Le lettere di Francesco Algarotti al cardinale Angelo Maria Querini e la costruzione della chiesa di Sant’Edvige a Berlino

Abstract

The article publishes 15 letters, of which only one was well known in the 18th century. The rest have remained unknown to the wider public until now. This collection is preserved in the Library Queriniana of Brescia. Most of the letters (written between January 6, 1748 to 4 March 1753) were sent from Prussia. The recipient of the letters was Cardinal Angelo Maria Querini (1680-1755), Archbishop of Brescia since 1727, a patron and scholar, and a man with political aspirations. Venetian Francesco Algarotti (1712 - 1764), in the course of his life, was not only a writer and the conesseur of art. He also served two foreign sovereigns: Frederick II of Prussia and Augustus III, the King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. In this case the main theme of his correspondence was the construction of a Catholic church in Berlin and its financing. Behind the decision to build the Berlin Church of St. Hedwig were political events. The first letter of the collection dates back to 1747, two years after the Treaty of Dresden. This church, until today, was part of a large complex called Forum Federicianum. King Frederick II created the first sketches of projects. The main source of inspiration for the architectural form was the Roman Pantheon. The building plans were drawn up by the court architect Georg von Knobelsdorff Venzlaus (1699-1753) in collaboration with the architect and engraver Jean Laurent Legeay (1710-1786).