An artist who eludes all categorizing, original in his use of non-traditional solutions; a curious, complex personality.
A courteous, erudite, ironic figure, Guarino Guarini, artists, scholar and priest, is examined in this book, offering a portrait of his complex personality and his architectural language, which was so imaginative and original as to elude any possibility of categorization. The author retraces the architecture of Guarini who exploited, as never before, the possibilities offered by perforated stone cupolas, while concealing their structural foundations. The work is analyzed in its historical context, with particular attention to Islamic and gothic references.
The architect’s links to the Piedmont court are explored, along with his scientific and philosophical treatises, in an overview of the work of Guarini seen in relation to its influence on baroque architecture in Austria, Bohemia and Germany.