entry Feb 2006
Cosimo Fanzago (1591-1678)
"Hello, Cosimo."
"Say, did you fellows know that I built this very church we're meeting in right now?"
Spire of San Gennaro
Welcome
to the busy world of Cosimo Fanzago. One often
speaks of the great Spanish influence in Naples, the
music, language, and, most obviously, architecture. Even
today it is impossible not to run into examples of
prominent Spanish buildings in Naples, indeed, entire
sections of the town (hence, the "Spanish
Quarters" in Naples, off of via Toledo (aka via
Roma) that don't bear the stamp of the Spanish vice-realm
of Naples in the 1600s. It is also impossible not to run
into the work of this greatest of all architects of the
Neapolitan Baroque.Fanzago was born in Bergamo into a family of bronze-casters and architects and moved to Naples in 1608, where he trained as a sculptor and mason, after which he opened his own workshop. Man, did he ever open a workshop.
His works in Naples include:
Santa Maria degli Angeli alle croci
—the Giuglia di San Gennaro
(photo, above left), a votive spire in honor of the patron
saint of Naples. It was in imitation of the large portable
structures common in religious processions and was the
model for the two other larger spires in Naples, which he
helped plan (at Piazza del Gesù
Nuovo and Piazza San
Domenico Maggiore). It was a so-called "plague
column"; that is, a spire built in thanks for having
been spared from the recent epidemic;—extensive work on the monastery of San Martino, including the spectacular central
courtyard (1623–43) with its large portals and busts of Carthusian saints;
Santa Teresa a Chiaia
—the
facades or facade details of countless churches,
chapels, and civic buildings, including Santa Maria degli Angeli alle
croci (photo, above, right, near the Botanical Gardens), anonymous works
within the Cathedral of Naples, the entire church of Ascensione a Chiaia; the bronze
gate of the chapel of the royal treasury; the original
design for the church of San Francesco Saverio (now San Ferdinando (bottom photo),
across the square from the Royal
Palace); and the church with the interesting double
facade, San Giuseppe delle Scalze;—altars within churches, such as in Santa Maria la Nova, Saints Severino and Sossio, Santa Maria di Costantinopoli, and the church of San Pietro a Maiella (the site of the music conservatory);
—grand public fountains, including the ''Gigante'' near Santa Lucia and the Sebeto fountain at Mergellina;
The list really does go on and on, and it includes, somewhat surprisingly to me, the building that everyone notices on the road up the Posillipo coast, the Palazzo Donn'Anna, built in the early 1640s. Actually, Fanzago just rebuilt that one. It sits on the site of another building with a storied history of murder, sex orgies, and other items that made the Middle Ages so worthwhile.
San
Ferdinando
Apparently,
Fanzago was involved in Masaniello's
revolt, or at least he was guilty of thinking
revolutionary thoughts (perhaps on the order of, "How come these deadbeat
kings and dukes never pay up front?! It's always,'Hey,
Coz, how about whipping me up one of those 10-year
churches of yours —uh, get back to me when you're done'.
Right. Let's hear it for the revolution!"
He was sentenced to death and had to flee to Rome where he
worked for a decade, adding to the already impressive
array of architecture in that city. Fanzago returned to
Naples after the astute Spanish rulers figured out that if
they killed Cosimo, who was going to do all that building?
He then designed the church of Santa Maria
Egiziaca a Pizzofalcone and Santa Teresa a
Chiaia (photo, above left) . His last great church
was Santa Maria Maggiore
built between 1653 and 1675.Cosimo was also the best-selling author of that Baroque classic, How to Turn those Wasted Hours of Sleep into a Double-Lancet Acroterion, (Pants Press, Naples, 1664).
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