Da Roma a Milano e ritorno. Giovanni Battista Montano, Girolamo Rainaldi, Francesco Maria Ricchino tra genius loci e soluzioni "alla romana"

: This essay focuses on three architects who were involved in the design of some important buildings in Rome and Milan between the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th Centuries: Giovanni Battista Montano (1534-1621), Girolamo Rainaldi (1570-1655) and Francesco Maria Ricchino (1584-1658). The Milanese Giovanni Battista Montano moved to Rome around 1560s, where he worked as carver and architect until his death. He soon became an important reference figure for Milanese architects who visited the Papal city: one of them was probably Francesco Maria Ricchino, who, during his stay in Rome at the very beginning of the 17th Century, entered the studio of Montano, as some scholars suggested. Once back to Milan, Ricchino integrated what he saw, learned and studied in Rome into his architectural language. On the other hand, Girolamo Rainaldi was born, educated and trained in Rome. He constituted a special case because he was one of the few Roman artists who were in charge of architectural tasks in Milan at the beginning of 17th Century. As this paper argues, these three architects – especially Rainaldi and Ricchino – developed an original architectural language, combining the new Roman style with the Milanese ‘genius loci’.