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Renaissance architecture
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{{Archhistory}}
{{Renaissance}}
'''Renaissance Architecture''': The cultural movement called the
Renaissance (which literally means re-birth) was just that in
architecture, a rebirth of the
Roman architecture Roman traditions of design recognized by contemporaries in the term '''''all'Antica''''', "in the Antique manner".
It was expressed in a new emphasis on rational clarity and regularity of parts, arranged in simple mathematical proportions and in a conscious revival of
Roman architecture Roman architecture. To the 'man in the street' the style was simply columns and symmetry as opposed to the stone work and irregular gabled facades which preceded the new style. Classically-styled columns, geometrically-perfect designs, and hemispherical domes characterized Renaissance architecture.
The movement began in
Florence and central
Italy in the early
15th century, as an expression of
Humanism. In Italy, four phases of Renaissance style can be identified:
# the Early Renaissance of
Leone Battista Alberti and
Filippo Brunelleschi,
# the High Renaissance of
Donato Bramante and
Raffaello Santi Raphael,
# the widely diverging Mannerist tendencies in some work of
Michelangelo and
Giulio Romano and
Andrea Palladio,
# and finally the
Baroque architecture Baroque of
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, in which the same architectural vocabulary was used for very different rhetoric.
When the Renaissance spirit was finally exported into
France,
Spain,
Portugal,
England, the
Low Countries,
Germany,
Poland and
Sweden, the style made its appearance fully formed. However, it had to compromise with local traditions and climates, subsequently its phases are not so clearly distinguished in individual buildings. The most Italian-like style of the Renaissance outside Italy is the
Polish Renaissance.
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The Renaissance spread to
France in the late 15th century, when
Charles VIII returned in 1496 with several Italian artists from his conquest of
Naples. Renaissance chateaux were built in the Loire Valley, the earliest example being the
Château d'Amboise (c.1495) in which
Leonardo da Vinci spent his last years, and the style became dominant under
Francis I(1515-47). (See
Châteaux of the Loire Valley). The
Château de Chambord (1519-36) is a combination of
Gothic Architecture Gothic structure and Italianate ornament, a style which progressed under architects such as
Sebastiano Serlio, who was engaged after 1540 in work at the
Château de Fontainebleau. At Fontainebleau Italian artists such as
Rosso Fiorentino,
Francesco Primaticcio, and
Niccolo dell' Abbate formed the First
School of Fontainebleau.
Architects such as
Philibert Delorme,
Androuet du Cerceau,
Giacomo Vignola, and
Pierre Lescot, were inspired by the new ideas. The southwest interior facade of the Cour Carree of the
Louvre in
Paris was designed by Lescot and covered with exterior carvings by
Jean Goujon. Architecture continued to thrive in the reigns of
Henri II and
Henri III.
In
Spain, Renaissance details began to be grafted to Gothic forms following the fall of
Granada in a style often called
Plateresque. Architects included
Diego Siloe and examples include the facades of the
University of Salamanca and of the
Convent of San Marcos in
León . From the mid-sixteenth century, under such architects as
Pedro Machuca,
Juan Bautista de Toledo and
Juan de Herrera there was a closer adherence to the art of ancient Rome, examples of which include the unfinished palace of
Charles V in Granada and the
Escorial.
In
Portugal, the
Manueline style married renaissance elements to Gothic structures. Later examples of Renaissance architecture in Portugal include the cathedrals of
Leiria and
Portalegre, the
Jesuit college at
Évora and the church of
São Roque in
Lisbon.
In
Hungary, Italianate houses were being built before the middle of the fifteenth century. King
Matthias Corvinus encouraged Italian masons and sculptors, one of whom,
Aristotile Fioravanti, travelled from Hungary to
Moscow where he built the
Cathedral of the Dormition.
Under
Ladislaus II, King of Hungary and
King of Bohemia, the renaissance
Bakócz Chapel at Esztergom Cathedral in
Gran, was built and renaissance features spread.
In
England the first great exponent of Renaissance architecture was
Inigo Jones (
1573–
1652), who had studied architecture in
Italy where the influence of Palladio was very strong. Jones returned to England full of enthusiasm for the new movement and immediately began to design such buildings as the
Queen's House at
Greenwich in
1616 and the Banqueting House at
Whitehall three years later. These works, with their clean lines, and symmetry were revolutionary in a country still enamoured with mullion windows, crenelations and turrets.
