Architecture of Renaissance Period: History of Architecture - III Dept. of Architecture, SSIU

Architecture of History of Architecture – III
Dept. of Architecture, SSIU

Renaissance Period
Re-defining Building Crafts Jay Thakkar 12 Jan 2016 1
Presentation structure
1 Introduction to the Renaissance Architecture
2 Aversion to Gothic
3 Periods of Italian Renaissance Architecture
Re-defining Building Crafts

4 Jay Thakkar
Architecture of Italian Renaissance
12 Jan 2016 2
1 Introduction to Renaissance Architecture

what is renaissance?
The word "Renaissance" derived from the term "la rinascita" (meaning re-
birth).
The period immediately follows the Medieval period and characterized by a

surge of interest in Classical scholarship and values.
Witnessed the discovery and exploration of new continents (India and

America), and propagation of scientific theories like substitution of the
Copernican (Sun at the centre) for the Ptolemaic (Earth at the centre)
system of astronomy.
It also saw the invention or application of such potentially powerful innovations as paper, printing, the compass, and gunpowder.
To the scholars and thinkers of the day, however, it was primarily a time of the revival of Classical learning and wisdom after a long period of cultural decline
and stagnation.

time and place
Renaissance architecture is the period between the early 14th and early 17th
centuries in different regions.
It demonstrates a conscious revival and development of certain elements of

ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture.
Developed first in Italy, Florence is considered to be its birthplace.
The style was carried to France, Germany, England, Russia and other parts
of Europe at different dates and with varying degrees of impact.
Rejecting the authority and teachings of Church in matters of purely secular

knowledge, led to the questioning the precursors of modern science and
discoveries of the early navigators.

CHARACTERISTICS

The Renaissance of the fifteenth century was a break in the orderly
evolution of architecture.
Based on the nature and necessities of materials.
The main features in the style were the Classic orders, which were often
used decoratively.
Buildings designed for more modern wants were clothed in the classic
garb of ancient Rome.
Roman precedent was the basis.
Columns and pilasters, whether plain, fluted or panelled, with

entablature and details, were applied in many novel and pleasing forms.

influence of other art forms
Italy, the headquarters of the new movement, possessed skillful jewelers, who helped the
Renaissance commence and expand.
Because of their good taste, architects consulted them, and often were their pupils, as
Ghiberti, Donatello, and Brunelleschi.
The schools of painting also had their influence on architecture, and aided the tendency
which caused structures to be looked upon as works of art, instead of being only based
on form and structural necessities.
A building, it will be observed, was regarded rather as a picture with pleasing

combinations of lines and masses than as a structure of utility, being often designed by
men trained as painters, sculptors, or goldsmiths.

not a roman or gothic imitation
Mistake to state that architectural style was imitative.
New combinations of features were introduced.
Architecture became a personal art of architects.
Reconciliation of Gothic and the Roman construction.
Architects followed the Byzantine Dome, but lifted it boldly from its substructure and
placing it on a ‚drum,‛ with windows, making it a dominating feature.
Likewise, first to introduce the wall of massive rusticated masonry with arched openings, in
which the wall was frankly treated as motif.
The architects, although attracted by the mere external appearance of ancient Roman art,
followed the traditions of the Middle Ages, which did not separate the structure from the
decoration.
Santa Maria della Salute,

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decoration vs construction
The Renaissance architects occupied themselves more with form than with construction, and rarely set themselves constructive problems of great difficulty.
Although the new architecture began with the colossal dome of the cathedral of Florence, and culminated in the stupendous church of St. Peter at Rome, it
was pre-eminently an architecture of palaces and villas, of façades and of decorative display.
Constructive difficulties were reduced to their lowest terms, and the constructive framework was concealed, not emphasized, by the decorative apparel of the
design.
Among the masterpieces of the early Renaissance are many buildings of small dimensions, such as gates, chapels, tombs and fountains.
In these the individual fancy had full sway, and produced surprising results by the beauty of enriched mouldings, of carved friezes with infant genii, wreaths of
fruit, griffins, masks and scrolls; by pilasters covered with arabesques as delicate in modelling as if wrought in silver; by inlays of marble, panels of glazed
terra-cotta, marvellously carved doors, fine stucco-work in relief, capitals and cornices of wonderful richness and variety.

flat classicism
Renaissance architecture tends to feature planar classicism (i.e. ‚flat
classicism‛).
The walls of a Renaissance building (exterior and interior) have

classical motifs (e.g. columns, pediments, blind arches) of minor
physical depth.
This contrasts sharply with Baroque architecture, in which walls

are deeply curved and sculpted (‚sculpted classicism‛).
Planar classicism also tends to divide a wall into neat sections, with
such elements as columns, pilasters, and stringcourses.
Villa Rotunda,
Vicenza, 1592

plans
The plans of Renaissance buildings have a square, symmetrical appearance in
which proportions are usually based on a module.
Within a church the module is often the width of an aisle.
The need to integrate the design of the plan with the façade was introduced
as an issue in the work of Filippo Brunelleschi, but he was never able to
carry this aspect of his work into fruition.
The first building to demonstrate this was St. Andrea in Mantua by Alberti.
The development of the plan in secular architecture was to take place in the
16th century and culminated with the work of Palladio.

facades
Symmetrical around their vertical axis.
Generally surmounted by a pediment and organized by system of pilasters

and arches.
One of the first true Renaissance facades was the Palazzo Piccolomini at
Pienza (1459–62), attributed to the Florentine architect Rossellino.
Façades were flat and unbroken, depending mainly for effect upon the
Palazzo Piccolomini, Pienza,
distribution and adornment of the openings, and the design of doorways, Italy; by Bernardo Rossellino
courtyards and cornices.
Regular repetition of openings on each floor, and the centrally placed door
marked by a feature such as a balcony.
An early and much copied prototype was the façade for the Palazzo Rucellai
(1446 and 1451).

