TORREGGIANI, Alfonso - b. 1682 Budrio, d. 1764 Bologna - WGA

TORREGGIANI, Alfonso

(b. 1682 Budrio, d. 1764 Bologna)

Italian architect. An apprentice of Giuseppe Antonio Torri (1655-c. 1713), he became intensely active in the city of Bologna working on the design of churches and private buildings and as a consultant on the organisation and reconstruction of existing buildings: for example, the Church of Sant’Ignazio (1726); the interior of the Church of La Maddalena (1735); the Palazzo Torfanini (then property of the Princes of Este) in the Via Galliera (1735); continued the construction of the Palazzo Aldrovandi (1741); the west front of the cathedral (1744-52); and the high altar in the Basilica of San Domenico.

Torreggiani was named prince of the Accademia Clementina, and had the patronage of Cardinale Pompeo Aldrovandi and Pope Benedict XIV (Lambertini). For the former he completed a chapel in the Basilica of San Petronio. Among his main collaborators in Bologna were the painter Vittorio Bigari (1692-1776) and the sculptor Angelo Pio (1690-1770).

His principal clients, besides the nobility and the rising bourgeoisie, were the Bolognese Curia and the Society of Jesus, for whom he built the Novitiate of Sant’Ignazio, now the Pinacoteca Nazionale, of which the Church of Sant’Ignazio was originally part. In addition, the Jesuits of Mantua entrusted to Torreggiani the project of the Palazzo degli Studi (1763). Also in Mantua, from 1756, he planned the new Palazzo Cavriani which was built after the collapse of the earlier residence of the ancient Mantuan family. He also designed the Jesuit College in Rimini, now the City Museum.

Torreggiani led Bolognese architecture close to a Rococo

Exterior view
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Exterior view

Replacing an older construction, the palace we see today began in 1725 under the patronage of the Cardinal Pompeo Aldrovandi with plans commissioned from Francesco Maria Angellini. After Angellini’s death, the work, including the Rococo fa�ade, ornamented with Istrian marble, continued under Alfonso Torreggiani. He designed the palaces ornate and peculiar Rococo windows with almost undulating arches superiorly. The palace changed hands in the 19th century to the Montanari family.

The photo shows the fa�ade of the Palazzo Aldrovandi.

Interior view
Interior view by

Interior view

Torreggiani was a master of grand scenic staircases. He executed that of the Palazzo Davia-Bargellini, designed by Dotti in 1720, and later those of the Palazzo Malvezzi De’ Medici (1725) and the Liceo Musicale (1752).

Interior view
Interior view by

Interior view

Torreggiani was a master of grand scenic staircases. He executed that of the Palazzo Davia-Bargellini, designed by Dotti in 1720, and later those of the Palazzo Malvezzi De’ Medici (1725) and the Liceo Musicale (1752).

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