RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE (HOA 2)

RENAISSANCE IN ITALY

  • The Renaissance in Italy is geographically centered around three main cities:
    • Florence
    • Rome
    • Venice

ATTRIBUTES OF ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

  • Stateliness
  • Classical horizontality

CHARACTERISTICS OF ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

1. Plan

  • Symmetrical
  • Compact
  • Rectilinear
  • Formal
  • Grand

2. Walls

  • Rusticated
  • Astylar (facade without columns)
  • Common stone materials:
    • Pietra forte (exterior)
    • Pietra serena (interior)

3. Arcades

  • Arches supported on piers faced with columns

4. Domes

  • Crowns are typically topped with lanterns
  • Support systems utilize herring-bone brick patterns to reduce weight

5. Roofs

  • Low-pitched roofs are often hidden by balustrades

6. Pilaster Strips

  • Introduced on walls for decoration

7. Tabernacle Windows

  • Characteristic of the period

8. Coffered Ceilings

  • Decorative ceiling style featuring recessed panels

FLORENCE

EARLY RENAISSANCE

  • Wealthy Florentines supported artists and thinkers, emphasizing physical beauty and human dignity, encapsulated in the intellectual movement known as humanism.
  • The Medici family was a significant political and cultural force, heavily funding the arts and enabling artists to focus on creativity without financial concerns.

Examples of Florence Architecture:

  • DOME of FLORENCE CATHEDRAL (1296-1462)

    • Designed by Filippo Brunelleschi
    • Lantern completed by Michellozzo Michellozzi
    • Blend of Gothic styles with Renaissance dome architecture
    • Constructed with a double shell of sandstone and marble
    • Features a herringbone pattern of bricks to lighten the structure
    • Noteworthy for its absence of scaffolding during construction
    • Largest brick dome in the world

  • STO. SPIRITO (1444)

    • Initiated by Brunelleschi, completed by Antonio Manetti
    • Interior exemplifies Brunelleschi’s Renaissance design principles, emphasizing linear space and proportion

  • BASILICA OF SAN LORENZO (1418)

    • Served as a church and burial site for the Medici family
    • Designed by Filippo Brunelleschi

  • S. MARIA NOVELLA (1279)

    • Facade created by Leon Battista Alberti in 1470
    • Utilizes flanking scrolls to connect aisles and nave

  • PALAZZO PITTI (1446)

    • Originally owned by Luca Pitti, acquired by the Medici in 1549
    • Noted for its astylar design, largest palace in Italy

  • PALAZZO MEDICI RICCARDI (1445)

    • Designed by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo
    • Rusticated stone facade, showcasing costly building materials as a status symbol
    • Artists often inscribed their marks or graffiti on stones, showing pride in their work

  • PALAZZO STROZZI (1489)

    • Designed by Benedetto da Majano, completed by Cronaca
    • Distinguished by its innovative window features

  • PALAZZO RUCELLAI (1446)

    • Designed by Leon Battista Alberti, completed by Bernardo Rossellino
    • Recognized as the first astylar building of the Renaissance

  • VILLA MEDICI, Poggio a Caiano (1485)

    • Designed by Giuliano da Sangallo
    • UNESCO World Heritage Site (2013) and noted for its beauty as a summer retreat for the Medici family

  • FOUNDLING HOSPITAL (Ospedale Degli Inocenti) (1419)

    • Designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, it was the first institution of its kind in Europe to care for abandoned babies

HIGH RENAISSANCE AND PROTO-BAROQUE

  • PALAZZO PANDOLFINI (1514)

    • Created by Raphael Santi
    • Roman influence with a distinct Florentine touch

  • THE UFFIZI (1560)

    • Initiated by Giorgio Vasari for Cosimo de' Medici to house the magistrates' offices
    • Opened as a museum in 1765 and holds a premier collection of Italian Renaissance art, preserved by the Medici family agreement

VENICE

EARLY RENAISSANCE

  • PALAZZO VENDRAMIN (1481)