Palladian Villa VillaJay Thakkar 12 Jan 2016 13
ceilings
Roofs are fitted with flat or coffered ceilings, frequently painted or decorated.
They are not left open as in Medieval architecture.
Internally vaults and flat ceilings of wood and plaster were about equally common, the
barrel vault and dome occurring far more frequently than the groined vault.
Many of the ceilings of this period are of remarkable richness and beauty.

domes
The dome is used frequently, both as a very large exterior structural feature, and for roofing
smaller spaces.
Domes used rarely in the Middle Ages, but after the success of the dome in Brunelleschi’s
design increased its use.
The dome became an indispensable element in church architecture and later even for secular
architecture.
The combination of dome, drum, and barrel vaults developed as characteristic structural
forms of churches.
Round domes were less successful due to structural difficulties compared to those with
pointed profiles.
The domes inspired by Greek and Roman architecture.
Italian renaissance domes were first developed in Florence and were soon spread all over
various Italian cities.
La cupola di San Pietro,
Rome, 1506
vaulting
Beginning of the fifteenth century the Gothic principles of
ribbed vaulting were abandoned, giving place to the revival of
the Classic method of solid semicircular vaulting.
Much used in the halls, passages, and staircases of

Renaissance palaces and churches.
Frequently built of wooden framing, plastered and painted

with colored decoration, often of remarkable richness and
beauty.
Sant'Andrea,
Mantua,
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walls and openings
External walls are highly-finished ashlar masonry, laid in straight
courses.
The corners emphasised by rusticated ‚quoins‛.
Basements and ground floors were often rusticated.
Internal walls are smoothly plastered, more formal spaces, internal

surfaces are decorated with frescoes.
Doors and windows were enclosed in richly carved frames,

sometimes arched and sometimes square.
They may be set within an arch or surmounted by a triangular or

segmental pediment.
Palazzo Medici-Riccardo
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rustications
A popular decorative treatment of the Renaissance palazzo
was rustication, in which a masonry wall is textured rather
than smooth.
This can entail leaving grooves in the joints between

smooth blocks, using roughly dressed blocks, or using
blocks that have been deliberately textured.
The rustication of a Renaissance palazzo is often

differentiated between stories.

columns and pilasters
The Roman orders of columns are used.
The orders can either be structural, supporting an arcade or architrave, or

purely decorative, set against a wall in the form of pilasters.
During the Renaissance, architects aimed to use columns, pilasters, and

entablatures as an integrated system.
One of the first buildings to use pilasters as an integrated system was in the
Old Sacristy (1421–1440) by Brunelleschi.
Re-defining Building Crafts Royal Palace

Jay ofThakkar
Caserta, Italy 12 Jan 2016 19
2 Aversion to Gothic

It is in Florence that the new architectural style had its beginning, not slowly evolving in the way that Gothic grew out of Romanesque, but consciously
brought to being by particular architects who sought to revive the order of a past "Golden Age".
A number of factors were influential in bringing this about.
Italy had never fully adopted the Gothic style of architecture .

Apart from the Cathedral of Milan, largely the work of German builders, few Italian churches show the emphasis on vertically, the clustered shafts, ornate
tracery and complex ribbed vaulting that characterise Gothic in other parts of Europe.
The presence, particularly in Rome, of architectural remains showing the ordered Classical style provided an inspiration to artists at a time when philosophy
was also turning towards the Classical.

Left
West facade of Sant'Andrea,
Mantua, Italy,
1472.
Right
West facade of
Reims Cathedral ,
Reims, France, ca.
1225–1290.
comparative study – plan
Renaissance Gothic
Symmetry and proportion of part to part carefully studied. Picturesqueness and beauty of individual features more particularly sought
after.
Grandeur gained by simplicity.
Grandeur gained by multiplicity.
Fewness and largeness of parts to make the building appear less in size than
it really is. In consequence of the large number of parts, the building appears larger than
it really is.
Towers are sparingly used, and when they occur are symmetrically placed.
Towers are a general feature, and are often crowned with a spire.
The dome is a predominant feature
The tower and spire are predominant features.
Interiors of churches were planned on Roman principles, with domes and
pendentives. Interiors are more irregular, and are covered with stone vaulting, or open-
timbered roofs.
The parts are few, the nave being divided into three or four compartments,
by which a general effect of grandeur is produced. The parts are many, a nave of the same length as a Renaissance church
probably divided into twice as many compartments.

comparative study – walls
Renaissance Gothic
Constructed in ashlar masonry, in the lower stories, was occasionally heavily Often constructed of uncoursed rubble or small stones, not built in horizontal
rusticated. layers.
Large materials, with idea of fewness of parts. Small materials to carry out idea of multiplicity.
Stucco or plaster were often used as a facing material where stone was Masonry was worked according to the nature of the material to a new and
unobtainable. significant extent.
The use of the material according to its nature was lost, the design being It is not too much to say that, as in a mosaic, each piece in a wall has its value
paramount. in this style.
Corners often rusticated, blocks of unsmoothed stone, or carefully indented Corners often of ashlar masonry or smooth-faced stone, the rest of the walling
with patterns. being of rough.
Simplicity of treatment and breadth of mass are prominent characteristics of Boldness and richness of sky-line and intricacy of mass are prominent
the style. characteristics.

comparative study – roofs
Renaissance Gothic
Vaults are of simple Roman form without ribs. Vaulting was developed using the pointed arch.
Open-timbered roofs occur, but the tendency was gradually to plaster them Open-timbered roofs are a beautiful feature of the style.
or paint in fresco.
comparative study – columns

