 Tomb of Francesco Borromini, San Giovanni dei Fiorentini One of the geniuses of Baroque architecture, Francesco Borromini (1599-1667), is buried in the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini. Although Borromini hailed from northern Italy, Rome was the city in which he lived and worked for most of his adult life. Here we see so many of his masterpieces, such as the churches of San Carlo alla Quattro Fontane and Sant' Ivo alla Sapienza, to name but two. Borromini suffered throughout his life from serious bouts of depression and on a hot summer's night in August 1667, he fell upon his sword. Though mortally wounded, the tormented soul had time to repent, receive the last sacraments and write his will. In it he stated that he wanted to be buried nameless in the tomb of Carlo Maderno (1566-1629), a distant relative, teacher and friend. Borromini's name was later inscribed on a marble disc, in front of Maderno's tombstone.  San Giovanni dei Fiorentini Comments are closed.
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Blogging about Rome,
its art, history and culture. My name is David Lown and I am an art historian from Cambridge, England. Since 2001 I have lived in Italy, where I run private and
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January 2021
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