Renaissance
Renaissance
Renaissance
Sto SPIRITO
Not only provides a new solution to some problems encourted in san
Lorenzo, but shows stylistic difference from the earlier church
ALBERTI
Like Brunelleschi he studied the roman ruins but in a different way,
Brunelleschi was interested in it purely for a structural point of view.he
was more interested in the artistical parts of the buildings and how can
he adapt them in the modern age.he gives the theory of the 5 orders
and the theory of beaty and ornament in architecture which depends
on a mathematical system of harmonic proportions.
MALATESTIANO CHURCH,RIMINI
Rebuilt in 1446 by SIGISMONDO
The importance of these church comes from the fact the it is the first
modern example pf classical solution to the problem presented by the
western façade of a normal Christian church,a high central nave with a
lower aisle on either side each covered by a lean to roof.and that
akward shape was not common in gothic architecture.so beaacuse the
temple was dedicated to the glory of an earthly prince so the solution
adopted was a classical triumphal arch at the entrance of the church,so
for the entrance of the church the arch of augustus was used as an
example.
Toward the end of albertis lide he built two churches that represents
the two main types,san Sebastiano with a Greek cross plan and san
andrea with lation cross plan.
SAN SEBASTIANO
It was reconstructed by professor wittwoker .
It has a high flight of steps because alberti thought that churches
should stand ona a high base isolated from the world.it has six pilasters
supporting the entablature nut the extisting building nowdays has just 4
pilasters.albertu used the classical front type since the plan eliminated
aisles.
The plan itself is more important than the façade , for it’s the first of
Greek cross structures,many of which date in the 16th century.alberti
designed the centrally planed church,because the form was symbolizing
the perfection of God. On the other hand is more likely that he was
influenced by the early Christian churches.
SAN ANDREA
It was started after alberti died and it was finished in the 18th century.
The plan is a more traditional latin cross type which had been already
used by Brunelleschi where the central nave and the aisles are defined
and separated by slender of colums and the main axial direction is
towards the altar.in san andrea there are no aisles but a series of
alternating large and small space openinngs of the nave .the larger
spaces are used as chapels and standing in the nave the spectator has
two axial directions, one that consists of a small-large rhythm running
laterally down the nave walls , and an other longitudinal which is
centerd towards the east end,and its provided by the tunnel like
character of the nave itself.
The principal reason for this great difference between the
brunelleschian and albertian type is that alberti modeld his interior on
roman prototype .the nave is very dark has a barrel vault with painted
coffers, some are 56 feet wide.the immense weight of these vault must
be carried on by large supports stronger than the colums used by
Brunelleschi.that is why alberi used enormouse abutements like in the
baths of Diocletian ,carried the weight of vaulting, but the same time
could be hollowed ot to form oppenings at right angles to the maine
axes.
The façade shows that alberti was able to modifie the internal system
and repeated on the exterior ,combining with the type of classical
temple front that he already used at san Sebastiano .
The façade consists in interlocking of a classical triumphal arch with a
classical temple front.it is formed by the 4 large pilasters on high bases
carrying a triangular pediment above them. The triumphal arch consists
of of large round headed opening immediately below the pediment
flanked by pilasters and with its own entablature running behind the
pilasters of the temple front.the result in a small opening at the ground
level between two pilasters , followed by a large round headed opening
and then a repetition of a smaller doorway .this is the same as the
rhythmic alternation of the large and small chapels inside
PALAZZO RUCELLAI
Compared to Michelozzos palazzo medici it was smaller but it was built
in the same time so some details such as the colonettes separating the
windows ,but at the same time differs because it’s the first attempt to
apply classical order to a palace ,and the whole palace has a more
antique air.
But it’s a more sophisticated building , by the use of different textures .
unlike the palazzo medici, has 2 main entrance doors disposed in a way
that the façade can be read as AABAABAA.the bays containing the
doors are slightly wider than the other bays and are also marked by the
carved coats of arms over the first floor windows.
The palazzos complexity dosent stop at the rhythmical organization,it is
increased by the innovation of the orders, used to devide the building
both horizontally an vertically.the horizontal devision is accomplished
by elaborately decorated entablatures carrying ruccelai badges .as in
palazzo medici , each cornice acts like a sill in the window.these
horizontal devisions are supported by correctly proportioned pilasters
and the whole scheme is derived ffrom the coloseum. The palazzo
rucellai on the ground floor has Tuscan type pilasters, the piano nobile
has ionic but infused with Corinthian elements and the top floor has a
correct Corinthian.
