FONTANA, DOMENICO (1543-1607), Italian architect and mechanician, was born at Mili on the Lake of Como in and died at Naples in 1607. After training in mathematics he went to Rome to study architecture, and entered the service of Cardinal Montalto (afterwards Sixtus V.), for whom he erected a chapel in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore and the Villa Negroni. On the election of Sixtus V., Fontana became his chief architect. Among his works were the Laleian palace, the palace of Monte Cavallo (the Quirinal), the Vatican library, etc. The undertaking which brought him the highest repute was the re moval of the Egyptian obelisk (brought to Rome in the reign of Caligula) from the place where it lay in the Circus of the Vatican and its erection in front of St. Peter's in 1586. After the death of Sixtus V., Fontana was accused of misappropriating public moneys, and was dismissed from his post in 1592 by Clement VIII. He then became architect at Naples to the viceroy, the count of Miranda, and built the royal palace. His projected new harbour and bridge was carried out after his death. The account of the removal of the obelisk (Rome, 159o) is his only literary work. His son Giulio Cesare succeeded him as royal architect at Naples, the university there being his best-known building.