Hatfield House built in its entirety by
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, between
1607 and
1611, is a perfect example of the transition period from the gabled turreted style of the previous era. One can clearly see the turreted
Tudor style wings at each end with their mullioned windows, however, the whole is achieving a symmetry and the two wings are linked by an Italianate Renaissance facade. This central facade, originally an open
loggia, has been attributed to Inigo Jones himself, however, the central porch carries a heavier
Jacobean architecture Jacobean influence than Jones would have used, so the attribution is probably false. Inside the house the elaborately carved staircase demonstrates the Italian renaissance impression on English ornament.
Jones's work was followed later by such master architects as
Christopher Wren with his designs for
St. Paul's Cathedral and many other public buildings and churches in
London following the
Great Fire of London in
1666. The Great Fire created an opportunity for the new generation of architects to promote the classical traditions on a scale probably unequalled in one city anywhere else in the world. However, the original renaissance style imported by Inigo Jones was now merging with the baroque.
Later architects such as the
Venetian Giacomo Leoni in the following century adapted and modified the style to suit the
England English landscape and the tastes of his country-loving clients, while still remaining true to the
Italy Italian influence of design.
Lyme Hall in
Cheshire is a superb example of this.
The influence of Renaissance architecture can still be seen in many of the modern styles and rules of architecture today.
List of notable Renaissance Structures
{{listdev}}
Italy
*
Florence
** Dome of
Santa Maria del Fiore (by
Filippo Brunelleschi)
**
Spedale degli Innocenti (by Filippo Brunelleschi)
**
Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze (by Filippo Brunelleschi)
** Santo Spirito (by Filippo Brunelleschi)
**
Pazzi Chapel at
Basilica di Santa Croce di Firenze Basilica di Santa Croce (by Filippo Brunelleschi)
**
Palazzo Medici, (by
Michelozzo)
**
Palazzo Pitti (unkown architect)
**
Palazzo Strozzi
** Facade of
Santa Maria Novella (by
Leone Battista Alberti L.B. Alberti)
**
Palazzo Rucellai (by L.B. Alberti)
*
Rimini, Tempio Malatestiano (by Leone Battista Alberti)
*
Mantua
** San Andrea (by Leone Battista Alberti)
**
Palazzo del Te (by
Giulio Romano G. Romano)
*
Urbino, Palazzo Ducale (by
Luciano Laurana)
*
Milano
** Santa Maria presso San Satiro (by
Donato Bramante D. Bramante)
** Santa Maria delle Grazie (by
Donato Bramante D. Bramante)
*
Villa Capra "La Rotonda" (by
Andrea Palladio A. Palladio)
*
Villa Farnese,
Caprarola (by
Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola)
Czech Republic
* Villa Belvedere in
Prague
* Castle of
Český Krumlov
*
TelÄ?
England
*
Longleat,
Wiltshire (
1567-
1580)
*
Banqueting House,
London (
1619-
1622)
*
St. Paul's Cathedral,
London (
1675-
1710)
* Canterbury Quadrangle,
St John's College, Oxford
France
*
Château d'Amboise
*
Château de Blois
*
Château de Chambord
*
Château de Fontainebleau
*
Louvre
*
Château de Chenonceau
Germany
*
Michaelskirche (München) Michaelskirche,
München
Hungary
* Bishop Bakócz Chapel in
Esztergom
Poland
*
Wawel Castle,
Kraków
* Sigismund Chapel at
Wawel Cathedral, Kraków
* Cloth Hall in Kraków
* Town Hall in
Poznań
* Town Hall in
Chełmno
* Renaissance town of
Zamość
* Castle in
Baranów Sandomierski
* Castle in
Krasiczyn
* Firlej Chapel in
Bejsce
* Houses and parish church in
Kazimierz Dolny
* Great Arsenal in
Gdańsk
Russia
*
Cathedral of the Dormition
Spain
*
Escorial
*
University of Salamanca
External links
-
Renaissance Architecture in Great Buildings Online
Category:Architectural history
Category:Italian architecture
Category:Renaissance
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