Renaissance Gothic
The Classic columns and orders were revived with relative proportions of The relative proportion of height to diameter does not exist.
height to width.
Capitals and bases were either heavily moulded or carved with conventional
Column capitals articulated with minimal carvings. foliage.
Used decoratively in facades, as in the pilasters, and structurally as for Where used, they were entirely structural, or expressive of the load borne.
porticos.

comparative study – ornamentation
Renaissance Gothic
The human figure abandoned as a scale, statuary being often much larger The human figure adhered to as a scale, 'thus helping in giving relative value
than life-size. to parts.
Stained glass was little used, all the best efforts at color being obtained by Stained glass was extensively used, being the chief glory of internal decoration,
means of opaque decoration, as fresco or mosaic, which was lavishly applied and partly the raison d'etre of the immense traceried windows, which acted as
to interiors. a frame for its reception.
Great efficiency in the crafts is noticeable in the work of early Renaissance Carving was often grotesque and rudely executed, but in the best examples,
architects who were often painters and sculptors. possesses a decorative character in harmony with the architecture.

3 Periods of Renaissance Architecture in Italy

The classic styles which grew up out of the Renaissance may be divided for convenience into four periods.
THE EARLY RENAISSANCE or FORMATIVE PERIOD, 1420–90

Characterized by the grace and freedom of the decorative detail, suggested by Roman prototypes and applied to compositions of great variety and
originality.
THE HIGH RENAISSANCE or FORMALLY CLASSIC PERIOD, 1490–1550

During this period classic details were copied with increasing fidelity, the orders especially appearing in almost all compositions; decoration meanwhile
losing somewhat in grace and freedom.
THE EARLY BAROQUE (or BAROCO), 1550–1600

A period of classic formality characterized by the use of colossal orders, engaged columns and rather scanty decoration.
THE DECLINE or LATER BAROQUE,

Marked by poverty of invention in the composition and a predominance of vulgar sham and display in the decoration. Broken pediments, huge scrolls,
florid stucco-work and a general disregard of architectural propriety were universal.

THE EARLY RENAISSANCE

Also known as Quattrocento, concepts of architectural order were explored
and rules were formulated. Characteristics of Renaissance Architecture.
The study of classical antiquity led in particular to the adoption of Classical

detail and ornamentation.
Space, as an element of architecture, was utilised differently to the way it

had been in the Middle Ages.
Florence Cathedral, 1436
Space was organised by proportional logic, its form and rhythm subject to
geometry, rather than being created by intuition as in Medieval buildings.
The prime example of this is the Basilica di San Lorenzo in Florence by

Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446).[6]
Sens Cathedral, 1135

churches
A great activity in church-building marked the period between
1475 and 1490.
The plans of the churches erected about this time throughout

north Italy display an interesting variety of arrangements.
Dome is combined with the three-aisled cruciform plan, either as

a central feature at the crossing or as a domical vault over each
bay.
The interiors, presumably intended to receive painted decorations.
The façades, which were sometimes highly ornate; the doorways, with columns, pediments, sculpture and carving, receiving especial attention.
High external domes did not come into general use until the next period.

palaces
While the architects failed to develop any new type, they attained
conspicuous success in palace-architecture.
The Riccardi Palace in Florence (1430) marks the first step of the
Renaissance in this direction.
Imposing rectangular façade, with widely spaced mullioned windows in two

stories over a massive ground floor, is crowned with a classic cornice of
unusual and perhaps excessive size.
In spite of bold and fortress-like character of

the rusticated masonry of these façades, and the medieval look they seem to
present
to modern eyes.
They marked a revolution in style and established a type frequently imitated

in later years.

THE HIGH RENAISSANCE

Concepts derived from Early Renaissance were developed and used with greater surety.
The most representative architect is Bramante (1444–1514) who expanded the

applicability of classical architecture to contemporary buildings.
The style became more decorated and ornamental, statuary, domes and cupolas
becoming very evident.
During this Cinquecento, buildings retained much of the freedom and refinement of
Quattrocento.
A notable advance in the internal distribution of buildings.
Orders freely used as subordinate features in the decoration of doors and windows.
Interior decoration was even more splendid.
Tempietto (littleJay
temple)
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The lantern-crowned dome was developed.
Cornices and mouldings proportioned and profiled with utmost care, with relief
enrichments in stucco used effectively.
Balustrade was elaborated into a feature at once useful and highly ornate.
Greatest artists exercised their talents in painting of vaults and ceilings, as in the
Sistine Chapel.
This period is distinguished by an exceptional number of great architects and

buildings.
The architectural period coincides with the age of Leonardo, Michelangelo and
Raphael.
Witnessed extraordinary palaces, villas, and churches, most famous being St.
Peter’s, Rome.

the negative impacts
Mere classical correctness was substituted for the fundamental
qualities of intrinsic beauty of composition and original invention.
The innovation of colossal orders extending through several

stories, while it gave to exterior designs a certain grandeur of scale,
tended to coarseness and even vulgarity of detail.
Sculpture and ornament began to lose their refinement; and while

street architecture gained in monumental scale.
Loggia del Capitaniato,

Vicenza, 1572,
palaces
These followed a different type than last era.
Usually of great size, and built around ample courts with arcades of classic model in two
or three stories.
Broad façade in three stories crowned with cornice.
Orders sparingly used externally.
Sumptuous reception-rooms and halls, magnificent ceilings and frescoes by the great
painters of the day.
Antique statues and reliefs adorned the courts, vestibules, and niches of these princely
dwellings.
The great pentagonal Palace of Caprarola, near Rome, by Vignola, perhaps the most
successful identity.
Outside Rome, took on various local and provincial phases of style, especially at Venice,
and Vicenza.

villas
Afforded full scope for the most playful fancies of the architect, decorator,
and landscape gardener.
It comprised usually a dwelling, a casino or amusement-house, and many

minor edifices, summerhouses, arcades, etc.
Disposed in extensive grounds laid out with terraces, cascades, and shaded
alleys.
The style was graceful, sometimes trivial,

but almost always pleasing.
Free use of stucco enrichments, both internally and externally, with

abundance of frescoing.
The Villa Madama (1516), by Raphael, with stucco-decorations by Giulio

