Martino Longhi the Elder (1534–1591) was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 architect, the father of Onorio Longhi

Onorio Longhi

Onorio Longhi was an Italian architect, the father of Martino Longhi the Younger and the son of Martino Longhi the Elder.Born in Viggiù, Lombardy, Longhi began as assistant for his father, and inherited the latter's commission at his death in 1591...

 and the grandfather of Martino Longhi the Younger

Martino Longhi the Younger

thumb|300px|Detail of the façade of [[Sant'Antonio dei Portoghesi]] in [[Rome]].Martino Longhi the Younger was an Italian architect of the Baroque period active in Rome, in a milieu when the most prominent competition for commissions came from no less than Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Francesco...

.

He was born in Viggiù

Viggiù

Viggiù is a comune in the Province of Varese in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 50 km northwest of Milan and about 8 km northeast of Varese, on the border with Switzerland...

 into a family of architects, and initially worked in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 for the Altemps family, who were relatives of the Milanese Borromeo

Borromeo

-Members of the House of Borromeo:* Andrea Borromeo, a Theatine priest* Charles Borromeo , cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church* Federico Borromeo , archbishop of Milan, cousin of Charles-Other people:...

. Later he was hired by Pope Pius IV

Pope Pius IV

Pope Pius IV , born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was Pope from 1559 to 1565. He is notable for presiding over the culmination of the Council of Trent.-Biography:...

 to work, along with Giorgio Vasari

Giorgio Vasari

Giorgio Vasari was an Italian painter, writer, historian, and architect, who is famous today for his biographies of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing.-Biography:...

 and Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola to the church of Santa Croce in Bosco Marengo

Bosco Marengo

Bosco Marengo is a town and comune in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 80 km southeast of Turin and about 12 km southeast of Alessandria....

, the pope's hometown (1566–1572).

Longhi moved to Rome in 1569. Here he worked to Palazzo Altemps, Palazzo Borghese

Palazzo Borghese

Palazzo Borghese is a palace in Rome, Italy, the main seat of the Borghese family in. It was nicknamed il Cembalo due to its unusual trazezoidal groundplan; its shortest front faces the River Tiber...

 (the court, possibly inspired to Pellegrino Tibaldi

Pellegrino Tibaldi

Pellegrino Tibaldi , also known as Pellegrino di Tibaldo de Pellegrini, was an Italian mannerist architect, sculptor, and mural painter.-Biography:...

's modules) and designed the churches of Santa Maria della Consolazione

Santa Maria della Consolazione

Santa Maria della Consolazione is a Roman Catholic church in Rome at the foot of the Palatine Hill, in rione Campitelli.-History:The church is named after an icon of the Virgin Mary which was placed on this site to console criminals who were tossed down off the cliff above the church, thought to be...

 and San Girolamo degli Schiavoni. Also by Longhi is the tower of Palazzo Senatorio, in the Capitol Hill, which he modified from the original Michelangelo

Michelangelo

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...

's design.

He died in Rome in 1591.