Early and High

Renaissance
 EARLY RENASSAINCE
• Early Renaissance. n. (Art Movements) the Early Renaissance the period from
about 1400 to 1500 in European, Italian, painting, sculpture, and architecture,
when naturalistic styles and humanist theories were evolved from the study of
classical sources, notably by Donatello, Masaccio, and Alberti.
 FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI
Filippo Brunelleschi (1377 – 15 April 1446), considered to be a founding
father of Renaissance architecture, was an Italian architect and designer,
recognized to be the first modern engineer, planner, and sole construction
supervisor. He is most famous for designing the dome of the Florence
Cathedral, a feat of engineering that had not been accomplished since
antiquity, as well as the development of the mathematical technique of linear
perspective in art which governed pictorial depictions of space until the late
19th century and influenced the rise of modern science. His
accomplishments also include other architectural works, sculpture,
mathematics, engineering, and ship design. His principal surviving works
can be found in Florence, Italy.
Filippo Brunelleschi’s dome (1296-1436)
• Imagine the thriving city of Florence in the year 1296. Proud of
their city, the Florentines began to build a glorious cathedral,
reserving enough space in its design for a huge dome. But there
was one problem: no one knew how to erect a dome that would
be nearly 150 feet wide and that would begin 180 feet above the
ground, atop the existing walls.
• The octagonal shape of the dome is definitely inspired by that of
the Baptistry. In contemplating this masterpiece, you notice that
its builders have made use of balance and harmony between
each of its parts. Each architectural element contributes to the
stability of the dome as it stands without supporting structures.
• The dome is a masterpiece of beauty and engineering, a
pioneering construction for its time, and in many ways
remains unmatched.
As a master of illusions, Brunelleschi was known in Florence
to have made people believe in things that did not exist. The
construction of its dome sparked years of debate on what was
the “magic trick that provided the result that lay in front of
everyone, how the octagonal dome was able to stand!
The dome is a masterpiece of beauty and
engineering, a pioneering construction for its time,
and in many ways remains unmatched.
As a master of illusions, Brunelleschi was known in
Florence to have made people believe in things that
did not exist. The construction of its dome sparked
years of debate on what was the “magic trick that
provided the result that lay in front of everyone,
i.e., how the octagonal dome was able to stand!
 Leon Battista Alberti
• Leon Battista Alberti was an Italian Renaissance
humanist, author, artist, architect, poet, priest,
linguist, philosopher and cryptographer; he
epitomized the Renaissance Man. Although he is
often characterized exclusively as an architect, as
James Beck has observed, "to single out one of
Leon Battista's 'fields' over others as somehow
functionally independent and self-sufficient is of
no help at all to any effort to characterize
Alberti's extensive explorations in the fine arts."
Although Alberti is known mostly for being an
artist, he was also a mathematician of many sorts
and made great advances to this field during the
15th century.
 PALAZZO RUCELLAI(1446-
1451)
• Palazzo Rucellai is a landmark Renaissance palace whose façade was
designed by the renowned humanist and architect Leon Battista Alberti
between 1446 and 1451.
• This splendid work shimmers with the full spirit of fifteenth-century
humanism. The structural elements of ancient Rome are replicated in
the arches, pilasters, and entablatures; these themes are echoed in the
larger blocks on the ground floor, which heighten the impression of
strength and solidity. The elegant design of this palace marked a
turning point in the architecture of patrician residences, setting them
apart from the earlier, more fortress-like structures.
• The palace was created from an enclave of eight smaller buildings
combined to form a single architectural complex arranged around a
central courtyard. The piano nobile (or noble floor) is home to the
Institute. It was refurbished in 1740 on the occasion of the wedding of
Giuseppe Rucellai and Teresa de’ Pazzi. The frescoed vaulted ceilings,
exquisitely preserved, depict mythological figures and motifs.
• In 1446, Leon Battista Alberti, whose texts On Painting and On Architecture established
the guidelines for the creation of paintings and buildings that would be followed for
centuries, designed a façade that was truly divorced from the medieval style, and could
finally be considered quintessentially Renaissance: the Palazzo Rucellai.
• Three tiers:
• Like traditional Florentine palazzi, the façade is divided into three tiers. But Alberti divided
these with the horizontal entablatures that run across the facade (an entablature is the
horizontal space above columns or pliasters). The first tier grounds the building, giving it a
sense of strength. This is achieved by the use of cross-hatched, or rusticated stone that runs
across the very bottom of the building, as well as large stone blocks, square windows, and
portals of post and lintel construction in place of arches.
• The overall horizontality of this façade is called “trabeated” architecture, which Alberti
thought was most fitting for the homes of nobility. Each tier also decreases in height from
the bottom to top. On each tier, Alberti used pilasters, or flattened engaged columns, to
visually support the entablature. On the first tier, they are of the Tuscan order. On the
second and third tiers, Alberti used smaller stones to give the feeling of lightness, which is
enhanced by the rounded arches of the windows, a typically Roman feature. Both of these
tiers also have pilasters, although on the second tier they are of the Ionic order, and on the
third they are Corinthian. The building is also wrapped by benches that served, as they do
now, to provide rest for weary visitors to Florence.
