Algarotti, Francesco

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Algarotti, Francesco (1712–64). Influential figure of the Enlightenment, from Venice, he became artistic adviser to King Frederick II of Prussia (reigned 1740–86), and was largely responsible for introducing Palladianism to Potsdam and Berlin. His writings on architecture (much influenced by Lodoli, from whom he gleaned a considerable part of his ideas) were of considerable importance in the development of architectural theory, and include Il Newtonianismo per le Dame ovvero Dialoghi sopra la Luce e i Colori (Newtonianism … or Dialogue on Light and Colours—actually a treatise on optics—1737) and Opere del Conte Algarotti (Works of Count Algarotti—1791–4).

Bibliography

Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, iv/2 (Apr. 1944), 23–9;
Kaufman (1998);
E. Kaufmann (1955);
Rykwert (1980)