    • Designed by Pietro Lombardo

  • STA. MARIA DEI MIRACOLI (1491)

    • Designed by Pietro Lombardo and sons
    • Known as the "marble church," features grey, white, and pink polychrome finishes, with a barrel-vaulted ceiling
    • A popular wedding venue in Venice

VENEZIAN ARCHITECTURE

  • SCUOLA GRANDE DI SAN MARCO (1487)

    • Designed by Martino Lombardo
    • Features ground floor panels with perspective reliefs by Tullio Lombardo, indicative of the era's interest in perspective

  • S. GIORGIO DEI GRECI (1539)

    • Designed by Sante Lombardo, serves as a graceful Orthodox church

  • SAN ZACCARIA (1458)

    • Designed by Antonio Gambello, almost every wall adorned with 17th and 18th-century paintings

HIGH RENAISSANCE AND PROTO-BAROQUE

  • PALAZZO BEVILACQUA (1530)

    • Designed by Michel Sanmicheli, characterized by its rusticated lower story and an elegant upper floor.

  • LIBRARY OF ST. MARK (1537)

    • Designed by Jacopo Sansovino

  • PALAZZO GRIMANI

    • Designed by Michel Sanmicheli

  • LOGETTA OF THE CAMPANILLE (1546)

    • By Jacopo Sansovino, inspired by the triumphal arch with three openings

  • BASILICA PALLADIANA, Vicenza (1549)

    • Notable for its Renaissance arcades by Andrea Palladio, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1994)
    • Features a façade with groupings of arches and free-standing twin columns, a design referred to as the "Palladian Motif"

  • VILLA CAPRA (La Rotonda, 1567)

    • Designed by Andrea Palladio, UNESCO World Heritage Site (1994), symmetrical with a square plan and porticoes on all sides

  • VILLA BARBARO, Maser (1560)

    • Designed by Andrea Palladio for Daniele Barbaro, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1996)

  • SAN GIORGIO MAGGIORE (1566)

    • Designed by Andrea Palladio, facade completed by Vincenzo Scamozzi

  • IL REDENTORE (1575)

    • By Andrea Palladio

BAROQUE

  • PALAZZO PESARO (1659)

    • Begun by Baldassare Longhena, completed by Gian Antonio Gaspari

  • PALAZZO REZZONICO (1649)

    • Begun by Baldassare Longhena, finished by Giorgio Massari

  • SANTA MARIA DELLA SALUTE (1631)

    • Designed by Baldassare Longhena, a majestic example of Venetian Baroque architecture
    • Built as an offering for the city's deliverance from a plague, featuring an octagonal layout and ample chapels

ROME

EARLY RENAISSANCE

  • PALAZZO DI VENEZIA (1455–1503)

    • Designed by Leon Battista Alberti, reflects a medieval exterior with a Renaissance interior

  • DUCAL PALACE (1454)

    • Commissioned by Duke Federico da Montefeltro, involves several notable artists, UNESCO World Heritage Site (1998)
    • Features a unique library of illuminated manuscripts
    • STUDIOLO of Ducal Palace
    • A small room designed for meditation and study, showcasing a collection of art and curiosities
    • Elaborately decorated with intarsia wood-inlay techniques

HIGH RENAISSANCE AND PROTO-BAROQUE

  • PIAZZA DEL CAMPIDOGLIO (1537)

    • Designed by Michelangelo, one of the most successful urban designs, situated on Capitoline Hill
    • Features axial symmetry and trapezoidal space for a sense of grandeur and perspective
    • Surrounding buildings include Palazzo Senatorio, Palazzo del Museo Capitolino, and Palazzo dei Conservatori

  • PALAZZO SENATORIO (1538-1655)

    • Designed by Giacomo della Porta, Michelangelo, and Girolamo Rainaldi
    • Symbolizes the civil authority of Rome

  • PALAZZO FARNESE (1559)