• The Palazzo Rucellai actually had four floors: the first was where the family conducted their
business; the second floor, or piano nobile, was where they received guests; the third floor
contained the family’s private apartments; and a hidden fourth floor, which had few
windows and is invisible from the street, was where the servants lived.
HIGH RENAISSANCE (1495 or 1500 – 1520)
• In art history, the High Renaissance is a short period of the most
exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome,
capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian
Renaissance.
• The best-known exponents of painting, sculpture and architecture of the
High Renaissance include Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael
and Bramante. In recent years, the use of the term has been frequently
criticized by some academic art historians for oversimplifying artistic
developments, ignoring historical context, and focusing only on a few
iconic works.
 DONATO BRAMANTE
• Donato Bramante , born as Donato di
Pascuccio d’Antonio and also known as
Bramante Lazzari, was an Italian Architect.
He introduced Renaissance Architecture to
Milan and the High Renaissance style to
Rome, where his plan for St. Peter’s Basilica
formed the basis of design executed by
Michelangelo. His Tempietto (San Pietro in
Montorio) marked the beginning of the High
Renaissance in Rome (1502) when Pope
Julius ll appointed him to build a sanctuary
over the spot where Peter was allegedly
crucified.
TEMPIETTO (1502)
• Tempietto, small circular chapel erected in
the courtyard of San Pietro in Montorio in
Rome on the supposed site of the
martyrdom of St. Peter. It was
commissioned by Ferdinand and Isabella of
Spain and was built in 1502 after designs
made by Donato Bramante.
• The design was inspired by a particular type
of classical temple and specifically by the
temple of Vesta at Tivoli built on a circular
plan and surrounded by columns.
Bramante added a dome (since altered) and
chose the Doric Order for the structure’s
decoration. Remarkable for its elegantly
simple reinterpretation of classical forms,
the Tempietto is regarded as one of the
finest examples of High Renaissance
Architecture.
A smaller, circular temple, the “tempietto” sits
in the middle of the larger church’s rectangular
plaza, a hidden but influential piece of
architectural history designed by one of the
most visionary architects of the Italian
renaissance.
Taking inspiration from ancient buildings such
as the Temple of Vesta (or what was thought to
be the Temple of Vesta at the time) and the
Roman Pantheon, the building is a single
chamber temple with a hemispherical,
concrete dome at the top and a perfectly-
spaced series of niches and pilasters on the
main body. The exterior is completed by a
ring of columns built in Tuscanic (an offshoot
of Doric) Form.
Temple of Vesta Roman Pantheon Tursaric Form
 Antonio da Sangallo
• Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1484–1546) was
the most influential architect of his time. He arrived
in Rome when he was about 20 and built a town
house for the cardinal Alessandro Farnese in 1513.
When the cardinal became Pope Paul lll, he had
Antonio the Younger enlarge it into the most
important palace in Rome, the Palazzo
Farnese(1534–46). A fortress like 16th-century
Florentine palace, this structure was representative of
a type of building on which a code of academic rules
was based, exercising an immense influence well into
the 19th century. The inner court of the palace is
entered through an arch entrance, and the
carriageway, lined with Roman Doric order antique
granite columns, is a superior design. Antonio
borrowed from the ancient Roman architectural
motifs of the Colosseum and the Theatre Marcellus,
but Michelangelo made changes in Antonio’s
designs.
 PALAZZO FARNESE
• The Palazzo was started in 1517, redesigned 1534 and 1541,
modified under Michelangelo from 1546, and completed 1589.
• Palazzo Farnese, Rome, is the most imposing Italian palace of
the sixteenth century. The 56 m (185 ft) façade, occupying the
longer side of a spacious piazza, is three storys tall and thirteen
bays wide. It is built of brick with strong stone quoins and has a
heavily rusticated portal. Each story has different window frames
placed in dense rows against the flat neutral wall surface, which
enhances the sense of scale. The crowning cornice was
substantially enlarged by Michelangelo and casts a heavier
shadow onto the façade than that envisaged by Sangallo.
Sangallo's spectacular three-aisled vestibule, inspired for
example by Roman nymphaea, with its central barrel vault
supported on Doric columns, is notable for the sculptural
quality of surface.
The Palazzo Farnese in Rome
demonstrates the Renaissance
window’s particular use of square
lintels and triangular and segmental
pediments used alternatively. The
Palazzo Farnese courtyard, initially
open arcades , is ringed by classically
inspired columns (characteristic of
Italian Renaissance architecture), in
ascending orders (Doric, Corinthian,
and Ionic). A popular decorative
treatment of the 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 palazzo is
often differentiated between stories.
 Conclusion
• Over all, the Renaissance produced some of the most well known art
ever created in human history. It was a time of revival, of going back to
something form the past that worked and bringing that past into new
light. After more than five hundred years we still marvel at the works of
artists such as Da Vinci and Michelangelo. Humanism downplayed
religious and secular dogma and instead attached the greatest
importance to the dignity and worth of the individual. This period was
unique in its portrayal of the human body and in its enmeshment of art
and science. It was proof that the old and the new can come together in
harmony.
Thank You For
Listening