Romano, is a noted example of the style.

churches & chapels
Building of a few churches of the first rank.
Prolific in memorial and chapels added to existing churches, like the Chigi
Chapel by Raphael.
Churches generally with dome as the central feature with a cruciform plan, and
simple & uninteresting exteriors.
Churches show the development of dome as an external feature, culminated by

St. Peter’s at Rome.
Treated both internally and externally with Roman Corinthian pilasters and
arches.
Among the best churches is the Gesù at Rome, by Vignola (1568), with a
highly ornate interior of excellent proportions and a less interesting exterior.
Façade of the GesuJay Thakkar

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MANNERISM

Mannerism, style of the 16th century, characterized by the distortion of
elements like proportion and space.
The term Mannerism derives from the Italian word maniera, meaning ‚style‛
or ‚way of working.‛
Marked by widely diverging tendencies from Renaissance and Medieval styles

that eventually led to the Baroque style.
Architects experimented with using architectural forms to emphasize solid and

spatial relationships.
Buildings showed visual trickery and unexpected elements that challenged the
renaissance norms.
Renaissance ideal of harmony gave way to freer and more imaginative

rhythms.

‚Palladian‛ arch was employed, using a motif of a high semi-circular topped
opening flanked with two lower square-topped openings.
Marked by widely diverging tendencies in the work of Michelangelo, Romano,

Peruzzi and Palladio.
They created works that led to the Baroque style in which the same architectural
vocabulary was used for very different rhetoric.
Michelangelo credited with inventing the giant order, a large pilaster that
stretches from the bottom to the top of a façade-used in his design, Campidoglio
in Rome.
Andrea Palladio, "the most influential architect of the whole Renaissance",

transformed the architectural style of both palaces and churches.
Palazzo da Porta, Vicenza, 1552, Andrea Palladio

characteristics
Buildings appear to be a straightforward classical building; but close scrutiny
shows great differences.
In façades, the features at first glance appear evenly spaced, they are actually quite
irregularly spaced.
Also the strange way the building seems to be halfway between one and two
stories, so the observer can not be quite sure if there is a second story or not. It
is as if the second story has been compressed down.
There are fake windows all over, mirroring the dummy doors.
The keystone is slightly raised out of place, pushing the joint above open.
The Palazzo Del Te by Giulio Romano is a true example of Mannerist

architecture.

BAROQUE

precursors
Michelangelo's later buildings, particularly St. Peter's Basilica, may be considered
precursors of Baroque architecture, as the design of the latter achieves a colossal unity
that was previously unknown.
His pupil Giacomo della Porta continued this work in Rome, particularly in the
façade of the Jesuit church Il Gesu, which leads directly to the most important
church façade of the early Baroque, Santa Susanna by Carlo Maderno.

about
From the Portuguese word barocco – irregularly shaped pearl – which is beautiful,
fascinating and strange.
Complex architectural plan shapes, often based on the oval.
Dynamic spaces favored to heighten the feeling of motion and sensuality through
curvaceousness.
Increased scale and grandeur.
Drama and contrast (especially in lighting)
Dizzying array of rich surface treatments, twisting elements, and gilded statuary.
Architects applied bright colors and illusory, vividly painted ceilings.
San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane

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characteristics
The dynamic rhythm of columns and pilasters, central massing, and condensed
central decoration add complexity to the structure.
Playfulness with the rules of classic design.
Long, narrow naves are replaced by broader, occasionally circular forms.
Opulent use of ornaments, plaster or stucco, & marble.
Large-scale ceiling frescoes.
Interior is often no more than a shell for painting and sculpture (especially in the late
Baroque).
The external façade is often characterized by a dramatic central projection.
Baldacchino, Saint Peter's,

Vatican City, Rome,
Italy, 1624-33.
Re-defining Building Crafts Gianlorenzo
JayBernini,
Thakkar 12 Jan 2016 47
baroque facades
Wavy facade creates light & shadow

Mix of columns and pilasters
Sculptures decorate the top of the façade
Small pediment
Re-defining Building Crafts Polychrome
Jay Thakkar 12 Jan 2016 48
decline
The Decline attained what the early Renaissance
aimed at—the revival of Roman forms.
It was no longer a Renaissance; but it was a decrepit

and unimaginative art, held in the fetters of a servile
imitation, copying the letter rather than the spirit of
antique design.
It was the mistaken and abject worship of precedent

which started architecture upon its downward path
and led to the atrocious products of the seventeenth
century.
Re-defining Building Crafts Santi Apostoli, Rome. Jay Thakkar 12 Jan 2016 49
4 Schools of Italian Renaissance

italy in the renaissance
‚Come, leave your Gothic, worn-out story.
They love not fancies just betrayed,
And artful tricks of light and shade,
But pure form nakedly displayed.
And all things absolutely made.‛
- CLOUGH
THE Renaissance of Italy varies considerably in the chief centres of the great
revival, namely, Florence, Rome, and Venice, and this was due to various
social and political causes, which will be enumerated shortly.

the medicis
In Florence, there was a wave of national enthusiasm and patriotic feeling and an
endeavour to assimilate the old Roman magnificence in art.
The Medici dynasty, so intimately connected with the rise of Florentine art, was
founded by John of Medici (died 1429), who took the popular side against the
nobles, gradually usurping supreme authority over the State.
His son Cosimo (died 1464) employed his wealth liberally in the advancement of art.
He founded the Medici Library and Platonic Academy, and was the patron of
Brunelleschi, Donatello, Michelozzo, Lippi, Masaccio, and others.
Under Pietro and Lorenzo Medici, who succeeded Cosimo, Florence "the Athens of
the Renaissance" became the centre of the revival in art and literature.

