SAN CARLO ALLE IV FONTANE

The Church of St. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane is so called because at the four corners of the crossroads facing the church are so many fountains, but for the Romans, for its size, is called S. Carlino (=little Carlo).

In this masterpiece Borromini devoted 30 years of his life, from 1638 until his death in 1667. The church, commissioned by the Trinitarians of Spain, is dedicated to San Carlo Borromeo, maybe this was the first reason for the obsessive commitment of Borromini to design, draw to the extreme detail both the church and the cloister.
His devotion to San Carlo Borromeo is well known, so that it is said that for this reason he abandoned his real name, Francesco Castelli, to be named Borromino. At the time of Borromini, the Catholic Church was divided into two parties the one philo-French, the other philo-Spanish.Pope Urban VIII Barberini (the Pope who condemned Galileo), was philo-French, his successor, Innocent X, philo-Spanish.

We know how this conflict within the church has weighed in momentous matters, such as the Galileo trial, in this case, forgive us for the simplification, the "French" were against Galileo, while the "Spaniards" were favourable, to the point that the Great Inquisitor, the Spanish Gasparo Borgia, refused to sign the condemnation of Galileo, and with him two other cardinals. Our Borromini was considered a "Spanish", therefore it appears logical that the Spanish Trinitarians have entrusted to him the construction of the church. When we talk about Borromini is inevitable to evoke Bernini, Bernini was he philo-french or philo-Spanish? Bernini managed his life he to sail safely without compromising with neither one nor the other party.

Returning to our S. Carlino, I confess my surprise at seeing every time I go to the cloister, that, as the church and cloister are considered among the finest examples of Baroque, very few people look out and watch this miracle of architecture.

As we told every detail of the church and the cloister was conceived and designed by Borromini, the exceptions: above the entrance the Statue of San Carlo Borromeo, which is of Hercules Antonio Raggi, the altarpiece on the high altar by Pierre Mignard and in the sacristy the adoration of San Carlo Borromeo by Orazio Borgianni.