Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group

of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic
Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of classicizing Italian modes. Under
the broad designation Renaissance architecture nineteenth-century architects and critics went
beyond the architectural style which began in Florence and central Italy in the early 15th century
as an expression of Renaissance humanism; they also included styles we would identify
as Mannerist or Baroque. Self-applied style designations were rife in the mid- and later
nineteenth century: "Neo-Renaissance" might be applied by contemporaries to structures that
others called "Italianate", or when many French Baroque features are present (Second Empire).
The divergent forms of Renaissance architecture in different parts of Europe, particularly
in France and Italy, has added to the difficulty of defining and recognizing Neo-Renaissance
architecture. A comparison between the breadth of its source material, such as the
English Wollaton Hall,[1] Italian Palazzo Pitti, the French Château de Chambord, and the
Russian Palace of Facets—all deemed "Renaissance"—illustrates the variety of appearances the
same architectural label can take.

Contents

 1Origins of Renaissance architecture

 2Birth of the Neo-Renaissance
 3Features of Renaissance Revival architecture
 4Combined historicism
o 4.1Gothic influences on the Renaissance Revival
o 4.2Baroque influences on the Renaissance Revival
 5Renaissance Revival interiors
 6Legacy
 7References
 8External links

Origins of Renaissance architecture[edit]

Main article: Renaissance architecture

The origin of Renaissance architecture is generally accredited to Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–

1446).[2]:243 Brunelleschi and his contemporaries wished to bring greater "order" to architecture,
resulting in strong symmetry and careful proportion. The movement grew from scientific
observations of nature, in particular, human anatomy.
Neo-Renaissance architecture is formed by not only the original Italian architecture but by the
form in which Renaissance architecture developed in France during the 16th century. During the
early years of the 16th century the French were involved in the Italian Wars, bringing back to
France not just the Renaissance art treasures as their war booty, but also stylistic ideas. In
the Loire valley a wave of chateau building was carried out using traditional French Gothic styles
but with ornament in the forms of pediments, arcades, shallow pilasters and entablatures from
the Italian Renaissance.
In England, the Renaissance tended to manifest itself in large square tall houses such
as Longleat House. Often these buildings had symmetrical towers which hint at the evolution
from medieval fortified architecture. This is particularly evident at Hatfield House built between
1607 and 1611, where medieval towers jostle with a large Italian cupola. This is why so many
buildings of the early English Neo-Renaissance style often have more of a "castle air" than their
European contemporaries, which can add again to the confusion with the Gothic revival style.
Birth of the Neo-Renaissance[edit]

Mentmore Towers English Jacobethan Neo-Renaissance completed in 1854, derives motifs from Wollaton
Hall completed in 1588

Russia: The façade of the Vladimir Palace in Saint Petersburg (1867–1872) redolent of Alberti's designs.

Czech Republic: Prague, National Theatre 1862

When the revival of Renaissance style architecture came en vogue in the mid 19th century, it
often materialized not just in its original form first seen in Italy, but as a hybrid of all its forms
according to the whims of architects and patrons, an approach typical of the mid and late 19th
century. Modern scholarship defines the styles following the Renaissance
as Mannerist and Baroque, two very different, even opposing styles of architecture, but the
architects of the mid 19th century understood them as part of a continuum, often simply called
'Italian', and freely combined them all, as well as Renaissance as it was first practiced in other
countries.
Thus Italian, French and Flemish Renaissance coupled with the amount of borrowing from these
later periods can cause great difficulty and argument in correctly identifying various forms of
19th-century architecture. Differentiating some forms of French Neo-Renaissance buildings from
those of the Gothic revival can at times be especially tricky, as both styles were simultaneously
popular during the 19th century.