Gabriele Valvassori. Nuovi contributi

Gabriele Valvassori (1683-1761) emerged as a distinguished architectural figure in Rome during the first half of the eighteenth century. His professional activity, concentrated chiefly within the papal city, encompassed consultancy roles for both public institutions and local religious congregations, in which he undertook a broad spectrum of responsibilities. Alongside the design of both monumental edifices and more intimate environments, he exercised meticulous oversight of suppliers and labor forces. Despite the paucity of autograph writings reflecting his theoretical stance, the substantial corpus of extant documentation nonetheless affords a comprehensive understanding of his «modus operandi». When coupled with a direct analytical reading of the palatial and liturgical structures he conceived, these sources yield new interpretative avenues. Ranging from the emblematic Bergamaschi complex in Piazza Colonna and Palazzo Doria Pamphilj to the lesser-known churches of Santa Maria dell’Orto and Santa Maria in Luce, V alvassori’ s design decisions reflect a measured reworking of inherited architectural traditions, adapting the legacy of past masters to emerging functional and stylistic exigencies. In negotiating the innovations of his time with the academic tenets propagated by the school of Carlo Fontana (1638-1714), he cultivated an autonomous formal equilibrium that conveyed a sense of modernity underpinned by the deliberate regulation of compositional and dimensional relationships among architectural elements. This volume endeavors to advance scholarly inquiry into late Baroque architecture in Rome by bringing Valvassori’ s oeuvre into sharper focus. Through rigorous archival investigation and critical interpretation, it introduces previously unexamined perspectives and makes substantial contributions to the historiography of his architectural practice and its cultural milieu.

Gabriele Valvassori (1683-1761) fu uno degli architetti più influenti della Roma papale del Settecento, autore di palazzi monumentali e spazi liturgici di grande raffinatezza. Il presente volume ne ripercorre l’attività progettuale, analizzando edifici celebri come il complesso dei Bergamaschi e Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, accanto a interventi meno noti come Santa Maria dell’Orto e Santa Maria in Luce. Attraverso un'ampia indagine archivistica e una lettura critica delle opere, i vari capitoli restituiscono un profilo preciso sia del suo modus operandi sia del contesto culturale in cui si mosse, introducendo prospettive inedite e offrendo un contributo significativo alla comprensione dell’evoluzione del Tardobarocco romano. Riattualizzando la tradizione seicentesca alla luce delle esigenze moderne, Valvassori elaborò un linguaggio architettonico originale e misurato, il cui approfondimento si rivela oggi più che mai significativo. Nel volume sono presenti contributi di: Michela Cascasi, Francesco Dafano, Emanuele Gambuti, Augusto Roca De Amicis, Angelica Rossetto, Virginia Stampete, Barbara Tetti.