Salvi, Nicola

SALVI, NICOLA. - Architect, b. in Rome on 6 Aug. 1697, d. there on 8 Feb. 1751. He was a pupil of the painter Niccolò Ricciolini and of the architect Antonio Canevari.

A characteristic exponent of the Roman architectural current of the first half of the 18th century, characterized by the ability to rework the forms proper to the ancient classical tradition, to which Bernini too had drawn extensively, with a scenographic and pictorial taste vividly Baroque. This is clearly demonstrated by the facade of the Trevi Fountain, his masterpiece and that of the Roman architectural 18th century, begun in 1732 and whose scheme recalls a Roman triumphal arch. Other works by S. are, besides various designs for settings for festivities and fireworks, as well as for buildings never executed, the rearrangement of the Ruffo chapel in S. Lorenzo in Damaso in Rome; the reconstruction of S. Maria in Gradi in Viterbo; the collaboration with Vanvitelli for the enlargement of the Palazzo Odescalchi, also in Rome, where certain parts of the Palazzo del Monte di Pietà toward the Trinità dei Pellegrini must also be assigned to him; and other undertakings of lesser importance.

Emilio Lavagnino