Carlo Maderno or Maderna (1556 – 31 January 1629) was an Italian[1] architect, born in today's Ticino, Switzerland, who is remembered as one of the fathers of Baroque architecture.

His façades of Santa Susanna, St. Peter's Basilica, and Sant'Andrea della Valle were of key importance in the evolution of the Italian Baroque.

Born in Capolago, in today's Ticino, which at the time was a bailiwick of the Swiss Confederacy, Maderno began his career in the marble quarries of the far north, before moving to Rome in 1588 with four of his brothers to assist his uncle Domenico Fontana.

The church had been designed for the Theatines by Giuseppe Francesco Grimaldi and Giacomo della Porta in 1540: it follows a familiar Jesuit plan, cruciform, its wide nave without aisles, with chapels beyond arched openings.

In this façade, the standard formula established at Il Gesù is given more movement and depth—in the varying planes of the frieze and cornice—and increased chiaroscuro—with whole columns embedded in snug dark recesses that outline their profiles with shadow—, and in similar elements that are re-grouped for a tighter, more sprung rhythm.

His other works include the Roman churches of Gesù e Maria (although this is disputed), San Giacomo degli Incurabili, Santa Lucia in Selci.

In the Palazzo Barberini at Quattro Fontane, Maderno's work is overshadowed at times by details added by Bernini and Borromini.

Maderno died in Rome on 31 January 1629,[2] at the age of 73; his body was buried in the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini.