Vanvitelli,Luigi

Born May 12, 1700, in Naples; died Mar. 1, 1773, in Caserta. Italian architect of the Neapolitan school.

Vanvitelli worked in Rome, Ancona, Fiumicino, Brescia, Naples, Caserta, and Milan. His work marks the transition from baroque to classicism. In his major building—the Palazzo Reale in Caserta, near Naples (begun in 1752; rectangular in plan, with four inner courts formed by a cross-shaped intersection of the buildings)—baroque harmoniousness of decor and dynamism of the spatial organization of the interiors is combined with a classical austerity and flatness of the facades.