entry Aug 2007
Gian Battista
Cavagna (c. 1550-1613)
Cavagna is one of those “other”
painters, architects and engineers in Naples, whose name
is often lost in the shuffle of the greats of the
Neapolitan Baroque, working as he did in the shadow of
his great contemporaries. In architecture, that would be
Domenico Fontana. (See
also this list of
painters of the Neapolitan Baroque.)
Cavagna was from Rome, but did
most of his work in Naples. Many of the buildings that
he helped design and build were finished by others. A
partial list includes the grand monastic complex of San Gregorio Armeno in the
historic center of Naples (photo, right, still a
formidable landmark in the city); the Basilica of San Paolo Maggiore;
and the Monte di Pietà,
the first great pawnbroking establishment in Naples
(which burned in 1903 and has since been restored). He
was also responsible for much of the stucco and panel
painting in the vast monastery of Monteoliveto (most of
which disappeared in 20th-century
urban renewal) as well as for the church (still
extant) belonging to that complex, Santa'Anna dei Lombardi
(aka S. Maria di
Monteoliveto). He also designed the royal grain
storage facility in 1601. Cavagna left Naples when his
plans for a new vice-royal palace were rejected in favor
of those of his rival, Domenico Fontana.
to architecture portal
to top of
this page
© 2002 - 2023