• Home of Classic Art

• Northern and Central Italy: abundant marble (highly prized wall decorations)

• Red, black, and white marble existed in profusion

  • contributed to the incorporation of stripes and panels into the façade and side walls

• Windows

  • low & narrow, walls are thick to keep out the glare and heat of the sun

• Foreign importation

• ltalians displayed natural taste and artistic instincts, but the architects seemed to be working around a style that they were not fully comfortable with

• Not entirely in harmony with the requirements of the climate and the

  nature of their building materials

• Geographic grouping rather than chronological

• Decorative treatment in the form of mosaics and frescoes shows the influence

  of the Romans

• Lack of inclination that the Italians showed to construct large windows and fill them with stained glass

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

Italian architects preferred to keep the construction tradition established in the previous centuries. Due to this reason, gothic in ltaly is often referred to as Romanesque Gothic or Italian Gothic.

It was essentially an updated interpretation of the Romanesque with few Gothic details

Characteristics:

• No external buttresses

• No narrow naves

• No high towers

• No large windows

• No gargoyles

“Pure“ Gothic - High pointed arches and spires, buttresses, gargoyles, large colored windows

Romanesque Gothic - Thick supporting walls with a few small windows of clear glass, and thick towers.

Examples of Late Medieval Architecture in Italy

North Italy

• MILAN CATHEDRAL (14th-19th cent)

  • 2nd largest Gothic cathedral in the world, next to Seville Cathedral,

    Spain

  • largest medieval cathedral in Italy

  • more than 50 architects

    took part in the construction of the church in a span of 5 centuries

  • 

• DOGE’S PALACE (1309-1424)

  • Venice

  • Islamic and Gothic mix

  • Combination of columns, pointed arches, capitals and open tracery is unique to Venetian Gothic.

  • 

• CA D’ORO, Venice (1424-36)

  • by Giovanni and Bartolomeo Buon

  • similar Venician tracery with Palace of Doge

  • 

Central Italy

• FLORENCE CATHEDRAL (1296-1462)

  • Gothic Cathedral was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio;

  • Competitors of the dome design were Filippo Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti.

  • Arnolfo di Cambio left the dome open; the dome is actually Renaissance, and not Gothic.

  • Gothic parts of the church: Florence Cathedral, Bell Tower, Baptistery, some parts of the facade.

  • The FLORENCE CATHEDRAL Bell Tower was initially designed by Giotto and later by Andrea Pisano and Francesco Talenti

  • Its exterior is faced with polychrome marble in various shades of green and pink bordered by white

  • 

• FLORENCE CATHEDRAL Baptistery (1452-1462)

  • by Lorenzo Ghiberti Florentine

  • Romanesque style

  • octagonal in plan with an internal dome

  • It is faced with Siena red, Prato green and white Carrara marbles

  • 

• SIENA CATHEDRAL (1215)

  • is faced with Siena red and Prato green marbles.

  • polychrome details

  • 

  • the interior with zebra-marble stripes on piers and walls.

  • 

• ORVIETO CATHEDRAL (1290)

  • by Arnolfo di Cambio, is faced with striped marble,

    basalt and travertine and windows are filled with

    alabaster

  • 

  • the facade has glittering mosaics created by the artist Cesare Nebbia

• S. CROCE, Florence (1294)

  • a Gothic version of a basilican church by Arnolfo di Cambio

  • It is the largest Franciscan church in the world

  • Basilica of the Holy Cross

  • Has sixteen chapels, many of them decorated with frescoes by Giotto and his pupils

  • Said to have been founded by St. Francis himself

  • Also known as the Temple of the Italian Glories (Tempio dell'itale

    Glore). S. Croce

  • Florence contains monuments of illustrious ltalians like Michelangelo's and Galileo's Tombs

  • 

Southern Italy & Sicily

• MESSINA CATHEDRAL (1117)

  • a fine example of Sicilian Norman architecture, has retained its original medieval lines even after a long history

  • The open timber ceiling has a beautiful colorful Arab motifs.

  • Messina Cathedral's bell tower is unique with its beautiful

    automated astronomical clock tower.

  • 

• PALERMO CATHEDRAL (1185)

  • Dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

  • by Waiter Ophamil

  • was turned into a mosque by the Saracens after their conquest of

    the city in the 9th cent

  • Contains different styles

  • PALERMO CATHEDRAL is characterized by the presence of

    different styles, due to a long history of additions, alterations and restorations, the last of which occurred in the 18th cent

  • The carved portal of this entrance was executed in the period 1426 to 1430 by Antonio Gambara, while the magnificent wooden leaves are by Francesco Miranda (1432)

  •