Giacomo Quarenghi

Giacomo Quarenghi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒaːkomo kwaˈreŋɡi, -ˈrɛŋɡi]; Russian: Джа́комо Кваре́нги, romanized: Džákomo Kvaréngi, IPA: [ˈdʐakəmə kvɐˈrʲenɡʲɪ]; 20 or 21 September 1744 – 2 March [O.S.

He made drawings of the Greek temples at Paestum (Loukomski 1928) and finally arrived in Rome in 1763, at a moment when Neoclassicism was being developed in advanced artistic circles.

He turned for new, Neoclassical instruction to Antoine Decrezet, a friend of Winckelmann, and the former's pupil Niccola Giansimoni, measuring and drawing the antiquities of Rome.

It was through him that the architect secured a few minor English commissions, such as garden pavilions, chimney pieces (Loukomsky 1928), and an altar for the private Roman Catholic chapel of Henry Arundell at New Wardour Castle.

His work in Italy and for English clients formed enough of a reputation that in 1779 he was selected by the Prussian-born count Rieffenstein, who had been commissioned by Catherine II of Russia to send her two Italian architects to replace her French ones (Loukomsky 1928).

Despite having just designed a manege in Monaco and a dining hall for the Archduchess of Modena, 35-year-old Quarenghi seems to have felt himself underemployed, given the number of architects then working in Italy and the dearth of commissions from the church and nobility.

His commissions became less frequent, as the monotonous rhythm of solemn colonnades and the laconic clarity of symmetrical compositions appeared boring to those courtiers who had found Quarenghi's designs so delightful a decade earlier.

Quarenghi defended himself in a letter to Canova proclaiming that "good sense and judgment shouldn't be enslaved by commonly accepted rules and models".