BERNARDONI, GIANMARIA. - Architect, b. at Cagno near Como in 1542. He studied architecture in Rome before entering the Society of Jesus on 19 Jan. 1564 as a coadjutor brother. He worked on various churches of the Order in Italy, but in 1582 he was sent to Poland, where the development of the Society required many buildings. He built the churches and colleges of Kalisz and Niewicz (1582–99) and also prepared the designs for the fine church and adjoining Cistercian convent at the sanctuary of Kalwarja Zebrzydowska, near Cracovia. In 1599 he was called to direct the construction of the great church of SS. Pietro e Paolo of the Jesuit professed house in Cracovia, one of the most distinguished monuments of the Baroque in north-eastern Europe; but he died before completing it, on 19 Nov. 1605. His art, especially in the church at Cracovia, draws greatly upon the Gesù in Rome.
BERNARDONI, GIANMARIA
BIBL.: J. Wielwicki, Dziennik spraw domu Zakonnego OO. Jezuitów u sv. Barbary w Krakowie, II, Cracovia 1886, p. 101; St. Tomkiewicz, s. V. in Thieme-Becker, I (1909), p. 446; St. Bednarski, in Polski słownik biograficzny, I, Cracovia 1935, pp. 461–62 (with bibliography). Edmondo Lamalle
Cite this article
“BERNARDONI, GIANMARIA.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. II (1949), p. 837. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/bernardoni-gianmaria.