The Early Renaissance in Italy was the beginning of a completely new era in art and architecture.

The social transformation that lead to this profoundly different style, however, was taking place throughout Europe. It was the middle class whose interest in business enterprise and trade spearheaded the exploration of new trade routes, particularly over water. The rise of the banking industry extended the option of power and influence to all levels of society.

Observation of religious practices was still a matter of utmost importance, but devotion to pilgrimage and expectations for the afterlife paled in comparison to the possibilities of a better life on earth through commerce. The power and wealth of the church was being challenged by a variety of sources, not least of which was Martin Luther in 1520.

Intellectuals of the time linked themselves with both the ancient Gods and Goddesses and the Christian God. They were aware of the Great Mysteries of the ancient times, one of which was the connection between physical beauty, mathematics and the divine. The cult of beauty, which was started in Italy and spread through Europe, was dedicated to the production of things of extraordinary beauty based on measurable proportions.

Geometry provided both a base grid to create beauty with calculable proportions and a link to a higher purpose as the geometry was symbolical; the triangle symbolizes the divine, the circle stands for the heavens (the seven planets and the zodiac), the square stands for the four elements. These shapes provided the basis for Renaissance designs across Europe.

By the time of the High Renaissance, England, France and Spain had become strong nation states. Italy and Germany were not united as nations, but had strong city states and relatively stable economies. Across Europe, whether governed by nobility or strong city states, all centers were experiencing an age of prosperity. They gave proportionately less money to the church and extended their prestige through building, art, and lavish patronage in music, literature, science and exploration.

Renaissance forms and ideas spread as much through the artists as through the politicians and nobility. A split with a patron or a clash of ideas within a city often lead to the migration of artists and architects to other centers.

The short period of time during the first two decades of the 16th century, 1500 - 1520, is known as the High Renaissance. Rome became the center of the High Renaissance largely due to the patronage of the popes. Alberti and Vitruvius had both supplied rules for classical forms in architecture, and High Renaissance builders were conscientiously applying them. By 1520 Leonardo had gone to France, Raphael was dead, and the builders were getting tired of playing by the rules

Michelangelo 1396 - 1472 Michelangelo started his career in Florence with the David, then he followed the patronage of the era to Rome, painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling, among other things, then returned to Florence to create the Laurentian Library. With his sculptor's eye for threedimensional space, he started to stretch the limits of space and scale. He ignored the accepted conventions of proportion, pushed the boundaries of size and shape, introduced the Giant Order columns that extended up two floors of a building - and allowed architects freedom from convention through exaggerated forms and the use of the oval. He was the first to break the rules.

Palladio 1508 - 1572 Palladio was the purest Classisit of all the Renaissance masters. He opposed the direction that the Mannerists were heading and tried to bring architecture back to its pure Classical form. His treatises on architecture have the same enduring character as those of Alberti and Vitruvius. His most famous residence, the Villa Rotunda, has been copied throughout the world.

School of Fontainbleau 16th century Italian artists, versed in the Renaissance philosophy and craftsmanship, were being persuaded to leave Italy and relocate in the Chateau of Fontainbleau due to the patronage of Francis I and later his son Henry II. Artists such as Rosso Fiorentino and , Francesco Primaticcio set up the school where quasiRenaissance/Mannerist ideas were taught. The school produced generations of artists and artisans versed in that style. It was so prevalent that a style of interior decoration and many styles of silver, gold, and ceramic work maintain that name. In effect, the Fontainbleau School was working counter to the ideas of the Renaissance but using the vocabulary and detailing.

Inigo Jones 1573 - 1652 Inigo Jones was the Surveyor -general of the King's works and introduced a refined form of Italian Classicism into English architecture. He was responsible for the introduction of the Palladian Style which was the recognised official style in England for the following two centuries. His Banqueting Hall at Whitehall and Wilton House in Witshire illustrate a destinctly English form of Classical Palladianism.

Leonardo da vinci Leonardo's notes contain many references to architecture, especially plans for cathedrals. His studies in this area commenced with the examination of various tools and instruments for building. This then progressed into an area never before studied, that of the varying strengths of pillars, beams, and arches.

Donato di Niccol di Betto Bardi (circa 1386 December 13, 1466), also known as Donatello, was an early Renaissance Italia n painter and sculptor from Florence. He is, in part, known for his work in bas-relief, a form of shallow relief sculpture that, in Donatello's case, incorporated significant 15th-century developments in perspectival illusionism.

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (April 6 or March 28, 1483 April 6, 1520), better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and arc hitect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur. Together with Michelangelo and Le onardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period.

After brilliant beginnings in Florence, the Renaissance moved to Rome, the artists and architects following the papal patronage of Rome, newly restored after a few centuries in France. Bramante's Tempietto was the first Roman jewel of the High Renaissance.

