VITTONE, Bernardo Antonio

Italian architect and writer. He studied painting in Rome. Returning to Turin in 1733, he observed the late works of Filippo Juvarra under construction and, in 1737, edited the papers of Guarino Guarini, the Architettura civile.

Vittone obtained spectacular visual and structural effects in a number of small, central-plan churches that he designed in Turin and elsewhere in the Piedmont from 1737 to 1770. These churches had multiple-level interiors and used innovative vaulting techniques for their complex domes. A central domeGLOSSARYin architecture, hemispherical structure evolved from the arch, usually forming a ceiling or roof. might have two or even three successive vaults, the lower ones being pierced to allow the viewer to see through them to the ones above. This placing of structures within structures might also be illusionistically achieved or enhanced by skillful painting or by the manipulation of lighting through cleverly placed windows. A prime example is the Church of Santa Chiara at Bra (1742); it has a low vaultGLOSSARYA roof or ceiling whose structure is based on the arch. There are a wide range of forms, including the barrel (or tunnel) vault, formed by a continuous semi-circular arch; the groin vault, formed when two barrel vaults intersect; and the rib vault, consistong of a framework of diagonal ribs supporting interlocking arches. The development of the various forms was of great structural and aesthetic importance in the development of church architecture during the Middle Ages. pierced by windows through which one sees a second shell, painted with heavenly scenes and lit by windows not visible from the interior.

Vittone would frequently place smaller, subsidiary domes around a larger, lower, central dome and would open up the space for viewing by using relatively slim piers whose curving forms contribute to an impression of light, airy soaring movement in the elegantly decorated interior. Among his other masterpieces are the Chapel of the Visitation at Vallinotto (1738), and the churches of San Bernardino in Chieri (1740) and Santa Chiara in Turin (1742). His later churches, such as the Assunta at Grignasco (1750) and that of San Michele at Rivarolo Canavese, are larger, simpler, and more monumental but feature the same kinds of diminishing successions of curving, converging vaults and piers.

Considered to be the last of the three great masters of Piedmontese BaroqueGLOSSARYThe period in art history from about 1600 to about 1750. In this sense the term covers a wide range of styles and artists. In painting and sculpture there were three main forms of Baroque: (1) sumptuous display, a style associated with the Catholic Counter Reformation and the absolutist courts of Europe (Bernini, Rubens); (2) dramatic realism (Caravaggio); and (3) everyday realism, a development seen in particular in Holland (Rembrandt, Vermeer). In architecture, there was an emphasis on expressiveness and grandeur, achieved through scale, the dramatic use of light and shadow, and increasingly elaborate decoration. In a more limited sense the term Baroque often refers to the first of these categories. The development of the Baroque reflects the period's religious tensions (Catholic versus Protestant); a new and more expansive world view based on science and exploration; and the growth of absolutist monarchies. architecture, Vittone achieved a reconciliation of the ideas of his predecessors Guarino Guarini and Filippo Juvarra in developing an immensely creative type of architecture, especially for churches. He published two treatises, "Istruzioni elementari" (1760) and "Istruzioni diverse" (1766).