Following the classical way the heights of the stories were fixed by the
heights of the pilasters.the ground floor is given a necessary height,
since Tuscan order is much shorter and heavier than others, but with a
considerable base, with diamond pattern to imitate roman opus
reticulatum. As we know albertis relationship to the classical
architecture the palazzo has richly textured effect owning to the
contrast provided by the channelled rustication of the maine wall
surface,the channeling of the round headed windows and the further
contrast provided by the smooth pilasters and the opus reticulatum,
which serves like a base.this opus reticulatum , the dimond shape was a
decorative element for alberti from the romans , but what he didn’t
understand in that time is that the romans used this triangle shaped
stones to enforce the building and not for decoration.
For the cornice its clear that he was inspired from the roman
architecture again,this presented him with a big difficulty .for
respecting the proportions defined on the façade he designed the
highest possible cornice consistent with the size of the topmost order
and he gave it a strong overhang and supported by a series of corbels
implemented in the frize.
MICHELOZZO
PALAZZO MEDICI
The building began in 1444 and it was completed 20 years later in
1459.the only modification that was made on the building is the filling
on of the open arches with the windows designed by Michelangelo and
the increase of the via larga when it was bought by riccardi .
Compared to palazzo davanzati the design dosent show us some
starling innovations, yet it embodies the new principles of symmetry
and mathematical arrangement . there are 3 stories tooped by an
enormous classical cornice with the purpose of shadowing down the
walls when the sun is the highest. The great stone cornice of palazzo
medici is classical form , its based on classical entablature and related
to the height of the entire place . it is approximately 10 feet high and
the palace wall is 83 feet.this means the projection of the cornice has to
be counterbalanced by keying the block back in to the roof on the most
difficult an expensive manner: and to obtain an architectural solecism,
since the cornice has no architrave or frieze and no colums to go with.
Furthermore the height and the projection of the cornice is related to
the whole height not to the individual stories , so that the top floor
appears to be crushed . this is revealed when we consider the
arrangements of the tree separate stories. The ground floor has round
headed opennings with very strongly marked vousoirs.these round
arches are placed symmetrically in a very heavily rusticated wall, the
irregular quality of which gives a vastly rough appearance to the
ground floor.
Separating the ground floor from the piano nobile is the small string
course in the form of classical modillion cornice which serves also as
sills for the windows of the piano nobile. These windows, like the
openings on the ground floor, are arranged symmetrically but they are
not related to each other so that the center of the piano nobile
windows do not correspond with the openings below them.
These windows have voussoir patterns very similar to those below
them , but the opening is divided into 2 lights by means of a single
colonette with round headed arches over it , a more classical expressed
form of the 2 light type window in palazzo vechio. The torey has a
whole is smaller than the ground floor and is sharply distinguished from
it by the fact that the rusticated stonework has no rough bosses but
consists solely of channels cut along the joints.
The top story is identical to the piano nobile exepte that it is now
entirely smooth
Over all these rustication has an optical effect as well, makes the
building taller than it actually is.
The arramente of the inside si similar to the outside .that means the
use of the proportion.the basic shape of the building is hallow square
with a large,opened,central court which , at the ground level , forms an
open arcade.the planning is very symmetrical with the main entrance in
the center creating a tunnel like pathway. Although there are some
flows of perfect symmetry in the plan,the far end of the court is wider
than the other sides and the arrangements of the rooms are strictly
based on the maine axis.
The staircase is opend out of the coverd arcade and are not completely
exposed as in other palaces .the idea of grand ceremonial staircase as a
principal architectural feature was nearly an other century away.
BRAMANTE(1444
He was the pupil of piero della Francesca and Mantegna .
The Lombard architecture had a main influence on his style.
SANTA MARIA PRESSO SAN SATIRO
One of hes earliest works.
Two things that will make important these church in the future I the
fact that the east eng is constructed as a perspective illusion,showing
that he was influenced by his training as a painter.because of the
narrow street running accros the end of the building san satiro couldn’t
be build in a different manner .in order to maintain the special effect of
choir, nave and transepts as an unity, Bramante was forced to evolve
this illusion.the decorative character of the cofferd vaulyting and the
forms of the pilasters derive from piero della Francesca and bramantes
previous studies of milans buildings.