St. Peters The foundation stone was laid in 1506, but the building wasn't completed until 1626. The builders include almost all of the big names of the High and Late Renaissance. Bramante started the design when he was 60 years old. Leonardo da Vinci's sketchbook contains sketches of it. Raphael was put in charge of the construction upon Bramante's death, but his contribution was minimal. Michelangelo was instrumental in the dome and the faade, while della Porta, Fontana, Maderna and Vignola helped to apply the finishing touches.

St. Peters - Rome Giuliano Da Sangallo (1445-1516) changed Bramante's original design for the dome, but this was, in turn, changed by the 72 year old Michelangelo. It was finally constructed under the supervision of Giacomo della Porta and Domenico Fontana on Michelangelo's design. Florence and Brunelleschi's Duomo were the inspiration. It has two shells, the inside one is brick, and the exterior dome is shaped like orange peel sections held together by ribs and three iron chains. The dome is supported on a peristyle.

St. Peters Bramante did many experiments with concrete to supply the necessary structural integrity for he support of the dome. Giuliano Da Sangallo was responsible for the nave vault and pendentives. The massive columns and arches, larger by far than any others of the time, are constructed from Roman concrete. The plan is a Greek cross superimposed on a square. Each arm finishes in an apse with a small subordinate dome.

East Faade The portico on the east faade was modified by Michelangelo who added the giant order of columns, bypassing the current conception of proportions. He is responsible for the unity of the design. The gigantic size of the structure is astonishing. The faade is 51 m (167ft.) high with 6.1 m (20 ft) statues on the top. Those tiny little white things clustered around the base of the columns are people.

Palazzo Farnese The Palazzo Farnese is the grandest palazzo in Rome dating from this time. The faade is an imposing astylar composition. Three stories of almost equal height, constructed of brick faced with stucco. The stone detailing is travertine, taken from the Colosseum. The first floor has alternating triangular and segmental pediments. The upper story was added by Michelangelo. The windows have columns on brackets topped by triangular pediments.

Santa Trinit dei Monte Begun in 1494, the church was finally consecrated in 1585. It is found at the top of the Spanish Steps and links the Piazza di Spagna with the Piazza del Popolo. The church was originally started by the French King Louis XII, and was designed to have Gothic pointed arches. The faade was completed many years later by Carlo Maderno and is in a conservative late Renaissance style with pediments, round-headed arches and classical symmetry.

Santa Trinita Dei Monte Maderna Notice that the pediments are all intact and triangular. There are many perfect circles and semicircles. The windows on the first floor are perfectly centered as are the rondels within the lunette

Renaissance Courtyard Palazzos are generally forbidding from the outside, created with rusticated stone and an imposing cornice. Once inside, however, the courtyards are respledant with sculpture and ornate decoration creating a wonderful environment for the very rich. The dinner table had not yet been invented, so any space was considered appropriate for dining. The servants would simply assemble a table and bring chairs, linens, glasses and china where ever the owner decided to host his repas. The knife and fork were a recent introduction, and were sometimes, but not always, used as we

The artists and architects of the Renaissance travelled to where ever they could find work. Michelangelo, whose great love was sculpture, spent four years painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling in Rome, then returned to the tomb of Pope Julius II. He turned to architecture late in life and much of his best work is done in Florence. The third center of Renaissance architecture in Italy was Venice due to the commanding presence of Andrea Palladio whose buildings can be found throughout the city of Venice and across the Veneto. His most important work is in Vicenza, some 60 kilometers (45 miles) from Venice. His two churches are in Venice, but his secular architecture is in Vicenza. This is significant because it was the secular architecture, particularly the residences, that had such a profound influence on later generations.

Laurentian Library 1524 Michelangelo The anteroom of the library, seen here, illustrates the vocabulary of the Renaissance stretched to its limit. The room has an almost sculpted vibrancy. Huge engaged columns extend high up the wall, supporting nothing but indicating the second story.

Laurentian Library 1524 There is a triple stair approaching the door to the library with details.

San Georgio Maggiore Venice - Italy (1580) Palladio This is a church on a cruciform plan with apsidal trancepts. The front is composed of giant order arches, orignally conceived by Michelangelo . Acropodiums.

Palladio Villa Rotunda 1550 Palladio's idea of classicism was precise and exact. He applied the rules of classical architecture as set out by Alberti, but unlike many others, Palladio controlled the classical elements, not they him. The results, as seen in his most famous building, the Villa Rotunda or Villa Capra - is composed of a circular room capped with a dome and set within a square. On all four sides are identical temple fronted porticos.

Palladio Pallazo della Ragione Vicenza Palladio's most notable legacy is the Palladian motif, used in doors and windows. The motif consists of a single arched opening in the center flaned by two flat topped openings on either side. The original design for this is found in Vicenza on the Basilica also the Palazzo della Regione. The original archway uses the Doric style, complete with small discrete echinuses, triglyphs and metopes. There is an agraffe over the cemtral archway.

