Renaissance Architecture

Dr. Abdurrahman Mohamed

University of BahrainDepartment of Civil Engineering and Architecture

ARCG 221 - HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE II

Meaning

The revival of classical art, architecture, and literature, started in Italy in the 14th century and later spread in Europe.

It continued until the16th century, marking the transition from medieval to modern times.

Mainly, it was based on humanistic philosophy and values.

In architecture, development started in the 2nd decade of the 15th century and continued until the end of the 16th century.

Historical periods

Historical periods: Early renaissance from 1420s to 1490s, High renaissance from 1490s to 1520s Late renaissance “ Mannerism” from 1520s

to 1580sHistorical conditions of each period will

discussed separately.

Historical developments Dark ages was a period of deterioration in arts and

sciences and the domination of Gothic style. The power of the church and the governments

prohibited all types of innovation and progress in culture and science.

The architecture of the Greeks and Romans was abandoned.

Italy took the lead in this awakening due to its proximity to the origins of the classical architecture and the associated sciences and arts.

Renaissance in Italy

In 1420, Venice, Florence and Rome were the main powers in Italy

The Medici Family governed Florence in 1420 where they cared for science and arts.

During renaissance, people struggled for excellence, read old books, searched for old documents and corrected mistakes of the middle ages.

New culture developed based on the writings of Leonardo Bruni from Florence and his term “studia huminitatis”- The study of humanities- human endeavors without the effect of theology and metaphysics

Architecture was greatly affected by the writings of Vitruvius on theories of form.

Renaissance Italy between 1300 and 1360

https://www.google.com.bh

Humanism

“A system of values and beliefs that is based on the idea that people are basically good and that problems can be solved using reason instead of religion”

(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/humanism)

Depended on intellectual Greek and Roman teachings,

Reaction to the utilitarian medieval education, emphasizing practical, pre-professional and scientific studies.

Aimed to create a citizenship culture with a suitable space for women capable of developing the civic life of the community

It was a permanent cultural mode and not the attitude of elites.

It did not mean to fight religion but to let free society from some of its controls.

Renaissance architecture

The Pythagorean concepts of the Greek Pythagoras were leading and gave value to the importance of mathematics in architecture to create rhythms and proportions.

Geometry was the science through which architects created their building form

The perspective was a very important tool to recreate the natural proportions of the universe in buildings and the landscape.

The realization of architectural space was conceived as a way for the service of religion.

Early renaissance from 1420s to 1490s

Filippo Brunelleschi (1377 –1446)

He was one of the foremost architects and engineers of the Italian Renaissance. He designed Ospedale degli Innocenti (1419-1445) which had a long loggia with 9 semi-circular arches which rarely had similar in Florence. It had beautiful Corinthian columns. In the spandrels of the arches there are glazed blue terracotta roundels with reliefs of babies. He then designed the church of Santo Spirito in 1436. The plan is a Latin cross with perpendicular aisles and nave. It had Corinthian columns and flat roof, and a dome at the intersection between the nave and the perpendicular aisles. It was completed in 1446 after his death. He also designed the Dome of Florence “Duomo di Firenze ' for Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral (Florence Cathedral) in 1420.

Ospedale degli Innocenti (1419-1445)

Ospedale degli Innocenti- plan

In the spandrels of the arches there are glazed blue terracotta roundels with reliefs of babies

Ospedale degli Innocenti- arches of the portico

Church of Santo Spirito 1435

Nave of the Santo Spirito

Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore (Dome of Florence Cathedral) 1420

Dome of Florence Cathedral- detailed section

Lion Batista Alberti, 1472

He was born in Genoa and lived in Venice and Florence. He was a writer, philosopher and artist.

Architecture gave him great fame with the numerous great buildings he designed and the distinguished contribution to the development of renaissance architecture by the translation of the book “Da Architectura” of Vitruvius.

Among his famous buildings is the church of Saint Andreas in Mnatua.

The church of Saint Andreas Mantwa (1472- 1512)

Its plan is a Latin cross but differs from that of Santo Spirito of Brunelleschi.

The west façade is magnificent with its square columns ending with a huge semicircular arch and bounded with 3 floors of windows, two windows in the ground floor are rectangular and the others are semicircular like the Roman triumph arches.

