Title

Lateran Basilica

Alternative Title

Saint John Lateran

San Giovanni in Laterano

Creator

Domenico Fontana (Italian architect, 1543-1607)

Francesco Borromini (Italian architect, 1599-1667)

Alessandro Galilei (Italian architect and engineer, born 1691, died 1736 or 1737)

Drafter

Hibon, Auguste (French engraver and etcher, 1780-1857) and Roulier sculpt

City

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Location

Italy

Building Creation Date

ca. 314-1736 (inclusive)

Description

view of the square, baptistery, basilica and the palace

plan of the square, baptistery, basilica, and the palace, exterior perspectives

plans

Dedicated to the Saviour and (certainly from the 7th century) to St John, and known as S Giovanni in Laterano, the basilica is the cathedral church of Rome. It was regarded as the mother church of all Christendom, as is made clear by the inscription omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput, which appears twice on the huge bases of the columns framing the central doorway to the present building. The church was probably begun after the Edict of Milan (313) and consecrated just before Constantine's departure to the East in 318

it would then have been incomplete and largely undecorated. The proportions and spatial distribution of the present nave (by Borromini,1646-1650) substantially reflect those of the Early Christian basilica. The main façade (1732-1736) by Alessandro Galilei is simple, solemn and harmonious, in a late Baroque Classicist style, with the benediction loggia on the main axis. Galilei also added the Corsini Chapel.

Techniques

line drawings (drawings)

Classification

Architectural Documentation

Building Type

basilicas

churches

religious buildings

cathedrals

Documentation Type

plans

drawings

Style/Period

Baroque

Early Christian

Cultural Context

Italian

Subject

architectural exteriors

architectural interiors

New Testament

rulers and leaders

saints

Source

Letarouilly, Paul Marie. Edifices de Rome Moderne. Paris: A. Morel, 1868, 223.

Access Rights

Public Domain

creator

Fontana, Domenico

Borromini, Francesco, Galilei, Alessandro

Item sets

Architecture Illustrations

Media

https://www.myweb.ttu.edu/saschuma/31295010556651_223.jpg

Domenico Fontana (Italian architect, 1543-1607), Francesco Borromini (Italian architect, 1599-1667), and Alessandro Galilei (Italian architect and engineer, born 1691, died 1736 or 1737), “Lateran Basilica”, Arch Design Images, accessed November 24, 2024, https://exhibits.lib.ttu.edu/s/archlib/item/19151