Montano, Giovanni Battista

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Montano, Giovanni Battista (1534–1621). Italian architect, of primary importance as a recorder of Antique Roman architectural remains. Engravings were made of his drawings by his pupil G. B. Soria, the first volume published as Scielta di varii tempietti antichi (Selection of Various Antique Temples—1624). Montano recorded grottoes, caverns, and much else, but augmenting what he had surveyed with elevations and sections evolved from his imaginings, with reality ‘corrected’ for subjective aesthetic reasons. He seems to have understood Roman concrete structures, and recorded vaults and complicated stairs. His other works include Diversi ornamenti capricciosi per depositi o altari (Different Capricious Ornaments for Reliquaries or Altars—1625), Tabernacoli diversi (Various Shrines—1628), and Architettura con diversi ornamenti cavati dall' antico (Architecture with Various Ornaments taken from the Antique—1636). His work informed Cortona's Santi Lucae Martina (1634–69) and the design of the façade of Bernini's Sant'Andrea al Quirinale (1658–70). He was also an influence on Guarini and Borromini.

Bibliography

Jervis (1984);
Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (American, not to be confused with Architectural History (British (AH )), xxxvi/4 (Dec. 1977), 252–5;
Placzek (ed.) (1982);
Jane Turner (1996)

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