Its interior had pilasters, semicircular arches, entablatures and beautiful ornamentations.

Like Santo Spirito, there was a dome at the intersection of the main nave and the perpendicular aisle.

Alberti was the first architect of early renaissance who used the pilasters in the facades, a style greatly used in the Baroque era of late renaissance.

Saint Andreas Mantua

http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/S._Andrea.html

Saint Andreas Mantua- main elevation

Proportions in the façade of the porch, Saint Andreahttp://davincidarlin.blogspot.com/2008/02/sant-andrea-mantua.html

Roman triumph arches

Ionic Entablature

Architectural features of Saint Andrea

Balance Symmetry ProportionRichnessRoman inspirations: (triumph arch and

pediment) Grandeur design

Cosimo de' Medici palace by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo 1445 - 1460

http://www.palazzo-medici.it/eng/sez_museo/esterno3a.htm

rabens.ceat.okstate.edu

Cosimo de' Medici palace

rabens.ceat.okstate.edu

Cosimo de' Medici palace

Medici Palace: First Floor Plan (as originally built, with later changes cross-hatched) rabens.ceat.okstate.edu

Midici palace

Medici Palace: The inner court rabens.ceat.okstate.edu

Midici palace Main elevation rabens.ceat.okstate.edu

Midici palace- main elevationhttp://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/medici_riccardi_palace.html

Midici palace- Architectural features

Three floors with tripartite elevation Horizontal string courses of doors windows and

friezes Decreasing height of stories Rusticated stone in the ground floor and

smooth ashlar stone in the first and last floors Large cornice strongly defines the sky line of

the palace

4 arches in the ground floor, 2 for windows and 2 for doors. 4 groups of simple rectangular windows, 2 groups with 3 windows and tow groups with 2 windows. There is a difference between the right and the left side windows.

17 semi-circular arches in the 1st and 2nd

floors each with double semi-circular windows

Central court with Corinthian columns and semi-circular arches

Midici palace- Architectural features

Palazzo PittiDate: started 1458 Owner: Luca Pitti, from 1549 the Midici familyArchitect: Brunelleschi

Pitti Palace- planhttp://florence-tuscany-italy.com/florence-architecture/the-pitti-palace/attachment/pitti-palace-plan/

Pitti Palace- internal courtyardhttp://florence-tuscany-italy.com/florence-architecture/the-pitti-palace/

Palazzo Strozzi(Filippo Strozzi),

by Benedetto da Maiano ,1489

Strozzi Palace: Wooden Model made by Giuliano da Sangallorabens.ceat.okstate.edu

Strozzi Palace: First Floor Planrabens.ceat.okstate.edu

Strozzi Palace: Sectionrabens.ceat.okstate.edu

Strozzi Palace: Courtyardrabens.ceat.okstate.edu

Palaces of the early Renaissance- general characteristics

They were built privately for rich families They represent the new direction towards secular architecture

They represent the competition between these families

They were greatly similar in design and architecture

They all were designed with street frontage and a large internal courtyard accessible from the street. The courtyard was surrounded with a huge number of rooms.

All of them have 3 floors decreasing in heights upwards

External facades were blank planes with little decoration and no projections.

Floors were divided with friezes and a strong cornice defined the sky line of the upper floor.

Rusticated stone was usually used in the ground floor and ashlars in the upper floors with the smoothest in the last floor.

Large semi-circular arches were used for doors and windows in the ground floors

Double windows with smaller semi-circular arches were used in the upper floors

Rectangular windows were only used in the ground floor

High Renaissance

1490s - 1520s

New changes in Italy

The French king Charles VIII (ruled 1483–1498) invaded Italy in 1494 and removed the Medici family from power, marking the end of the early renaissance and the beginning of the high renaissance,

A new era in architecture began to development in all Italy and abroad in Europe.

Knowledge and development of science began to spread and influenced the spread of architectural innovations.

Genius architects like Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo and Sangallo brought significant developments in architectural design and construction.

New centres began to develop outside Florence and Rome became a very important one.

