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Jan Blažej (Giovanni Battista) Santini Aichel
Jan Blažej (Giovanni Battista) Santini Aichel
Born	3 February 1677; Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia; (today the Czech Republic)
Died	7 December 1723 (aged 46); Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia
Nationality	Czech (of Italian descent)
Occupation	Architect
Practice	Giovanni Battista Santini
Buildings	Pilgrimage Church of Saint John of Nepomuk, Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist

Jan Blažej Santini Aichel, also spelled Aichl (Italian: Giovanni Battista Santini Aichel, German: Johann Blasius Santini Aichel; 3 February 1677 – 7 December 1723) was a Czech architect of Italian descent, whose major works are representative of the unique Baroque Gothic style.^[1]

Biography

He was born on the day of Saint Blaise as the oldest son to a respectable family of Prague stonemasons (his grandfather Antonio Aichel moved from Cadempino to Prague in the 1630s) and was baptized in the St. Vitus Cathedral as Johann Blasius Aichel. He was born with extensive physical disabilities, preventing him from following in his father's footsteps.^[2] He studied painting under the Bohemian Court painter Christian Schröder.

Around 1696 he started to travel and gain experience. After his journey through Austria he arrived in Rome, where he had the possibility to meet with the work of Francesco Borromini.^[3] Borromini's influence is apparent in his predilection for star-shaped forms and complex symbolism. It was in Italy where Santini Aichel incorporated into his name his father's name, Santini.

Santini Aichel founded his architectural practice in Prague in 1703, attaining the status of a Burgher of Prague in 1705. He bought and rebuilt the Valkounsky House in the same year. Santini married Schröder's daughter, Veronica Elisabeth, in 1707. They had four children, but all three sons died from tuberculosis at an early age; the only child left was Anna Veronika (born 1713). Santini's wife died seven years later and he remarried a South Bohemian noblewoman, Antonia Ignatia Chrapická of Mohliškovice, whereby Santini was ennobled. Daughter Jana Ludmila and son Jan Ignác Rochus were born from this marriage.

Santini Aichel died at 46, having built over 100 buildings in his twenty-year career, but leaving some unfinished. Although he had become a well-regarded architect to Bohemia's greatest noble families and monastic orders, his original, eclectic style had few successors or imitators.^[4]

The asteroid 37699 Santini-Aichl is named in his honour.

Works

Monastery Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist in Kutná Hora-Sedlec (reconstruction, 1703–1708, World Heritage Site)
Chapel of Saint Anne in Panenské Břežany (1705–1707)
Pilgrimage Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary and Cistercian Provost Office in Mariánská Týnice (1707–1710)
Convent of the Cistercian Monastery in Plasy (reconstruction, 1711–1723)
Monastery Church of the Assumption of Virgin Mary, St. Wolfgang and St. Benedict in Kladruby (1711)
Monastery Church of the Nativity of Virgin Mary in Želiv (reconstruction, 1714–1720)
Pilgrimage Church of the Name of Virgin Mary in Křtiny (1718)
Pilgrimage Church of Saint John of Nepomuk on Zelená hora in Žďár nad Sázavou (1719–1727, World Heritage Site)
Karlova Koruna Chateau in Chlumec nad Cidlinou (1721–1723)
Church of Saint Wenceslaus in Zvole (reconstruction)
Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Horní Bobrová (1714)
Church of the Visitation of Virgin Mary in Obyčtov
Church of the Assumption of Virgin Mary in Netín
Provost Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Rajhrad (1721)
Initial architect for the rebuilding of Zbraslav chateau
Design and constructions of the Kalec chateau
Reconstruction of Valkounsky House (No.211-III) in Prague-Malá Strana (after 1705)

Gallery

Pilgrimage Church of Saint John of Nepomuk on Zelená hora, a World Heritage Site
Ground plan of the church on Zelená hora
Church of St. Wenceslaus in Zvole
Monastery Church of the Assumption of Virgin Mary, St. Wolfgang and St. Benedict in Kladruby
Convent of the Cistercian Monastery in Plasy complex
Interior of the Convent of the Cistercian Monastery in Plasy
Pilgrimage Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary and Cistercian Provost Office in Mariánská Týnice
Karlova Koruna Chateau in Chlumec nad Cidlinou
Original 18th century drawing of Provost Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Rajhrad by Santini
Stairs of the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist, Sedlec

References

^ "Abecední slovník".
^ "300 years since death of great Czech architect Jan Blažej Santini Aichel". Radio Prague International. 2023-12-07. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
^ Fleming, John, et al. (1972) The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
^ Gold, Susan (1984). "Johann Blasius Santini-Aichel: a Gothic-Baroque Architect in Bohemia 1677-1723" (PDF). Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society / The Journal of Historic Buildings & Places. 29.