    • Designed by Giacomo da Vignola and others, with a pentagonal plan and minimal external ornamentation

  • SCALA REGIA @ Palazzo Farnese

    • Masterpiece of grand helical stair design by Giacomo da Vignola

IL GESU CHURCH (1568)

  • First Jesuit church in Rome, celebrated for its Baroque style and the trompe-l'œil painting "TRIUMPH OF THE NAME OF JESUS" by Giovanni Battista Gaulli

TEMPIETTO (1502)

  • Marks St. Peter's martyrdom site, designed by Bramante, reflecting full Renaissance style

ST. PETER’S BASILICA (1506)

  • Central church of Roman Catholicism, built on the site of an older basilica
  • UNESCO World Heritage Site (1984)
  • Largest house of worship, accommodating approximately 50,000 to 60,000 people
  • Construction spanned from 1506 to 1626 under multiple architects and popes
    • Architectural Contributions:
    1. Initial design by Donato Bramante, based on a Greek Cross with a dome
    2. Followed by interventions from Giuliano da Sangallo, Fra Giocondo da Verona, Raphael Sanzio, Baldassare Peruzzi, Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Giacomo della Porta, Domenico Fontana, Giacomo da Vignola, Carlo Maderno, and Gian Lorenzo Bernini
    3. Michelangelo's key contributions include
      • Foremost features of the current building
      • Construction of the great dome constructed similarly to Florence’s dome, with two shells of brick
      • Outer shell features 16 stone ribs
      • The drum was finished posthumously and achieved a prominent design
    4. Carlo Maderno's alterations to the nave resulted in a Latin cross formation and the construction of the large façade between 1607-1612, impacting the visual prominence of the dome

MICHELANGELO DI LODOVICO BUONAROTTI SIMONI (1475-1564)

  • A preeminent artist of the Renaissance, recognized as the first "artistic genius" due to his multitalented gifts in sculpting, painting, architecture, and poetry
  • Notable works include:
    1. Sistine Chapel Ceiling (1508-1512)
    • Features iconic scenes from Genesis
    • High recognition for the "Creation of Adam" scene
    1. LAST JUDGMENT (1536-1541)
    2. PIETA (1499)
    • Notable marble sculpture showing dynamic lines, crafted at age 23
    1. DAVID (1501)
    • A marble statue representing Florence’s strength and resilience
    • Utilizes contrapposto, showcasing a realistic depiction of the human form

BAROQUE

  • PALAZZO BARBERINI (1628-1638)

    • Designed by Carlo Maderno, showcasing the helicoidal staircase by Francesco Borromini
    • Trompe-l'œil ceiling painting by Pietro da Cortona

  • PALAZZO ODESCHALCHI (1664)

  • S. SUSANNA (1603)

    • By Carlo Maderno

  • SAN GIOVANNI LATERANO

    • The original church built by Constantine in the 4th century, with façade completed by Alessandro Galilei

  • S. ANDREA DEL QUIRINALE (1661)

    • Notable Baroque church by Bernini, imitated widely

  • SAN CARLO ALLE QUATTRO FONTANE (1682)

    • Designed by Francesco Borromini, characterized by its oval dome

  • S. MARIA MAGGIORE (1743)

    • The last substantial Baroque architecture in Rome, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1980)

  • VILLA d’ ESTE, Tivoli (1500-1583)

    • Designed by Pirro Ligorio as a Benedictine convent transformed into a garden park with famous fountains
    • Widely regarded as the epitome of Renaissance gardens in Europe and recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2001)

FOUNTAIN OF THE ORGAN (1568-1621)

  • Located at Villa d'Este, characterized by hydraulic music from the organ using falling water, the first of its kind

FONTANA DI TREVI, Rome (1732)

  • Designed by Nicola Salvi, completed in 1762
  • Largest Baroque fountain in Rome exhibiting intricate carvings of Oceanus and mythological figures
  • Serves as the monumental façade of Palazzo Poli