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Lot Essay
A presentation drawing for the left wing of the faade of Sant'Agnese, Rome. In 1653, Pope Innocent X commissioned Borromini to continue the construction of Sant'Agnese, begun one year earlier by Girolamo and Carlo Rainaldi. When Borromini took over the interior of the church had already been largely designed, so the architect focussed on re-designing the faade with Bernini's Fontana dei Fiumi in front of the church. Work progressed well until 1655, when the Pope died unexpectedly. Subsequently the relationship between the architect and the heirs of the Pope, particularly with the Principe Camillo, deteriorated. Two years later Borromini was replaced by a group of six architects. The church was consecrated only in 1672, five years after the artist's death.
The present drawing corresponds closely with the left part of the faade, the most significant difference being the presence of the coat-of-arms in the drawing, presumably intended to be carried out as reliefs to decorate the faade. Borromini applied the arms of his patron, Pope Innocent X, by using his two most important devices, the lilies and the dove with a laurel twig.
Quite unusual at this time was Borromini's preference for graphite for his architectural designs, which allowed for an extremely precise drawing technique. Sheets like the present one could be submitted to the patron for approval. As Joseph Connors in Stuttgart, Graphische Sammlung, Von Bernini zu Piranesi: Rmische Architekturzeichnungen des Barock, 1993, pp. 33-8, points out in an essay on Borromini's use of graphite, two phases can be distinguished within his development as a draughtsman: the artist's early period with extremely precise drawings and his later sheets which show his greater interest in changes, pentimenti, and alternative designs on the same sheet of paper, often also drawn with a softer piece of graphite.
Borromini was aware of his outstanding abilities as a draughtsman, and he was planning to publish his presentation drawings, a project that was eventually abandoned. Shortly before the artist committed suicide, he burned a large group of his drawings. Many of his works, however, survived, and the largest collection of Borromini drawings, about 500 sheets, is preserved at the Albertina, Vienna.
The present drawing corresponds closely with the left part of the faade, the most significant difference being the presence of the coat-of-arms in the drawing, presumably intended to be carried out as reliefs to decorate the faade. Borromini applied the arms of his patron, Pope Innocent X, by using his two most important devices, the lilies and the dove with a laurel twig.
Quite unusual at this time was Borromini's preference for graphite for his architectural designs, which allowed for an extremely precise drawing technique. Sheets like the present one could be submitted to the patron for approval. As Joseph Connors in Stuttgart, Graphische Sammlung, Von Bernini zu Piranesi: Rmische Architekturzeichnungen des Barock, 1993, pp. 33-8, points out in an essay on Borromini's use of graphite, two phases can be distinguished within his development as a draughtsman: the artist's early period with extremely precise drawings and his later sheets which show his greater interest in changes, pentimenti, and alternative designs on the same sheet of paper, often also drawn with a softer piece of graphite.
Borromini was aware of his outstanding abilities as a draughtsman, and he was planning to publish his presentation drawings, a project that was eventually abandoned. Shortly before the artist committed suicide, he burned a large group of his drawings. Many of his works, however, survived, and the largest collection of Borromini drawings, about 500 sheets, is preserved at the Albertina, Vienna.