Giovanni Battista Vaccarini

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Giovanni Battista Vaccarini (February 3, 1702 - March 11, 1768) was a Sicilian architect, notable for his work in the Baroque style in his homeland during the period of massive rebuilding following the earthquake of 1693. Many of his principle works can be found in the area in and around Catania.

[edit] Biography

Vaccarini was born in Palermo. During the 1720s he studied architecture in Rome, under the protection of Pietro, Cardinal Ottoboni, the great patron of Corelli. Vaccarini's studies concentrated mainly on the combined works and idioms of the great architects Borromini and Bernini. This was a popular fusion of architectural principles which had begun at the end of the 17th century, producing such notable buildings as Giovanni de' Rossi's Palazzo Altieri, and Palazzo Asti-Bonaparte.

Vaccarini returned to Sicily around 1730. His work seems then to have been influenced by the school of architecture of Alessandro Specchi, Francesco de Sanctis and Filippo Raguzzini, who tended to reject the classicizing of buildings in favour of a much more flamboyant style full of movement. Both Specchi and de Sanctis were closely involved with the design of exterior staircases, a great feature of Italian buildings due to the principal rooms being nearly always on the piano nobile, and of course the climate completely negating the requirement for an internal entrance hall on the ground floor in order to provide quick easy access. De Sanctis had taken this feature one step further in 1723 with his design for the Spanish steps in Rome. This grand staircase approach to a building was to be invaluable in Sicily, not only for the practical reasons of entering the piano nobile, but also for the creation of a grand approach to churches and cathedrals, where the topography of the site necessitate such a feature.

Vaccarini's work in Sicily can be observed most clearly in the Municipio of Catania on the Cathedral Square. The ground floor (already under construction when Vaccarini assumed the project) shows the decorated rustication in the Sicilian fashion, originating from the 16th century. But Vaccarini's upper floors are in a style quite different. The ground floor pilasters continue but unrusticated, the cornice they support is entirely in accordance with Roman contemporary design, as are the windows. The windows on the piano nobile have straight, but broken, pediments with canted sides. This was a window feature which Vaccarini was to reproduce many times in the ensuing years. The entrance is given an almost pompous grandeur by free standing columns supporting a straight balcony. The balcony was to become a feature of Sicilian Baroque, it was later to take many shapes, often curved, serpentine, or a combination of both juxtaposing. Such balconies were often decorated by elaborate wrought iron balustrading.

In front of this building Vaccarini designed a fountain, of an obelisk upon the back of the Catanian elephant, itself a remnant of Bernini's fountains. Vacacrini completed the square by designing the main facade of the cathedral, a thirty year project not completed until 1768. According to Professor Anthony Blunt, the cathedral was not one of Vaccarini's successes.

As a church architect Vaccarini introduced into Sicily the church plans of the Renaissance which had passed Sicily by. However many of his churches are based on the designs of churches he had seen in Rome. The church of S. Agata in Catania, for instance, is based on Sant'Agnese in Agone (Rome).

Vaccarini's version of Baroque was prevalent in Catania, and much copied for three quarters of a century. However e was not merely employed in the redevelopment of Sicily. In 1756 he journeyed to Naples where he was involved in the marble selection for the great Palace of Caserta. It is on this trip that he became aware of the work of Vanvitelli and Ferdinando Fuga, taking their ideas back to Sicily. Vanvitelli's influence is clearly visible in his final works, especially the Collegio Cutelli and the Piccola Badia.

Vaccarini died in Palermo in 1768.

[edit] Analysis

Vaccarini is notable today for his input into the development of Sicilian Baroque. While much of his work was later overshadowed by a younger generation of Sicilian architects, he was one of the founding architects of the style; in particular his handling of the Baroque double staircase, which continued to evolve, in a way peculiar to Sicily, after his death.