Bramante remodeld the building, particularly in the exterior, but the
plan(Greek cross plan in a circle) is typical early Christian design and
was adapted by Bramante in the baptistry .this simple plan also
contains the germ of bramantes original design for the rebuilding the
st. peters basilica in rome. Still ,this little church is a direct ancestor of
many churches built in Italy in the 16-17 century.
The exterior clearly shows a florentian influence ,Bramante expressed
the cross in circle plan by developing the building upwards in 3 main
stages.the lowest one is sclindrical in shape with deep niches set
between the pairs of pilasters and alternating with smooth walling.this
is reminiscent to brunellschis santa maria degli angeli but the central
plan is emphasized by the fact that the second storey consists of the
four arms of the Greek cross rising out of the cylinder .each of these
arms contains a window and the roofs are gabled.the point where the
roofs meet is made a subsidiary stage , since it becomes a square out of
which there rises an octagonal drum with windows alternating between
single pilasters. Above this , finally, is a small circular lantern which has
Brunelleschi elements but the decoration is totally Lombard.
SANTA MARIA DELLE GRAZIE
The tribune was added, designed by Bramante
Externally the building is not so satisfying , since it consists a long,
rather low nave and aisles built on the 1460s.it has a very large tribune
which rises into a great polygonal drum and a small lantern. There are
apsidial projections on the tree free standing sides, two which are
transparent and the third terminates the choir. What Bramante
imagined , was an independent, centrally planed building attached to
a long nave church. The section and plan shows quite clearly the
abruptness of the junction.internally,the effect is more
satisfacatory,and this is due to the fact that the decoration was made
after bramantes desires and the exteriors was made by local masons
with not a lot of supervision.the effect in the interior is abaout the
lightness and clarity, with geometric patterns such as painted wheel
windows but everything suborderd to the spatial arrangement.
S.AMBRODIO
Bramante designed 3 cloisters and his monistery
PORTA DELLA CANONICA
Is one side of the church and consists of a series of round headed
arches supported on colums with a much larger arch in the center
supported on square piers faced pilasters.the basic design is something
of a combination of the cloister types like brunelleschis foundling
hospital.One small point is of particular interest: the occuernce of
several columns with curious excrences on the shafts.these look like
tree trunks and they were meant to be like this. Vitruvius , in his
account about the beginnings of architecture stated that classical
orders took their rise from tree trunks which was used as vertical
support, Bramante studied his work during his stay in milan and he was
carefull about picturesque details in hes designs.
The other two cloisters, known as the doric and ionic, were begun
before he left milan .the doric cloister is one of his finest and most
mature creations.perhaps the most obvious influence on it is the court
of the palace Urbino, in which we can see combined design with the
Brunelleschi one established on the foundling hospitals.
THE CLOISTER OF THE SANTA MARIA DELLE PACE
Is on two floors with and approximately same hight.the most unusual
feature is the way in which every column is made to stand immediately
above the centers of each ground floor arches.also he adapted the
milaneze scheme which is the removal of the wall on the upper floor
leaving only a member, which is transformed into a colum instead of a
pilaster. Its was necessary because of the weight of the entablature.
The effects of the pace cloister is gained by subtle adjustments of
proportion and by contrasts of light and shade, but his contemporary
work at san Pietro in montorio is far more complicated.
TEMPIETTO SAN PIETRO IN MONTORIO
It was made for Ferdinand and Isabella of spain .bramantes desire was
to reorganize the whole courtyard in such way that the tiny , centrally
planned church would have stood in the center of a larger , centrally
planned cloister. It was often said that the 16 century Italian architects
passion for the centrally planned churches, were pushing pegan ideals
and there was maintained that bramantes church represents a triumph
of worldliness .
Sadly the court was never complited and its easy to see the geometric
effect depend on the combination of concentric circles in the plan with
concentric cylinders in the elevation.
The Tempietto consists of 2 cylinders, the peristyle and the cella, the
peristyle being low and wide and the cella tall an narrow.the wight of
the peristyle is equal to the height of the cella, excluding the dome,
and these simple proportional relationships can be traced throughout
the building .the dome is hemispherical internally and externally,and its
proportioned at the height of the cella.
