Luigi Canina, an Italian architect and archaeologist, was born in
Casale Monferrato in 1795 and died in
Florence in 1856. He was a pupil of
Ferdinando Bonsignore in
Turin, and settled in
Rome in 1818. Among his works are: some construction at the
Villa Borghese (monumental neoclassical propylaea from
Piazzale Flaminio); Casino Vagnuzzi outside of Porta del Popolo in Egyptian style; not realized projects for reconstruction of the
sanctuary of Oropa (1856). He became professor of architecture at
Turin, and his most important works were the excavation of
Tusculum in 1829 and of the
Appian Way in 1848, the results of which he embodied in a number of works published in a costly form by his patroness, the
queen of Sardinia. In 1843, he was elected into the
National Academy of Design as an Honorary member.
Canina is also noted for his studies of history and archaeology: Ancient architecture described and represented in documents (1830–44). A column opposite the
basilica of Saint Sebastian on the Appian Way close to Rome records Canina's work in rescuing many Roman ruins and turning the road into the archaeological park that it is today.
In England, he restored interiors at
Alnwick Castle, Northumberland.