JUVARRA, Filippo

The picture shows the fa�ade of church.

With his absolute mastery of historical and contemporary styles, Juvarra used what he regarded as suitable for the purpose. Thus when designing the fa�ade of Santa Cristina he turned to Rome, while the Palazzo Madama was fashioned on the model of Versailles. The way he absorbed and transformed the models from which he took his cue shows that he was more than a gifted practitioner.

The original layout of the church of Santa Cristina was designed in 1620 by the architect Carlo di Castellamonte (1560–1641), but the project was only completed between 1715-1718, under the guidance of Filippo Juvarra, including the facade elaborately decorated with ovals and details with statues of saints and allegories of the virtues.

Juvarra took inspiration from Versailles for Palazzo Madama. The French court provided a political model for that of Savoy, therefore Juvarra’s choice makes perfect sense in this context. Situated in front of the medieval citadel, directly opposite the royal palace, Palazzo Madama appears to be intended mainly for the purpose of conducting long files of state guests towards the ballroom in the evening: only the staircase lies behind the oversized windows onto the square , under an exaggerated barrel vault. In this space, the stairs become the stage, as in a theatre.

The picture shows the fa�ade of Palazzo Madama.

Juvarra took inspiration from Versailles for Palazzo Madama. The French court provided a political model for that of Savoy, therefore Juvarra’s choice makes perfect sense in this context. Situated in front of the medieval citadel, directly opposite the royal palace, Palazzo Madama appears to be intended mainly for the purpose of conducting long files of state guests towards the ballroom in the evening: only the staircase lies behind the oversized windows onto the square , under an exaggerated barrel vault. In this space, the stairs become the stage, as in a theatre.

The picture shows the fa�ade of Palazzo Madama.

The Stupinigi hunting lodge lies on flat ground and has an extensive, varied ground plan. The major part of the complex, including service buildings and stable block, consists of low structures with very simple lines. These served as a framework and a foreground. Central to these rises the elliptical, stepped banqueting hall.

View the ground plan of the Stupinigi hunting lodge, Turin.

The Stupinigi hunting lodge lies on flat ground and has an extensive, varied ground plan. The major part of the complex, including service buildings and stable block, consists of low structures with very simple lines. These served as a framework and a foreground. Central to these rises the elliptical, stepped banqueting hall.

View the ground plan of the Stupinigi hunting lodge, Turin.

It was built from 1717 to 1731 for Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, designed by Filippo Juvarra, at the top of the hill of Superga, in the vicinity of Turin. The dome was completed in 1726 and resembles some elements of Michelangelo’s dome at St. Peter’s Basilica. This is no coincidence as Juvarra studied and worked in Rome for ten years prior to working in Turin. The temple front protrudes from a dome structure citing the Pantheon.

View the section and ground plan of the Basilica di Superga, Turin.

It was built from 1717 to 1731 for Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, designed by Filippo Juvarra, at the top of the hill of Superga, in the vicinity of Turin. The dome was completed in 1726 and resembles some elements of Michelangelo’s dome at St. Peter’s Basilica. This is no coincidence as Juvarra studied and worked in Rome for ten years prior to working in Turin. The temple front protrudes from a dome structure citing the Pantheon.

View the section and ground plan of the Basilica di Superga, Turin.

From 1720 on, palaces became the subject of intense activity in Spain. The outmoded Spanish palaces were seen as inadequate for the needs of the new Bourbon dynasty. La Granja was the first major project undertaken by the Bourbon kings.

The hunting lodge of the Castilian kings, situated in the mountains, served as summer residence for the Hyeronymite order from the fifteenth to the early eighteenth century. Philip V acquired the land in 1720 and started the project. After several stages, the garden fa�ade was completed in 1736, built by Giovanni Battista Sacchetti (1690-1764) from Juvarra’s plan. This fa�ade is completely overtaken by the Roman Baroque. Four giant columns in the central pavilion and a subtly graduated row of giant pilasters adjacent to them give the fa�ade a ceremonial power that had not been seen before in Spanish palace architecture. The park layout was placed in the hands of French garden designers and sculptors.

The high main nave of the church is separated from equally high chapels by “bridge arches.” The interior gives the impression of a Gothic church refurbished in the Rococo style.

View the section of the Chiesa del Carmine, Turin.

The church has a high nave and three chapels to each side. There are high open galleries above the chapels; along the nave two arches always appear one above the other, that of the chapel and that of the gallery; the wall as a boundary of the nave has been replaced by a skeleton of high pillars.

The interior gives the impression of a Gothic church refurbished in the Rococo style. The photo shows the view towards the altar.

View the section of the Chiesa del Carmine, Turin.

The church has a high nave and three chapels to each side. There are high open galleries above the chapels; along the nave two arches always appear one above the other, that of the chapel and that of the gallery; the wall as a boundary of the nave has been replaced by a skeleton of high pillars.

The interior gives the impression of a Gothic church refurbished in the Rococo style. The photo shows the view towards the entrance.

The photo shows the view into the side aisle cupola.

The Stupinigi hunting lodge lies on flat ground and has an extensive, varied ground plan. The major part of the complex, including service buildings and stable block, consists of low structures with very simple lines. These served as a framework and a foreground. Central to these rises the elliptical, stepped banqueting hall.

Galleries ring the interior. From this central space , four further ballrooms extend to form the arms of a cross. The sole purpose of this ground plan seems to be to create a series of theatrical settings.

The picture shows the Great Hall.

In the Superga, Juvarra’s masterpiece, the architect combined in one building the two principal types of domical structure: the Pantheon type, where the dome rises from the cylindrical body, and the Greek-cross type, and these two different centralized systems remain clearly discernible. The body of the church is octagonal, as it should be in a Greek cross with beveled pillars; and the transition from the octagon to the circle is boldly conceived, for the circular entablature is set into the octagon touching it only in the centre of the four arches.

The photo shows the view into the dome.

In the early years of the 17th century a wide garden was opened up in the Palazzo Controni Pfanner in Lucca. It was ordered by Curzio Controni, who entrusted the laying out of it to Filippo Juvarra. It is like a single theatrical set, with a view that wends its way along paths from the large octagonal pool to the central avenue, between statues of the Months and Seasons and symbolic representations of the classical gods.

In the early years of the 17th century a wide garden was opened up in the Palazzo Controni Pfanner in Lucca. It was ordered by Curzio Controni, who entrusted the laying out of it to Filippo Juvarra. It is like a single theatrical set, with a view that wends its way along paths from the large octagonal pool to the central avenue, between statues of the Months and Seasons and symbolic representations of the classical gods.

The picture shows two symbolic statues in front of the fountain.

The picture shows two of the allegorical statues of the Months and the Seasons that adorn the garden.