the renaissance schools
THE FLORENTINE SCHOOL THE ROMAN THE VENETIAN

Brunelleschi SCHOOL SCHOOL
Alberti Bramante Lombardo
Vignola Sansovino
Michelangelo
Introduction – florentine school
Renaissance architecture emerged in Florence not as a slow evolution from preceding styles, but rather as a conscious development put into motion by
architects seeking to revive the golden age of classical antiquity.
The style eschewed the complex proportional systems and irregular profiles of Gothic structures, and placed emphasis on symmetry , proportion, geometry,
and regularity of parts.
15th century architecture in Florence featured the use of classical elements such as orderly arrangements of columns , pilasters , lintels , semicircular arches
, and hemispherical domes.
Filippo Brunelleschi was the first to develop a true Renaissance architecture.
While the enormous brick dome that covers the central space of the Florence Cathedral used Gothic technology, it was the first dome erected since
classical Rome and became a ubiquitous feature in Renaissance churches.
The buildings of the early Renaissance in Florence expressed a new sense of light, clarity, and spaciousness that reflected the enlightenment and clarity of
mind glorified by the philosophy of Humanism .

examples S. Francesco,
Rimini, 1455
Pazzi Chapel,
Florence, 1420
S. Maria Novella,
Florence, 1470 Palazzo Ruccellai,
Florence, 1430
Palazzo Medici,
Florence, 1445
S. Andrea,
Mantua, 1512
Palazzo Strozi
Florence, 1489
Santo Spirito,
Re-defining Building Crafts Jay Thakkar 12 Jan 2016 55Florence, 1428
Introduction – roman school
Roman Renaissance architects derived their main designs and inspirations from Roman and Greek classical models.
Donato Bramante (1444–1514) was a key figure in Roman architecture during the High Renaissance .
The Palazzo Farnese, one of the most important High Renaissance palaces in Rome , is a primary example of Renaissance Roman architecture.
Palazzo Farnese, Church of the Gesu

Re-defining
Rome, Building
1541 Crafts Jay Thakkar 12 Jan 2016 Rome, 56
1568
examples St. Peter’s Basilica
Vatican, 1626
S. Maria della Grazie, S. Andrea

Milan, 1497 Rome, 1550
Tempietto,
Rome, 1510
Villa Caprarola S. Maria della Pace

Caprarola, 1530 Rome, 1484
Introduction – venetian school
Architecture in Venice was largely based on work of Andrea Palladio, who designed and completed some highly influential works.
Palladian architecture , in masterpieces such as Villa Emo, Villa Barbaro, Villa Capra, and Villa Foscari, evoked the imagined grandeur of antique classical
Roman villas.
Palladio created an architectural movement called Palladianism, which had a strong following in the next three centuries, inspiring a new generation of
architects till modern times.

characteristics
• Renaissance movement had a very different effect upon the
architecture of Venice from that of Florence.
• Being farther from Rome, were not so much under the influence of
that city as was Florence.
• The Venetians had a beautiful type of Gothic architecture of their
own, and, therefore the new style having Gothic in conjunction with
Renaissance details.
• A notable instance is in the pointed arches of the Renaissance facade
in the courtyard of the Doges' Palace
• The architecture of Venice is, in general, of a lighter and more graceful
kind than that of Florence, columns and pilasters being used freely in
all designs.
• Rustication of walls, as at Florence, unusual, and cornice usually marks
each story, in contrast with crowning Florentine cornices.
Santa Maria della Salute

Re-defining Building Crafts Venice, 1632 Jay Thakkar 12 Jan 2016 59
examples
Santa Maria del Maricoli
Venice, 1480
Pesaro Palace
Venice, 1554
Court to Doges' Palace

Venice, 1554
St. Giorigio del Grazie Library of the St. Mark

Venice, 1538 Venice, 1536 Jay Thakkar 12 Jan 2016 60
architectural character - plans
Florence Rome Venice

The utmost simplicity and compactness. Staircases Varied planning on grander scale. Staircases, circular and Straight front to the canals was adhered. Stairs placed in
enclosed by walls were vaulted by ascending barrel-vaults. elliptical, with columnar supports, are features. In church, central area, surrounded with arcades. In church, Roman
In church, Roman coffered and vaulted nave followed. the dome on pendentives were used. barrel-vaulted type and Basilican plan, were used.

architectural character - walls

Style of fenestration and rusticated quoins. Astylar The style of pilasters. Two or more stories are united by The style of columns. Stories defined by an order to each.
treatment dispenses with orders making each story an order upon a grand scale. Windows Excessive separation by entablatures modified, and
complete in itself. In pure wall treatment it is akin to are disturbing elements, without which the designs would corrected by breaking them round the columns. In
Egyptian art. have the multiplicity of parts, style allies itself to the Roman.
unity of Greek temples.

architectural character - openings

Small, wide-spaced, and severe in treatment. The typical Small in relation to the great order Large, numerous, and close set; the
opening is an archway in rusticated work, divided by a adopted. A square-headed opening was treated with a arcade and colonnade, adapted to
column carrying two minor arches. In courtyards, arches framework of architrave mouldings, and later on with palace facades. The treatment of a centre and two wings,
resting directly on columns are typical. orders on a small scale, surmounted by pediments. obtained by window spacing, was continued from previous
periods.

architectural character - roofs

Flat pitch tiled roofs are sometimes visible. Raking vaults Roofs rarely visible. Vaults of a similar kind were more Roofs having balustrades preferred.
to staircases, and simple cross or wagon-vaults elaborated, treated with coffering or stucco modelling. Pictorial effect was attempted in the vaulting of halls and
in halls, generally frescoed. In churches, the low dome Domes mounted upon staircases.
over the crossing was a favourite feature. a high drum and crowned with a lantern are universal in Domes are grouped with towers in churches.
churches.

