Biography

Italian architect, sculptor and interior designer, the leading sculptor in Naples in his days. His prowess in many fields of art and his remarkable facility of production led him to a position of unchallenged supremacy in 17th-century Neapolitan architecture, where his styles exhibit every nuance, from the severe classicism of Early Baroque via an exuberant use of coloured marbles and the occasional exploitation of Mannerist detail, to a scenographic Late Baroque. His culture was that of the Counter Reformation and his taste was all for decoration; from his school arose the plastic style of southern Italy, with fountains and pulpits, railings and altars, and polychrome inlays.

He was born in a family of bronze-casters and architects. In 1608, after a short stay in Chieti, he moved to Naples. Here he trained as a marble sculptor and mason under the Tuscan sculptor Angelo Landi (d. 1620). His first important work was the sepulchre monument of Mario Carafa, a relative of Cardinal Carafa. His architectural debut was the design of San Giuseppe dei Vecchi a San Potito (completed 1669).

In Naples, he obtained the support of the Benedictines, the Viceroy Duke of Medina, Prince Caracciolo and the Carthusians, and soon opened a workshop of his own. Apparently he sympathised with Masaniello's revolt, and after the return of royal authority, Fanzago was sentenced to death and had to flee to Rome, where he worked for a decade. He returned to Naples and designed the initial layout church of Santa Maria Egiziaca a Pizzofalcone (built 1651–1717). This church displays a Greek cross plan, and resembles a hybrid of contemporary Baroque masterpieces by Bernini (dome resembles Sant'Andrea al Quirinale) and Borromini (the plan resembles Sant'Agnese).

He also designed the church of Santa Teresa a Chiaia. His last great church was Santa Maria Maggiore, built between 1653 and 1675.

His Prophets in the Gesù Vecchio are dynamic figures, with sharp-edged draperies and emotive plays of light; the Virgin and Child in the Certosa of San Martino is contorted and richly worked; the large bronzes in the Cappella del Tesoro in the Duomo, from near the end of his career, celebrate San Gennaro, the patron saint of the city. For thirty years Fanzago worked on the decoration of the Certosa (Carthusian monastery), where he produced his most highly wrought works. In spite of brief stays in Rome, his style is closer to the Counter Reformation trend of painters like Cerano (Giovanni Battista Crespi) and Morazzone than to the winning voice of Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

One of Fanzago's pupils was Lorenzo Vaccaro.