These temple has a deep connection to the temple of the vesta and the
temple of the sybil in Tivoli with an important exeption, the temple of
sybil is celebrated for the extreme richness of the frieze if its Corinthian
order but the tempiamentto is the first building to use the Tuscan order
correctly.
Vitruvius pointed out that the orders for each temple are different
because they symbolize the purpose and the goddess of the temple, so
temples dedicated to virgin goddess demands Corinthian order,
Hercules or mars demands doric.later these idea was used by alberti
and palladio as well .bramante thought, for the caracter of peter he
shall use Tuscan , which is the roman doric.
He used Tuscan orders of granite with new marble caps and
bases.these was a for of doric so the frieze was carved as triglyphs and
metopes.bramante used as example the temple of Vespasian which has
a lot of pagen elements, but he changed them into Christian ones.we
can observe that the metopes are unlike the normal classical order,
they are carved with liturgical instruments.
These building shows perfectly the thinking of Bramante, who shows us
that good modern architecture grew out of the ancient one as
Christianity grew out of the ancient world.
ST.PETER
Unfortunately his works in the Vatican were altered beyond
recognition.the present main courtyardof the Vatican palace, was built
by Bramante as a series of arcades not unlike those of the colosseum,
the the open spaces have been glazed in to protect , raphaels frescos .
Orderd by Julius the second. Hes first ideas were a centrally planned
but a latin cross plan was forced on him by the clergy.hes project
derives from the tempetto but in a much bigger scale, a martyrium. He
wished redesigning the ancient roam building with the same framework
as Constantines.the central paln had also the symbolism of perfection
of god. Because his lack of experience with monumental buildings hes
predecesors had to constantly enlarge the design so after all hes plans
for the basilica were changed.
After his death he was succeeded by raphael and Peruzzi whom
produced som variants of plans, they changed the centrallyzed plan to a
latin cross one but the buildings were stoped by imperial troops.
So Antonio da Sangallo the younger , who was working under Bramante
as well began to redesign .the central space was fixed because
bramantes piers existed but Sangallo enlarged them and designed a
new type of dome .there is a little model made in sangallos last years
and shows us that bramantes succesors could think on heroic scale and
relied on weaklycompromise solutions.
After the death of Sangallo , Michelangelo succeed him.
He expressed his will to return to the bramantes form, but he made o
combination of his plan and the lation cross one in mannerist terms.this
means , where Bramante had concevid his central plan as a square
shape with an entrance in any of the four sides, Michelangelo decides
to stood the square on one corner and obtain a diamond shape, using
the corner as the main façade and emphasizing it by blunting the point
and adding a very large portico.comparison of the two plans shows that
Michelangelo reduced the overall size, increased the main piers and
reduced the open spaces between the piers and the outside wall.and by
this he ensuredthe stability of the building and provided adequate
support for the dome, even though he abandoned the idea of building
bramantes dome. He pressed ahead with the construction and when he
died a considerable part of the basilica was stending.the dome itself
was a problem of the basilica.at one point he wanted to be
hemispherical like bramantes one but heavily accented ribs
corresponding to the maine lines of his wall treatment.
Michelangelo also projected the dome slightly pointed form and this
was the shape adopted by the builders.hes conception of the building
was more dynamic than bramantes,and from the back of the church we
can gain some idea for that . here the giant pilars.
However, as we see it tuday it was finalized by carlo maderna,he not
only decorated much of the interior,but he also extended and changed
michelangeos plan by adding a long nave and then the façade was
extended. But after all the final masterpiece was made in the baroque
by the completion of the layout of the great piazza and the superbly
thereatrical effect of the Tuscan colonnade with scores of statues on a
gigantic scale, made by Bernini in 1656.
RAPHAEL AND GIULIO ROMANO
RAFFAELLO
in his first years as an architect he followed in the footsteps of
Bramante , but in his last years he moved away from that classicism
what we can see in hes painting, shool of athen , and moved towards a
richer and more dramatic style , which is the beginning of the
manierism . And on of the best examples ais the chapel built in santa
maria del popolo church, for a wealthy Sienese banker, Agostino chigi.