Donato Bramante 1444- 1514

Painter and architect Mainly worked in Rome From his famous works:

1. Cancelleria Palace in Rome in 1489.2. martyrdom for Saint Peter : Tempieto di

San pietro in Montorio, Rome 1500-1502

1. Cancelleria Palace 1489–1513

Bramante had some role in designing and building the palace although some believe he might had this role from a distance and not directly.

The palace represented a strong mark of the arrival of renaissance in Rome.

The large wedge-shape includes the church of San Lorenzo in Damaso.

Cancelleria Palace: plan

Cancelleria Palace: Elevation

http://rabens.ceat.okstate.edu/

http://rabens.ceat.okstate.edu/

Cancelleria Palace

http://rabens.ceat.okstate.edu/

Cancelleria Palace: courtyard

Cancelleria Palace: Detail of window between pilasters

Cancelleria Palace: main characteristics

It is much larger than the Florentine palaces. The large wedge-shape site incorporates the Church of San

Lorenzo in Damaso. It has three floors. Windows are further articulated by being set between pairs of

pilasters. Rhythm and pattern of doors and windows are different from

Florentine palaces. Rustication disappeared from the ground floor The central door is emphasized with bigger jambs and relief

carving above it. It indicates the renaissance preoccupation with mathematical

proportions. High quality of detail.

2. Tempietto di San pietro in Montorio, Rome 1500-1502

“The Tempietto in the cloister of San Pietro in Montorio was built by Bramanate after 1502, on the commission

of the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. The emphasis here is on the

harmony of proportions, the simplicity of volumes (cylinder, hemisphere) and the sobriety of the Doric

Order. The circular plan symbolizes divine perfection. Inspired by ancient temples, the Tempietto is both a

homage to antiquity and a Christian memorial."Mitchell Beazley. The World Atlas of Architecture. p276.

Classical inspirations It has been mentioned before that renaissance

architects in their attempt to revive the classical architecture of the Greeks and Romans went for long journeys for the study and analysis of the Greek and Roman architecture.

Bramante was among these genius architects who was inspired with several circular buildings for the design of the Tempieto of San Spirito.

These buildings include: Temple of Tholos at Delphi, Greece, c. 390 B.C. Temple of Vesta,” Tivoli, Italy, 1st century B.C. Maritime Theater of Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli, Italy,

118-125 A.D.

Temple of Tholos at Delphi, Greece, c. 390 B.C.http://rabens.ceat.okstate.edu/

Temple of Vesta, Tivoli, Italy, 1st century B.C.http://rabens.ceat.okstate.edu/

Maritime Theater at Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli, Italy, 118-125 A.D.http://rabens.ceat.okstate.edu/

http://rabens.ceat.okstate.edu/

Maritime Theater at Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli, Italy, 118-125 A.D.

Plan of Church & Cloister with the Tempietto in the middle of the cloister

http://rabens.ceat.okstate.edu/

Tempietto di San pietro

Followed Alberti centralized plan

Has very careful proportions so that the ratio of width to height in the ground floor is repeated in the 1st floor.

Use of pagan Roman forms and motifs proclaim the importance of Saint Peter as the founder of the Christian church in Europe.

The recall of Roman architecture at its purist re-created and re-shaped form.

It is the 1st monument of high renaissance

http://rabens.ceat.okstate.edu/

Tempietto di San pietro Main characteristics

Tempietto di San pietro: planhttp://rabens.ceat.okstate.edu/

Tempietto di San pietro : SectionStairway to Crypthttp://rabens.ceat.okstate.edu/

Tempietto di San pietro : Details of the Doric Friezehttp://rabens.ceat.okstate.edu/

Tempieto di San pietro: Peristyle and coffers

3D modelling for the study of historical architecture

Tempietto of San Pietro - Digital 3D Modelhttp://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Tempietto_of_San_Pietro.html

Baptistery of Santa Maria presso San Satiro- Milan, Italy 1478http://rabens.ceat.okstate.edu/

Baptistery of Santa Maria presso San Satiro, Milan, Italyhttp://rabens.ceat.okstate.edu/

http://rabens.ceat.okstate.edu/

Trompe-l‘oeil in Santa Maria presso San Satiro by Bramante

Trompe-l‘oeil in Santa Maria presso San Satiro

This photo illustrates the drawing of Bramante which reveals the truth of the perspective in the previous image