The Renaissance in France and England Architecturally, builders were working through their local versions of Gothic. People north of the Alps had never seen the ruins in Rome and Greece, and did not know any Classical rules, much less ways in which to break them. Renaissance details were filtering through into the north through artists who migrated north for the patronage of French and English kings, and through pattern books that were being sold to builders and designers. Often the patterns were simply applied, generally incongruously, onto buildings with no attempt to integrate them into a centralized plan. The steep pitches on roofs and the asymmetrical plans of the north were embellished by pediments,colonettes and garlands.

Louvre The Louvre was the palace in Paris designed for Francis I. He was the most important French patron of the Renaissance movement, being responsible for Chteau Chambord, Blois, Fountainebleau ( and the School of Fountainbleau) before his largest work, the Louvre. This was inspired by his wife Catherine de Medici who had built the little chateau in the Tuillerie Gardens, in a field along the Seine close to the original palace. It was then decided to build a grand residence along the seine that would connect the palace with the chateau. This palace is important for later generations. It was the place that Christopher Wren and Charles II of England retired to when Charles the first was killed.

Fontainbleau Court de La Fontaine Another of Francis I and Catherine de Medici's great acheivements is Fonatinbleau which is important in and of itself as a fine piece of work, but is also important because it became the center for the very famous School of Fontainbleau. When Catherine de Medici left Florence (at the age of 14) to marry Francis I, she was already well aquainted with the artists in Florence. many of these were persuaded to leave Italy and work in France.

Chateau Chambord Francis I The plan of Chambord is quite Renaissance at first glance. It seems symmetrical. In fact the square within the square is off center as are the towers. It looks symmetrical from the front, but in fact a large part of the faade is merely a screen. The layout of the castle, on further inspection, is the same as an English medieval castle.

Chteau Chambord On an Italian Renaissance Palazzo the window are designed horizontally. Each level is a coherent unit. On French Chteaue the windows are more likely to form vertical stripes as in this detail. The bands separating the windows are vertical. The windows have large mullions and small muntin bars but no pediments or window surrounds.

Chteau Chambord Stair detail This double staircase allows the person ascending to be completely unaware of another person descending, an example of Renaissance intrigue. Leonardo da Vinci was only one of many Italian Renaissance artists living and working in France.He died in 1519, the year this chteau was started. His sketchbook has a design for such a stair in it. Francis I was the King in France at this time and his patronage was second only to that of the papal court.

Chateau Chenonceau Chateau Chenonceau was built by Catherine de Medici who was married to Henry II of France. The building spans the river Cher. The French kings and queens lived in the Loire Valley.

Chateau Chenonceau The gallery on the main floor spans across the five archways. At the end of this gallery is a fireplace and doorways that are Renaissance in design. The Florentine pediment is broken at the top, but the arch is semi-circular, the rondels all contain the images, and the cornice and dentils along the top are in Renaissance proportions. This, however, is not structural. This is surface decoration.

Chateau Chenonceau The stairwells of Chateua Chenonceau are made with ribs, bosses, corbels and all the other trappings of Gothic design. The detailing, here seen in the mermaid playing a lute onthe corbel on the right and the decoration on the inside of the arch on the left is Renaissance.

Chateaude Blois

Wilton House Inigo Jones

Whitehall Inigo Jones

Whitehall Inigo Jones

Themain style of the Renaissance in spain was the Plateresque. The Spanish Renaissance refers to a movement in Spain, emerging from the Italian Renaissance in Italy during the 14th century, that spread to Spain during the 15th and 16th centuries. The year 1492 is commonly accepted as the beginning of the influence of the Renaissance in Spain.

Plateresque Salamanca The University of Salamanca is one of the best examples of the Plateresque style.

University of Salamanca Notice that it is a curious mixture of Gothic and Renaissance motifs.

San Estaban Salamanca This capital from San Estaban shows the integration of Gothic imagery with a Renaissance style.

Leon San Marcos Monastery

By 1600 builders in Germany, Holand and Belgium were being influenced by the Renaissance seen in the French chateaux and by the School of Fontainbleaux.

City Hall Cologne The base of the City Hall was Gothic. The two story loggia was added later.

(from maniera, manner, or style), artistic style that predominated in Italy from the end of the High Renaissance in the 1520s to the beginnings of the Baroque style around 1590. The Mannerist style originated in Florence and Rome and spread to northern Italy and, ultimately, to much of central and northern Europe.

In Parmigianino's Madonna with the Long Neck

High Mannerism: Ve nus, Cupid, Folly and Time by Bronzin o, c. 1545; National Gallery, London.

Jacopo Pontormo,En tombment, 1528; Santa Felicit, Florence

Ignudi from Michelangel o's Sistine Chapel ceiling.

Venus, c. 125; Marble, Roman;British Museum.

The Libyan Sibyl from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling.

English Mannerism: Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, 1546, a rare English Mannerist portrait by a Flemish immigrant.