João Frederico Ludovice

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Johann Friedrich Ludwig (1670 - 1752), known in Portugal as João Frederico Ludovice was a German born architect and goldsmith.

Ludovice was born in Hohenhart ^[1] , Suabia, Germany.

In 1698 he went to Italy with his father to work, were he converted to Catholicism and changed his name to Ludovisi. He worked in the altars of the Church of Saint Ignatius of Jesus and received the influences of masters as Carlo Fontana and Andrea Pozzo. The Jesuits admired his work and talent, inviting him to work in Portugal. There he became famous by the works in the Mafra National Palace (1717-1731) for the Portuguese king João V, among many other monuments, including churches and the tower of the University of Coimbra.

He latter adopted portuguese citizenship. He died in 1752.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Some sources claim his place of birth was Ratisbon. see: Robert C. Smith Jr. Joao Frederico Ludovice an Eighteenth Century Architect in Portugal The Art Bulletin, Vol. 18, No. 3 (Sep., 1936), pp. 273-370 doi:10.2307/3045634.