Biography

Italian architect. Before 1717, he studied under the sculptor and architect Giovan Battista Foggini in Florence. From 1717 to 1726, Fuga studied architecture in Rome. In 1726, he was called to Naples to work for Cardinal Nicola del Giudici. In 1728, he entered the service of the King of Naples. In 1730, Fuga returned to Rome and served as papal architect during the pontificate of Clement XII and Benedict XIV. In 1751, he returned to Naples to work for King Charles III of Naples as one of the court architects in renovations to the city of Naples.

He is best known for his rebuilding of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. In a similar project he provided the façade for Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. Much of his early work was in Rome, notably, the Palazzo della Consulta (1732-35) at the Quirinal, the Palazzo Corsini (1736-54), the façade of the Santa Maria Maggiore (1741-43), and the Church of Sant'Apollinare (1742-48). In Naples he notably designed the Albergo de'Poveri (an enormous poor-house) (1751-81), the façade of the Chiesa dei Gerolomini, and that of the Palazzo Giordano (both c.1780,).

Fuga was considered a virtuoso in the synthesis of classical, Baroque, and Mannerist styles.