Born and raised in Dogliani, Giovanni Borra studied under Vittone Antonio Bernardo from 1733 to 1736. In the course of this time he managed to produce 10 plates for his teacher's Elementary Education by Address of the University of the Civil Engineering, published in 1760 in Lugano. In 1748, Borra published a work of his own. It was a handbook on stability of buildings, practical in tone. While in Rome, he met Robert Wood, and joined his antiquarian expedition (1750 - 51) to Syria and Asia Minor as its architectural draughtsman before he returned with Robert to England. In England, he used his sketchbooks to produce the original drawings. The sketchbooks can now be found in the library of the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. This Society is now in the Royal Institute of British Architects.
For Wood, he did “The Ruins of Palmyra” and “The Ruins of Balbec” and from 1752 to 1760 and carried out commission works for the English clientele. These artworks and their images led to the creation of motifs from Palmyra and Baalbek which became fashionable for ceiling and interior decorations in Italy and England (the artist used them, for instance, in his own work on the Palazzo Isnardi on the south facade and of the interior decoration of its Sala di Diana and Sala d'Ercole, on the piano nobile). Borra is thought to have died and buried in Turin. He did so many works that are still the admiration of many today, especially upcoming artists.