architectural character - columns

Early examples do not have the orders, though columns The application of the orders on a great scale is the The problem of successive tiers of orders was worked out;
were used to arcades, the arches springing direct from the ‘motif' of the style. In their use, scale of openings and projecting columns were preferred to pilasters, and
capitals. internal necessities of building not regarded. Balustrades entablatures were usually broken round these projections.
not regulated by use, but by the system of proportion to
the order employed.

architectural character - ornaments

Decoration, such as carving and sculpture, is collected in Stands midway between Florentine and Venetian work, Decoration is equally spread throughout the facade. Every
masses, which contrast with the plain wall surfaces, as in having more variety than prevails in the sternness spandrel has its figure, and the high relief of sculpture
the great stone shields at the angles of palaces. of the former, and less exuberance than is found in the competes with the architectural detail in prominence.
latter.

5 Renaissance Architects and their Works

an era of genii
A period when the personality of the architect has increased in importance.
Architects placed emphasis on symmetry, proportion, geometry and the regularity of parts as demonstrated in classical antiquity and in particular
ancient Roman architecture.
Always preferred forms that were clearly defined and structural members that expressed their purpose.
Architecture became not only a question of practice, but also a matter for theoretical discussion. Printing played a large role in the dissemination of
ideas.
The 15th century became the era of the treatise, exemplified by Alberti's De re aedificatoria (Ten Books on Architecture) (1485), the printed translations
of the writings of Vitruvius, Vignola's The Rule of the Five Orders of Architecture, and Sebastiano Serlio's Seven Books of Architecture.
During the Renaissance, architects trained as humanists helped raise the status of their profession from skilled laborer to artist.
They hoped to create structures that would appeal to both emotion and reason. Three key figures in Renaissance architecture were Brunelleschi, Alberti,
and Palladio.

the team
The all time important architects of the Renaissance period are:
Filippo Brunelleschi (1377 –1446)
Michelozzo Di Bartolomeo (1396-1472)
Leon Battista Alberti ( 1404-1472)
Donato Bramante (1444 –1514)
Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475 –1564)

Italians
Sebastiano Serlio (1475 – 1554)
Urbino Raphael (1483 – 1520)
Giacomoda Vignola (1507 –1573)
Andrea Palladio (1508 –1580)
Francesco Boromini (1599 – 1667)
Inigo Jones (1573 – 1652) British

Filippo BRUNELLESCHI

Brunelleschi( 1377 1446), one of the foremost architects of the period Early Renaissance.
He is perhaps most famous for his discovery of perspective and for engineering the dome of the
Florence Cathedral
His accomplishments also include sculpture, mathematics, engineering and even ship design.
His principal surviving works are to be found in Florence, Italy.
Few men have left a legacy as monumental as Brunelleschi. Only now is he receiving
deserved recognition as the greatest architect of the Renaisssance.
He is generally credited with bringing about the Renaissance view of architecture, underlying feature
of his work was "order‛.

the duomo
The Dome of Florence Cathedral (A.D. 1420-1434) was Brunelleschi's principal work,
his design being accepted in competition.
As Brunelleschi began to build the dome, most people in Florence had doubts and said
it was impossible.
There was no conceivable way to build a dome that size that would be self-supporting.
A revolutionary feat of engineering, the dome is a double shell of masonry that

combines Gothic and Renaissance elements.
an inner shell made of a lightweight material, and an outer shell of heavier wind-
resistant materials.
Gothic construction is based on the pointed arch, using stone shafts, or ribs, to
support the vault, or ceiling.

the duomo
By creating two domes, Brunelleschi solved the problem of
weight during construction because workers could sit atop the
inner shell to build the outer shell of the dome.
It is said that it was constructed without any centering, with

voussoirs having horizontal joints.
It covers an octagonal apartment 138 feet 6 inches in

diameter, and is raised upon an octagonal drum in which are
circular windows lighting the interior.
The dome's 138-foot diameter would have made the use of

centering costly and even dangerous.

the duomo
Therefore, Brunelleschi devised machinery to hoist building materials as needed and
invented an ingenious system by which each portion of the structure reinforced the
next one as the dome was built up course, or layer, by course.
Reinforcing elements were vertical marble ribs and horizontal sandstone rings
connected with iron rods, with the whole supported by oak staves.
The inner and outer shells were also tied together internally by a system of arches.
When completed, this self-buttressed unit required no external support to keep it
standing.
This type of support structure is common in modern engineering, his idea and
understanding about the forces needed to sustain the dome was revolutionary.
Other than a few modifications to remove rotted wood, the supports still hold up the
entire dome.

the duomo
Another fear that a lot of people observing the construction had was
how to actually get the bricks on the dome to stay up in the dome,
and not fall to the ground during the construction.
Once again, Brunelleschi had an ingenious idea that is common

practice today, but revolutionary in its time.
He created a herringbone pattern with the bricks that redirected the

weight of the bricks outwards towards the dome's supports, instead of
downwards to the floor.
By observing carefully the curve of the dome as it took shape,

Brunelleschi was able to place this bricks in key areas.
Internal scaffold for the

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Jay Thakkar 12 Jan 2016 75
Leon Battista ALBERTI

about
An important humanist theoretician and designer whose book on architecture
was to have lasting effect.
An example of the Renaissance ‚artist engineer‛ who contributed greatly to the

theory of perspective.
Deeply interested in classical literature, and his works exhibit more decorative
treatment than Brunelleschi.
For Alberti the measure of the man must generate the measure of the buildings.
The architect in addition must possess wide knowledge, especially mathematics

and geometry.
Perceived the architect as a person with great social responsibilities.

