CANINA, LUIGI. - Archaeologist and architect, b. at Casale Monferrato on 28 Oct. 1795, d. on 17 Oct. 1856 at Florence, buried in S. Croce. Having moved to Rome in 1818, he lived in the milieu of Visconti (v.), Fea (v.) Nibby (v.). On the commission of Prince Camillo Borghese he arranged the Villa Borghese, constructing in Ionic style the entrance propylaea on Piazzale Flaminio.
He published numerous works and devised many reconstructions of ancient buildings. While it is true that for these latter he did not neglect ancient written sources and archaeological documents (paintings, reliefs, coins, etc.), he often allowed his imagination to run away with him, so that his reconstructions are not always entirely reliable. For this reason Sarti and Fr. Marchi passed rather a severe judgment on his work. Nevertheless, one cannot deny him many merits, first among them that of having conceived and compiled with historical method a vast six-volume work on architecture: *L’architettura antica descritta e dimostrata con i monumenti*. The work is divided into three sections dealing with the history, technique and practice of Egyptian, Greek and Roman architecture (Rome 1830–1844). He also contributed to the clarification of the ancient topography of Rome and its environs and extended his studies to the topography of certain Etruscan cities and to Jewish architecture, as is shown by the work entitled: *Ricerche sul genere dell’architettura degli antichi Giudei e del loro tempio di Gerusalemme* (ibid. 1845). As regards Christian archaeology, mention may be made of: *L’architettura più propria dei tempi cristiani* (ibid. 1845); *Ricerche sull’architettura dei tempi cristiani basate sulle primitive istituzioni ecclesiastiche* (ibid. 1846).