Giovanni Maria Fontana (''c''1670 – after 1712) was an Italian-Swiss architect, born in

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

, who worked in Russia. Alleged to be a relative of the famous Roman architect

Carlo Fontana Carlo Fontana (1634 or 1638–1714) was an Italian architect originating from today's Canton Ticino, who was in part responsible for the classicizing direction taken by Late Baroque Roman architecture. Biography There seems to be no proof that ...

, Giovanni Maria or Francesco Fontana arrived in the Russian port of

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies o ...

from Denmark in 1703. He worked in Moscow until 1710 when he moved to the newly founded city of

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Nothing is known about him after 1712 (when he apparently left Russia). Fontana's most prominent commissions were those from

Prince Menshikov Prince Aleksander Danilovich Menshikov (russian: Алекса́ндр Дани́лович Ме́ншиков, tr. ; – ) was a Russian statesman, whose official titles included Generalissimo, Prince of the Russian Empire and Duke of Izhora ...

, to build his various palaces, notably Oranienbaum. He often worked in tandem with

Johann Gottfried Schädel Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

. Some of his designs were apparently plagiarized from architectural textbooks of the day.Т. А. Гатова. Джованни Мария Фонтана. // Зодчие Москвы XV—XIX вв. Московский рабочий, 1981. P. 29-31.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fontana, Giovanni Maria 17th-century Italian architects 18th-century Italian architects Italian Baroque architects Russian architects People from Lugano Year of birth uncertain