Mannerism as a term is udeful as a means of distinguishing pa phase
between the conscious classical harmony represented by Bramante and
the passionate drama of baroque style which was emphasized by
Bernini. Artwork produced this time was sophisticated ,frustrated, and
sometimes downright neurotic. What is interesting in the 16th century
architects is that, they begin to appreciate the imperial roman art as
wel
CHIGI CHAPEL
It’s a maousoleum,the main idea was a central plan,a circle in the
middle of a square.the mains element is the repetition of the arches.
We have a particular point of view in the center,to understand the
space,the main altar is is directly infront of the entrance,there are two
tombs in the left and the right
The circle of the drum is lighted by the windows,in the dome ,
bramantes idea in the tempietto is repeated.every espect was designed
as a painting, as we can see on the arches. The main aula is decorated
with pendentives in the middle of the trapezoidal area with the square.
To connect the overall elements of the chapel he used Corinthian order.
lPALAZZO PANDOLFINI
it’s a simpler verion of palazzo branconio adapted to the Florentine
taste and to the idea of a villa standing in the country rather in the city,
since it was build near tu porta s.gallo. the villa is important because in
one hand looks back to roman villas and on the other had it gives us a
whole class which derives from the principles to be laid down by
palladio.
VILLA MADAMA.monte mario
It was built for the wife of Alessandro di medici,margarita di parma
The original idea was to recreate a classical villa with enormous circular
courtyard in the center with a great garden like a amphitheatre
terraced in to the hillside.
Villa madama is a work of primary importance since the loggia at the
back,now glazed in,contains the most magnificent surviving decoration
carried out by raphael and it coonects him directly to the golden house
of nero.
The great loggia contains 3 bays, those at either and being covered with
quadripartite vaulting and the one in the center with domical vault.at
one and the wall is recessed into the hillside in a deep apse likeshape
with richly decorated half dome over it. The whole decoration is
carried out in low relief with strong,bright colour contrasting with
dazzling white plaster, and its easy to see how this must have seemed
to contemporizes not only to resemble the golden house of nero, but in
some sense surpass it.
The organization of spaces can be devided In to mayor orthogonal axis,
the ebtrance and the theater and the second as the graden.
The façade towards the rotonda is devided in a rhythm of windows
between to small sized ionic order columns every windows section
devided by Tuscan order columns. Like in the chigi chapel the spectator
is in the middle, in the focus
The loggia shows the path to the garden by a series of arches . however
almost the same organization is used on the façade towards the
garden, but the windows are much bigger, ensuring the light inside for
the spectator to see the richly decorated arches .the windows are
devided by ionic pilasters.
The garden is on two levels,a regular organization of areas with a
fountain below the first level, composed by 3 arches.
GIULIO ROMANO
He was the pupil of raffaello ,hes assistant, a high number of paintings
are presumed that he finish after hes masters death. In his first years of
working under raphael he was developing hes own style .
PALAZZO DEL TE
Mantua , for the duke ,Federico Gonzaga(1526-1534)
Like villa madama, the palazzo was a re creation of a classical villa
suburbana.the villa was meant to be a refuge in the heat of
summer,since the Gonzaga palace is one mile away, palazzo te dosent
have any bedrooms.
The plan shows the typical layout of a roman villa, a long-low range
enclosing a central square court.this is directly confirmed by the
entrance façade , maybe it appears to be a simple ,straightforward
building, its more sophisticated than we can see for the first time.
To take the plan first,it will be seen that the principle of a symmetrical
disposition is not observed , the building has for different ranges an the
axis of the garden and the maine garden front leads to a side door
while the axis, of the main entrance is at right angles to the garden.it
might be argued that this was due to the site, but as we go forward
with the examination of this building we can observ a lot of surprises
and contradictions which are intentional and were intended to appeal
to a highly sophisticated taste , since the overall construction tends to
implement in the educated viewer a feeling of thrilled horror.these can
be seen in the maine entrance front which should be compared with
the west side entrance, both of which should then be compared with
the garden front.in each case element of one front are repeated but
transformed in both others.
The maine entrance front is long ,low,block with a three equal arches in
the center and with four window bays apperantly symmetrically
disposed on either side.the wall is rusticated and articulated by Tuscan
pilasters carrying a richly carved entablature .about tree- quarters of
the way up the pilasters there is a string-course which serves as a sills
for the antic windows.
