18 October 2012




About the Timeline

This timeline presents a chronological overview of the life and career of Guarino Guarini, the Theatine priest, scholar, and architect of the Italian Baroque, based on clearly documented episodes.

The timeline is constructed around three types of information:

• Guarini's location as attested to by letters, Theatine chapter minutes, and other contemporary documents.

• The construction dates of his major architectural projects, when known, and of the few unexecuted projects with clearly fixed dates.

• The dates and places of publication of his books.


Sources

The principal sources for this timeline are three classic studies based on archival material in Modena and Turin.

• Tommaso Sandonnini, "Il Padre Guarino Guarini modenese," Atti e memorie delle RR. Deputazioni di storia patria per le provincie modenesi e parmensi, series III, volume V, part II (1890): 483-534.

• Alessandro Baudi di Vesme, "Guarini, Guarino," in Schede Vesme. L'arte in Piemonte dal XVI al XVIII secolo, vol. 2 (Turin: Società piemontese di arti belli e archaeologia, 1966): 550-558.

• Augusta Lange, "Disegni e documenti di Guarino Guarini," in V. Viale, editor, Guarino Guarini e l'internazionalità del Barocco, vol. 1 (Turin: Accademia delle Scienze, 1970): 91-344.

Specific references to these and all other sources are contained in the Notes on Slides, a PDF download with full slide-by-slide documentation of the timeline to be posted here in the future.


Omissions

Based on a simple chronological account, the timeline cannot provide a complete narrative of Guarini's career, nor interpretations of buildings and events. It therefore excludes some works fully or partially by Guarini for which no specific date can be assigned: the high altar of San Nicolò, Verona, and the Castello di Govone. It further excludes the church of the Immacolata Concezione in Turin (1673-77 / 1694-97), which is convincingly attributed to Guarini, but where his involvement is not documented.

All other designs presented in Guarini's treatise remained unexecuted and are of more or less uncertain or undocumented dates, as are his other unexecuted designs recorded in drawings. Minor documented but unexecuted or lost designs are also ignored here.

Finally, buildings associated with Guarini but attributed to others are not included: Palazzo Graneri and the Collegio dei Nobili in Turin, and the Villa il Maggiordomo, Grugliasco, as well as the church of the Madonna di Loreto, Montanaro.


More Guarini Resources

For additional digital resources on Guarino Guarini and his architecture, visit Resources on www.susanklaiber.wordpress.com.


Contact

If you have questions or comments on the Guarino Guarini Timeline, please use this contact form.