Carlo Fontana and the project drawings of the Tolomei college in Siena

• Main Author: Bruno Mussari
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria 2016-06-01
• Series: ArcHistoR Architettura Storia Restauro - Architecture History Restoration
• Online Access: http://pkp.unirc.it/ojs/index.php/archistor/article/view/63

Carlo Fontana’s projects of the Chigi Palace in San Quirino d’Orcia and Villa Cantinale in Ancaino are generally the only works in the area of Siena to be remembered in the vast professional activity of the architect who worked for Cardinal Flavio Chigi. Recent archive studies have brought to light other particular references to the activity of Carlo Fontana, thus confirming, what, in recent past, had only been hypothesized; unpublished drawings have been added to the new information of the archive documents, now attributing the project to Fontana. The drawings are conserved in the British Library in London and are inside one of the 24 volumes bought by James Adam, for King George III, in 1762, from the collection of Cardinal Albani. Drawings of Siena, dating from the late 1670s and early 1680s, illustrate a project by Carlo Fontana for the new building of the Tolomei College in Siena. The project, which was never realised, is in any way significant. It enriches the catalogue of the Ticinese architect and shows the approach of Fontana in the context of Senese architectural, that was traditionally very tied to medieval tradition. Different architectural forms and styles were also introduced into Siena, following a path driven by the Roman academic circles, leaving tangible testimonies in many interventions in the Tuscan city from the first half of the eighteenth century.   key words: carlo Fontana, Siena, Tolomei College, Design