Carlo Lurago

Carlo Lurago (also spelled Luraghi) (1615 – 12 October 1684) was an Italian architect who was active in Prague.

He was born in Pellio Superiore in the Val d'Intelvi, near Como. At the age of 23, as an already an accomplished plasterer, he moved to Prague. He would build several different Jesuit churches and cloisters there, including some at the Clementinum, in the early baroque style. His first commission was the stucco decoration on the gothic St. Saviour Church in Prague. He also worked on the Saint Eligius Chapel there in 1654, before his work was redone by Domenico Orsi.

Lurago was also successful outside of Bohemia. He developed the plans for the Passau Cathedral. It is notable because the main altar has a series of flat elliptical domes. This arch design foreshadows many other buildings of the baroque style. Another notable example of his work is the pilgrimage church of Maria Taferl, which had to be completed by Jakob Prandtauer after Lurago died in Passau.

Works 1637–1659: Baroque town hall, Náchod 1638–1648: St. Saviour, Prague 1640–1642: Jesuit Church and College House, Březnice 1650–1659: Modifications and enlargement of Náchod Castle c. 1650: Modification of the Church of St. Mary-under-the-Chain, Malá Strana, Prague 1651: Modification of the Lobkowicz Palace, Prague 1653–1660: The Clementinum, Old Town, Prague 1653–1658: Modification and baroquification of the castle annex for the Counts of Herberstein, Gorzanów, Silesia 1654–1666: Jesuit Church of the Assumption, Hradec Králové 1654–1679: Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary and of Saint Ignatius, Klatovy 1655–1661: Modification of the Castle in Nové Město nad Metují 1657–1739: Church of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, Svatý Jan pod Skalou 1658: "Stone Birdhouses", Prague 1659–1674: Cloister of the pilgrimage church of Svatá Hora in Příbram 1578–1653: Clementinum, St. Salvator, Old Town, Prague 1654–1690: Jesuit College Kłodzko, Silesia 1663–1668: Cloister "im Waldl", Kladno 1664: New Inn, Tursko 1665–1670: St. Ignatius Church, Prague 1665–1670: Church of the Holy Trinity, Klášterec nad Ohří 1666–1668: Hunting lodges for Humprecht Jan Czernin, Sobotka 1668: St. Stephen's Cathedral, Passau 1670: Pilgrimage church in Maria Taferl 1673: Jesuit college by the Church of St. Nicholas, Malá Strana, Prague 1688: Remodeling of St. Ignatius Church in Chomutov