Name: Farzana Easmin Tabassum

Course Title: European History Highlight

Course Code: EHH 2105

Semester : 4th Batch: 25th

ID: 201431042

Renaissance Architecture
Renaissance architecture is European architecture between the early 15th and
early 17th centuries. It demonstrates a conscious revival and development of
certain elements of classical thought and material culture , particularly symmetry
and classical orders. Stylistically, Renaissance architecture came after the Gothic
period and was succeeded by the Baroque . During the High Renaissance ,
architectural concepts derived from classical antiquity were developed and used
with greater surety. Another defining feature of Renaissance architecture is the
proliferation of illustrated texts on the subject, which helped to spread ideas
across Europe and even beyond. The Renaissance style was frequently mixed with
local traditions in many countries.

Features

The term “Renaissance” was already used by treatise writers of the time to
highlight the rediscovery of Roman architecture, of which various vestiges
survived in the fifteenth century. The main indices of this attitude were the
newfound sensitivity towards the forms of the past, not only of Roman
architecture, but also of the early Christian and Florentine Romanesque, the
revival of the classical orders, the use of elementary geometric shapes for the
definition of the plans, the search for orthogonal and symmetrical articulations, as
well as the use of harmonic proportion in the individual parts of the building. In
particular, a common characteristic between Renaissance and Roman
architecture is the effect produced by the adaptation of simple masses based on
the modular systems of proportion, whose module is fixed by the half-diameter of
the columns. Instead, Renaissance architects placed emphasis on symmetry,
proportion, geometry, and regularity of parts as demonstrated in classical Roman
architecture.

Dome of St. Peter’s Basilica: The Dome of St Peter’s Basilica, Rome is often cited as a foundational piece of
Renaissance architecture..

The dome is used frequently in this period, both as a very large structural feature
that is visible from the exterior, and also as a means of roofing smaller spaces
where they are only visible internally. Domes were used in important structures
such as the Pantheon during antiquity, but had been used only rarely in the
Middle Ages . After the success of the dome in Brunelleschi’s design for the
Florence Cathedral and its use in Bramante’s plan for St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome ,
the dome became an indispensable element in Renaissance church architecture
and carried over to the Baroque.