Trompe-l‘oeil

Bramante was the first to use the technique of Tromp L’oeil in the history of art in the transept of Santa Maria Presso which was cut because of the road in order to provide visual depth for the transept

Tromp L’oeil is used to 'deceive the eye with perspective drawing to increase the depth of the space

Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, ItalyChoir by Bramante, begun 1492

Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan- Plan(Bramante’s Choir outlined in red)

Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan: Longitudinal Section

Santa Maria delle Grazie: interior of Bramante’s Choir

Santa Maria delle Grazie: Dome above Bramante’sChoir with light coming from the lantern

Vatican Palace, Cortile Del Belvedere, Rome began1503

Cortile Del Belvedere: plan

Cortile Del Belvedere: upper courtyard or Cortile Del Pigna with the Exedra

Characteristics of Cortile Del Belvedere

Urban signature Sense of place / sense of space Roman magnificence Space extension / continuity / boundary Golden proportions Fine details Fine facades Rhythm Symmetry / asymmetry Prestige and grandeur Triumph

Saint Peter’s Basilica

The old basilica of Saint Peters cathedral was destroyed and the pope Julius II wanted to reconstruct it as a burial place for his body.

In 1504, Bramante won the competition to redesign the cathedral and surpassing the development of pagan buildings. Work started in 1506.

Pope Julius II before his death in 1513 commissioned 3 architects to replace Bramante: Giuliano de Sangallo, Giovani Giocondo and Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino). By 1520 all of them had died.

Architects of Saint Peter’s

Giuliano da SangalloRaphael

Bramante plan for Saint Peter’s Basilica

Huge dome over the crypt of St. Peter’s burial. The dome was 41.5 m in diameter, the same size of the pantheon but raised higher

The plan was a huge Greek cross to be suitable as a martyr’s shrine and congregational worship.

The space was composed of central cross- shaped nave and transept with smaller crosses in the corners

The dome was to be raised on piers and pendentives. The form composed of circles and squares, domes and vaults, and

hemispheres. The centralized plan came short of space for congregational

services Papal power was greatly influencing the design of the church Wars and lack of funding also greatly affected the development of

the project. The old building to be used during the construction of the new

design.

The original design of Bramante was an example of classical proportions and rhythm. It had a Greek-cross symmetrical plan with arms ending with round corners. The intention was to construct a dome which would end the dominance of Florence cathedral dome designed by Brunelleschi. Raphael increased the number of bays to 5 so the plan became a Latin cross.

Bramante’s plan Superimposed on the plan of Old St. Peter’s

Bramante’s design for the Dome of St. Peter’s compared to the dome of Tempeitto San Spirito

Saint Peters cathedral - Plan of Raphael

None religious buildings of High Renaissance

House of Raphael, Rome, by Bramante, 1512

Very influential designDifferences from early renaissance

palaces Ground floor has rusticated stone with

windows/ doors piano nobile: doric order columns and

projecting elements

Characteristics of House of Raphael

Villa Madama, Rome, by Raphael, 1516 First Renaissance villa to be built outside Rome It had a circular court around which formal gardens

were arranged It was influenced by the design of Raphael house by

Bramante It brought great changes to the formality of palaces

of early renaissance. The clear differences between this villa and the

house of Raphael reflect the great development in style, fashion, architects’ mood and building industry in that period.

It paved the way for more important changes in the following phase: Mannerism.

http://www.gardenvisit.com/assets/madge/villa_madama_garden_1537a_jpg/600x/villa_madama_garden_1537a_jpg_600x.jpg�

Villa Madama window detailhttp://arts.muohio.edu/faculty/benson/romanvilla/madama.htm

Villa Madama plan

Villa Madama- Logia of the garden

Villa Madama plan drawn by Palladio

Palazzo Vidoni, Rome, by Raffaello Sanzio 1515

Huge buildingBalance and harmony mingled with greatness and dignityTuscan double doric columns replaced the pilasters in the first floor .

Special design for the rusticated stone in the ground floorSculptural facade and plan

Palazzo Vidoni

Detail of the facadehttp://www.info.roma.it/monumenti_dettaglio.asp?ID_schede=134