CANINA, LUIGI. — Archaeologist and architect, born at Casalmonferrato on 28 October 1795, died on 17 October 1856 in Florence, and buried in S. Croce. Having moved to Rome in 1818, he lived in the milieu of Visconti (v.), Fea (v.), Nibby (v.). At the request of Prince Camillo Borghese, he refurbished the eponymous villa, constructing the entrance propylaea in the Ionic style on the piazzale Flaminio.
He published numerous works and devised many reconstructions of ancient buildings. Although it is true that, in the latter, he did not neglect the ancient written sources and archaeological documents (paintings, reliefs, coins, etc.), he often allowed his imagination to carry him away, so that his reconstructions are not always entirely reliable. For this reason Sarti and Fr. Marchi passed rather severe judgment on his work. Nevertheless, many merits cannot be denied him, foremost among them that of having conceived and written, according to historical principles, a vast six-volume work on architecture: Ancient Architecture Described and Demonstrated through the Monuments. A Divine Work in Three Sections Concerning the History, Technique, and Practices of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman Architecture (Rome 1830–1844). He also contributed to clarifying the ancient topography of Rome and its environs and extended his studies to the topography of certain Etruscan cities and to Jewish architecture, as demonstrated by the work entitled: Research on the Type of Architecture of the Ancient Jews and Their Temple in Jerusalem (ibid. 1845); with regard to Christian archaeology, the following may be mentioned: The Architecture Most Appropriate to Christian Times (ibid. 1845); Research on the Architecture of Christian Times Based on the Primitive Ecclesiastical Institutions (ibid. 1846).