aesthetics
Declared that aesthetic appearance of a building consists of two elements:
Beauty and Ornament.
Defines beauty as "the harmony and concord of all the parts achieved in such
a manner that nothing could be added or taken away or altered except for
the worse."
Beauty is something proper and innate and diffused throughout the whole,
whilst ornament is something added and fastened on, rather than proper and
innate.
Its chief characteristic is the classical idea of maintaining a uniform system of

proportion throughout the building.
Perspective objectively fixed the three-dimensional building, putting the

observer in command.
Basílica de Sant'Andrea
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facades
The facades -S. Francesco (1450), S. Maria Novella (1456), S.
Sebastiano, first and second scheme (1460 and 1470), and S.
Andrea (1470)-illustrate a development which is the
consequence of the changes in Alberti's approach to antiquity.
A classical system had been applied to a structure which is full

of problematical elements, traditional features, and Gothic
reminiscences.
Antiquity is the authority which guided the architect, but his

approach is rather emotional.
The later facades represent a change to a purified classicism as

a result of a more scientific attitude toward antiquity.

santa maria novella
The first completed design for a church facade in the Renaissance.
Alberti uses considerable space to propound the necessity of

harmonic relationships for designing beautiful buildings.
The perfection of the proportions makes the interior of this church

one of the grandest in the style, and the front is reminiscent of a
Roman triumphal archway.
The building has a perfectly proportioned façade to tie together

various elements of an earlier architectural style.
In the organization of elements, Alberti takes a long step beyond

other renaissance architects.

santa maria novella
The height (to the tip of the pediment) equals its width, the entire
façade is inscribed in a square.
The upper structure, in turn, can be encased in a square one-fourth the

size of the main square.
The cornice of the entablature that separates the two levels halves the
major square, so that the lower portion of the building becomes a
rectangle that is twice as wide as it is high.
Areas outlined by the columns on the lower level are squares with sides
that are about one-third the width of the main unit.
Alberti relates areas to each other in terms of proportions that can be

expressed in simple numerical ratios (1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 2:3, and so on).

santa maria novella
This facade also introduces a feature of great historical
consequence.
One problem that Alberti had to solve in his design for

Santa Maria Novella was the fact that the two levels of the
church were of quite different heights.
He solved this by tying them together visually with the

use of the ornate scrolls on either end.
The façade that Alberti added is a perfect example of the

harmony found in early Italian Renaissance.
Such spirals appeared in hundreds of church facades

throughout Renaissance and Baroque.

Donato BRAMANTE

One of the greatest stars during the age of artistic innovation and social growth
from 14th-16th centuries.
He was a major celebrity of the 15th century, only he wasn't an actor or athlete.
He was an architect.
Bramante was the only to be considered as talented as the ancients, the highest
praise as you could get.
Introduced High Renaissance style to Milan & Rome, where his plan for St.
Peter's Basilica formed the basis of the design executed by Michelangelo.
At Rome, he had greater access to Roman ruins and could really embrace their
designs. This is where his signature style took off.
Designed the cloisters for Santa Maria del Pace, based design on the
Colosseum.
Santa Maria delle Grazie

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architecture in rome
When Bramante moved to Rome, he had greater access to
Roman ruins and could really embrace their designs. This is
where his signature style took off.
Around 1500, he designed the cloisters for Santa Maria del Pace,
based design on the Colosseum.
In the Tempietto at San Pietro in Montorio, Bramante turned

the plan of a Greco-Roman Doric-style temple into a Christian
structure.
This was the perfect embodiment of Renaissance philosophies,

and the first full use of the Doric order since antiquity.
Santa Maria della Pace

Rome, 1497

the tempietto
Created what has been described as "a perfect architectural gem", the
Tempietto.
The quest for the perfect Christian church obsessed Renaissance architects.
How could Christian and humanist ideals be reconciled architecturally?
Bramante's Tempietto was an attempt to solve it.
The aim achieve not only through use of antique columns, but in the whole
building conception.
The traditional circular form of Early Christian was transformed by Bramante

by applying the classical vocabulary of Renaissance architectural theory.
In the Tempietto at San Pietro in Montorio, Bramante turned the plan of a

Greco-Roman Doric-style temple into a Christian structure.

the tempietto – circular form
Considering shapes for an ideal church, the circle being proposed as being
preferred by nature.
He cited the globe, trees, animals and many other natural forms, and
recommended nine basic geometrical figures, all determined by the circle.
A circular building crowned with a hemispherical dome like that of the

Pantheon symbolizing the cosmos would, be appropriate.
How should the parts of such august buildings be proportioned? Vitruvius

supplied the answer.
His famous code of human proportions should be reflected in those of

temples and churches.
In about 1485-90 Leonardo made a drawing with a translation into Italian of

Vitruvius' Latin text.

the tempietto – symmetry
The symmetrical concentric effect of design came near to
realizing ideal Christian church.
Free-standing building reflecting celestial harmony in

proportions and geometry of pure forms. The effect was,
however, partly lost by the design not having been fully carried
out.
Was intended to stand in a square courtyard; it was to be

surrounded by a circular cloister of 16 columns corresponding
to those of the colonnade.
By a subtle ocular effect, it would have been made to look

higher and wider and more monumental and the surrounding
area more spacious.

MICHELANGELO Buonarroti

Michelangelo was one of the creative giants who marks the High
Renaissance.
His architectural fame lies chiefly in three buildings: the interiors of the
Laurentian Library and its lobby at the monastery of San Lorenzo in
Florence, Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica in Rome.
St Peter's was "the greatest creation of the Renaissance", and a great number
of architects contributed their skills to it.
But at its completion, there was more of Michelangelo’s design than of any
other architect, before or after him.
A balustrade punctuated by sculptures atop the giant pilasters capped the

composition, one of the most influential of Michelangelo's designs.
Michelangelo’s design proposal for St.

