coats of arms, festoons, decorative putti, and balustrades at St. Peter’s (Wittkower, 1980). Subsequently, Maderno employed him as a draughtsman and, achieving some freedom of design during Bernini’s directorship at St. Peter’s, he started his architectural career. He brought with him skills as a builder and craftsman to design the monastery of S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane. The façade consists of three concave bays separated from the rest of the corner site. The church displays an oval plan with four indented corners creating an interior undulating pattern of columns (Millon, 1961). The historian George Hersey suggests that it evokes a mannerist/baroque use of geometry, elongating and distorting circles to become ovals and ellipses (Hersey, 2000). Several of his other projects include Palazzo della Sapienza (1642–1662), Propaganda Fide (1647–1662), St. Agnese in Piazza Navona (1652–1657), St. John Lateran, and Church of S. Ivo alla Sapienza.

The many sketches from the collection of Borromini in the Albertina are primarily rendered in graphite. Most show the heavy usage that could be expected from drawings that are pondered. Demonstrating their use for contemplation over long periods of time, the graphite has been smeared and often partially erased. The compass seems to have been his constant companion, as the sketches are riddled with holes.

This early conceptual sketch for the Collegio della Progaganda Fide exemplifies many of these traits. The page suggests that he was lost in thought, moving easily across the sheet between plans, elevations, and calculations. He tried several variations of a columned entrance, in a process of constant refinement. The smeared graphite designates the trial quality of this sketch page; it expresses how he participated with the sketches, just as he did with his architecture. He was not afraid to keep working on the same page even if it became dirty and smeared.

Borromini likely chose graphite because it was fast, expressive, and changeable. In contrast, pen and ink may have been too permanent, belabored, and slow (dipping the pen); it was a medium less erasable. These sketches are not careless, but rather deliberate in concentration. The palimpset, of his thinking shows how he was constantly reacting to an existing line with a new one. Reconsidered solutions can be seen in the darker alternatives for an entrance. Each time he decided on a better solution, Borromini tried definitively to emphasize it with a heavier lineweight. The reworking of the sketch and the rough texture of the paper stemming from erasure also shows in the darker marks around the altered areas.

From the liveliness of his sketches, one can imagine the passion he gave to his art. For him, the sketches were personal conversations and he did not care how they looked. He was absorbed in the dialogue of the image.