Almost the first thing is noticed about this articulation is the string
course level with the face of the pilasters, froms the sill of the windows
and is tied into the key stone of the window on the main floor.to the
right of the entrance arches there is wide bay,but the corresponding
bay to the left is not only narrower, it also has the window off center.
Next we notice that the 3 entrance bays are flanked on each side by
tree window bays and than comes a caesura in the form of a pair of
pilasters with a small niche set in a smooth wall between them.after
this tree follows a normal window bay and finally, the façade is closed
by a pair of pilasters.
The reading from the central arch of the entrance the rhythm is
AABBBCB, the last being differentiated from the other bays by the fact
that it has paird pilasters at either side.the design is very subtle and
consciously asymmetrical , but the full sophisticasion of this
architecture can be realized only by moving round to the side front
where similar but not quite identical articulation is adopted with small
niche bays framing the sides f the single entrance arch.the sepctator
supposed to keep in mind the basic disposition of the external fronts
when he arrives on the garden side which has a disposition around
three large arches in the centre. Here, the texture of the wall is quite
different since its rusticated only up to the level of the bridge which
runs across .the main storey has smooth walling and no attic, but has a
tottaly different textual effect obtained by a series of round arches
carried on piers and columns in a complicated rhythm.the larger arches
of the center are further emphasized by a triangular pediment above
them.
Comparing the entrance and garden fronts we see that they have in
common a triplet of arches in the center,followed by tree window
bays on each side, which are then followed by an odd small bay with a
niche separating the main windows from the final bay , which repeats
the form of the original three.thus, they are different fronts, they have
the same underlying motives and there can be no doubt that the
architect intended this to create in the spectators mind a pleasure
similar to that given by variations on a theme in music.
The precise articulation of these arches on the garden side, the 4 great
columns which support the main arches of the garden front, give the
effect of massy supports, carrying a considerable weight so that the
arches and the vaoulting of this portico seem to be adequate for their
task and disposed with symmetrical harmonythere are columns in the
center groups and columns and piers at the ends.the smaller window
bays, however are rather more complex in their disposition known as
the palladian motive, and that is a semicircular arch supported on
columns with a rectangular opening at either side formed by the
entablature and an other column.the window bay nearest to the main
entrance is such a motive and so is the second .the third window
becomes a round headed arch supported on piers.the motive followed
by the small niech bay, and than the last of the arches repeats this new
type of window. By comparison with the main enytrance front,there is
further complication in the disposition of the bays, which reading from
the center arch , are now AABBCDC. In fact the palazzo del te is full of
this sort of sophistication.
Two other things that should be mentioned are, firstly the sodes of the
internal court do not correspond precisely with any of the exterior sides
but have rhythms and complications of their own.and other thing is the
treatement of some details, like the keystones of an arch is normally
intended to give.this feeling f insecurity can be seen still more clearly in
theentablature of the internal court, where Giulio has actually allowed
a number of triglyphs to appear to have slipped down into the wall
space below,creating a definite feeling of inease in the mind of the
spectator.this deliberate malaise is regarded as the half mark mannerist
art on direct contract with bramantes architecture.
The second important feature of palazzo te is the decoration that was
largely executed by giulio and his pupils .however the most decoartiv
feature is the room of giants, what is totaly different is execution .the
angles of these room were softened so the first impression is that does
not have. The paintings of these room are remarkable , the whole
celing is covered by representation of a great circular temple
floating,suspended in space,above the spectators head with the
assembly of the gods and with Jupiter hurling the thunderbolt toward
the earth.
PERUZZI (1481-1536)
He was a leading member of Bramante’s circle . according to Vasari he
was the man who revived the long dead art of stage design,and also he
was a virtuoso in the art of perspective.
VILLA CHIGI(FARNESINA)
Built in tiber in rome ,for Agostino chigi , from 1509-1511.
The building is small, but is far mor important as an example for the
type of villa with central block and projecting wings. The loggia contains
frescos of cupid and pshiche by raphael .the
The façade has been modified by the fact that the plain walls were
originally decorated with frescoes which have long since weathered
away.this explains the odd discrepancy between the bareness of the
walls and the richness of the modelled frieze below the eaves, with its
cherubs and swags pierced by small attic windows. An uncomfortable
effect of the central pilaster which devides the ends of the wings into
two rather than 2 bays is the reason for the old fashion appearance .