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Andrea PALLADIO

Highly influenced by classical architecture, and widely considered the most
influential individual in the history of Western architecture.
Reinterpreted Roman architecture for own time.
Believed his flexible design principles could be applied to any type and scale of
building.
Used classical principles to design villas and palaces, creating houses with temple
fronts.
First architect to use classical porticos – used largely for religious buildings - into
domestic building.
His most famous is Villa Capra, also known as the Rotunda, was modelled after the
Roman Pantheon.
Known for popularizing the Palladian arch or Palladian windows. it allowed more
light to stream in.

four books of architecture
Arguably has been the most written about in all of Western
architecture.
The First Book discusses building materials and techniques,

as well as the five orders of architecture. Palladio describes
the characteristics of each order and illustrates them.
The Second Book discusses private town houses and country

estates, almost all designed by Palladio.
The Third Book discusses streets, bridges, piazzas, and

basilicas, most of ancient Roman origin.
The Fourth Book discusses ancient Roman temples, including

the Pantheon.

influence on architecture of british-india
The style has been reproduced many hundreds of times
across the world - and is still popular today.
This symmetry permeates this 1912 proposed design for the

Viceroy's House in New Delhi, India.
Edwin Lutyens' initial plan was for a very grand Palladian

country house.
But the design was eventually changed to include more

Indian elements. It was completed in 1929.
While perhaps not obvious at first glance, Palladian rules

have been used in more modern architectural styles over the
past 100 years.
Lutyen’s design proposal for Viceroy

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the beauty of proportions
He shared the Renaissance concern for harmonious proportion.
Believed that beauty would arise from the relationships of the parts to each other and
to the whole.
Facades have a noteworthy simplicity arising from the use of proportions.
For Andrea Palladio a more analytical search for beauty through mathematical
proportion was most important.
However, in relation to proportion Palladio avoids aesthetic speculation and generally

concentrates on the evidence provided in antiquity.
Palladio supplies general rules of proportion for the height of rooms to their width
and length, three dimensions constituting the shape of a room.

the beauty of proportions
Shapes of rooms recommended by Palladio show him following in the footsteps of
his predecessors.
It came straight out of Vitruvius, and has been thought with good reason to be a
residue of the Greek architectural theory of proportion.
Palladio recommends seven shapes of rooms in the following sequence:

1.circular,
2.square,
3.the diagonal of the square for the length of the room,
4.a square and a third, i.e. 3:4,
5.a square and a half, i.e. 2:3,
6.a square and two-thirds, i.e. 3:5,
7.two squares, i.e. I :2.
With the exception of the third case, all these ratios are commensurable and as
simple as possible.

palladian villas
Known for designing villas and country houses with simplicity and
symmetry at the heart.
His designs would have a central hall - with suites of rooms arranged
around them.
Firstly, the overall plan is a central block flanked with identical wings,
ensuring symmetry; the central block is faced with a temple front.
Secondly, the interior plan is also symmetrical, with a great hall at the
centre. And thirdly, the building has a tall major story and a short attic
story.
Palladio would often model his villa elevations on Roman temple facades.
The proportions of each room within the villa were calculated on simple mathematical ratios like 3:4 and 4:5, and the different rooms within the house were
interrelated by these ratios.

villa capra
His most famous residential design, square in plan with a central 2 story
rotonda. that gives its name.
It is a powerful yet simple scheme, one that would be copied many times.
A completely symmetrical building having a square plan with four facades,

each of which has a projecting portico.
The whole is contained within an imaginary circle, which touches each corner
of the building and centres of the porticos.
All rooms were proportioned with mathematical precision according to

Palladio's own rules.
In order for each room to have some sun, the design was rotated 45 degrees
from each cardinal point of the compass.

Thank You for the Patience!!!

Architecture of Renaissance Period: History of Architecture - III Dept. of Architecture, SSIU

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Architecture of History of Architecture – III

Dept. of Architecture, SSIU

1 Introduction to the Renaissance Architecture

3 Periods of Italian Renaissance Architecture

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The period immediately follows the Medieval period and characterized by a

Witnessed the discovery and exploration of new continents (India and

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It demonstrates a conscious revival and development of certain elements of

Developed first in Italy, Florence is considered to be its birthplace.

Rejecting the authority and teachings of Church in matters of purely secular

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Based on the nature and necessities of materials.

Roman precedent was the basis.

Columns and pilasters, whether plain, fluted or panelled, with

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A building, it will be observed, was regarded rather as a picture with pleasing

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New combinations of features were introduced.

Architecture became a personal art of architects.

Reconciliation of Gothic and the Roman construction.

Santa Maria della Salute,

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The walls of a Renaissance building (exterior and interior) have

This contrasts sharply with Baroque architecture, in which walls

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Within a church the module is often the width of an aisle.

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Generally surmounted by a pediment and organized by system of pilasters

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They are not left open as in Medieval architecture.

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The domes inspired by Greek and Roman architecture.

Much used in the halls, passages, and staircases of

Frequently built of wooden framing, plastered and painted

The corners emphasised by rusticated ‚quoins‛.

Basements and ground floors were often rusticated.

Internal walls are smoothly plastered, more formal spaces, internal

Doors and windows were enclosed in richly carved frames,

They may be set within an arch or surmounted by a triangular or

This can entail leaving grooves in the joints between

The rustication of a Renaissance palazzo is often

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The orders can either be structural, supporting an arcade or architrave, or

During the Renaissance, architects aimed to use columns, pilasters, and

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A number of factors were influential in bringing this about.

Italy had never fully adopted the Gothic style of architecture .

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comparative study – columns

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THE EARLY RENAISSANCE or FORMATIVE PERIOD, 1420–90

THE HIGH RENAISSANCE or FORMALLY CLASSIC PERIOD, 1490–1550

THE EARLY BAROQUE (or BAROCO), 1550–1600

THE DECLINE or LATER BAROQUE,