Architecture of Italy - Renaissance and Mannerist Architecture

Renaissance and Mannerist Architecture

Italy of the 15th century, and the city of Florence in particular, was home to the Renaissance. 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". The scholarly approach to the architecture of the ancient coincided with the general revival of learning. A number of factors were influential in bringing this about.

Italian architects had always preferred forms that were clearly defined and structural members that expressed their purpose. Many Tuscan Romanesque buildings demonstrate these characteristics, as seen in the Florence Bapistery and Pisa Cathedral.

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 ancient architectural remains showing the ordered Classical style provided an inspiration to artists at a time when philosophy was also turning towards the Classical.

• Dome of Florence Cathedral

Florence Cathedral, built by Arnolfo di Cambio, was left unfinished by the end of the XIV century, it had a huge hole at the centre, where there was meant to be a dome. The competition to build it was won by Filippo Brunelleschi, who built the largest dome since Roman times. He cleverly got the whole city excited by getting teams of workers from the eight parts of the city.

• Basilica of San Lorenzo

This church in Florence was designed by Brunelleschi using all the things he had learnt by looking at the architecture of Ancient Rome. It has arches, columns and round-topped windows in the Roman style. It looks completely different to the pointy-arched churches of the Gothic period. Only the inside was finished. The outside is still all rough bricks and no-on knows exacly how Brunelleschi meant it to look. On the inside, however, Brunelleschi taught everyone a new set of architectural rules.

• Basilica of Sant'Andrea

When the Ancient Roman Emperors came back from winning a battle, they built a triumphal arch as a monument to themself. There are several of these monuments in Rome as well as in other parts of Italy, and the general design is that of a big arch at the centre, and a smaller lower arch or doorway on either side. The architect Leon Battista Alberti used this as the design for the front of the church of Sant' Andrea in Mantua. He used the same pattern of tall and arched, low and square, all down the inside of the church as well. This was copied by many other architects. It was also the first building to use columns encompassing two orders, called a giant order.

• Medici Riccardi Palace

When it came to building palaces, the rich people of the Renaissance had different needs to the Roman Emperors, so the architects had to use the rules to make a new sort of grand building. These Renaissance palaces are usually three stories high and quite plain on the outside. On the inside there is a courtyard, surrounded by beautiful columns and windows. Architects like Michelozzo who worked for Cosimo de' Medici, looked at the Roman Colisseum (sports arena) which is three stories high with rows of arches.

• Saint Peter's Basilica

The most famous church in Rome was the ancient Church that had been built over the grave of St. Peter. By 1500 it was falling down. The Pope decided that instead of repairing it, it should be pulled down and a brand new church should be built. By the time it was finished, lots of important artists had worked on the design, which changed dramatically, becoming more of a baroque example than a renaissance one. Among the architects present on the site there were Donato Bramante, Raphael, Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Michelangelo, Pirro Ligorio, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, Giacomo della Porta, and Carlo Maderno. It has one of the most magnificent domes in the world. It has been copied in many countries.

• Villa Rotonda

This country house was built by Andrea Palladio (and Vincenzo Scamozzi after his death) from 1566. It is a square building which looks the same from every side. At the centre, there is a dome. On every side is a large porch (portico), like a Roman temple. It is such an elegant design that other architects used the same style which can be seen on churches, houses and palaces, including the White House.