The Church of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza in Rome was completed in 1660.
Sant'Ivo was designed by Francesco Borromini for the University of Rome, then known as La Sapienza. Construction began in 1642 and the church was completed in 1660, making it one of the clearest expressions of Borromini’s inventive Roman Baroque style.
Rather than standing freely in a conventional square or plaza, the church occupies the end of the courtyard of the Palazzo della Sapienza. Borromini fitted its compact plan into the existing complex, using a geometric arrangement of concave and convex curves. The interior culminates in a striking lantern and spiral-shaped exterior tower, whose unusual silhouette has become one of the building’s signatures.
The date can be confused with nearby phases of construction or with the completion dates of other Borromini churches. Sant'Ivo’s dates are generally given as 1642–1660. The building was dedicated to Saint Ivo of Kermartin, patron saint of lawyers, and its university setting explains the church’s association with scholarship and the Roman Studium.