Guarino Guarini

Guarini joined the order of Theatines of Modena in 1639 and studied mathematics and science in Rome, at the monastery of San Silvestro al Quirinale, where he moved to in the same year.
In the Pope’s city he was influenced by Pietro da Cortona, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and above all Francesco Borromini. After returning to Modena he was ordained minister and received increasingly prominent posts within the order.
From the 60s he started travelling, first to Sicily, to make the facade and the convent of the Church of Annunziata in Messina, and then, from 1662 to 1666, to Paris for the church of the Theatines to be built along the Seine (St. Anne la Royale).
In 1666 he was called to Turin by Charles Emmanuel II of Savoy who commissioned the Shroud Chapel in the Duomo (1667-94) and the Church of San Lorenzo (1668-75 ca), the greatest masterpieces by Guarini and some of the most successful baroque architectures of the Piedmont city.
Here he wrote essays on architecture, mathematics and philosophy, while in 1676 he designed the transformation of the Racconigi Castle from a medieval fortress to a country house.
After some short stays in his native city he was called back to Turin by Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours, the widow of Charles Emmanuel II, to complete the Church of Consolata, the Church of San Filippo Neri, Collegio dei Nobili, Palazzo Madama and Palazzo Carignano.