Italian Renaissance architecture. School encyclopedia
Renaissance in Italy
The first shoots of Renaissance culture in the field of fine arts appeared in Italy in the 14th century, but in architecture they appeared only at the beginning of the next century.
The emergence of a new style for the first time in Italy is explained by the fact that in the XIV-XV centuries it was an advanced country; at that time, trade routes that connected Europe with the countries of the East passed through it, which led to the development of the manufacturing industry, a significant increase in the class of artisans, and the enrichment of social life. the elite, the aggravation of the class struggle. In Italy, cities are growing rapidly - industrial cities, such as Florence, port cities - Genoa, Venice. City life here took on developed forms. The ideas of humanism that characterize the era found concrete expression in the field of literature, philosophy, and in all spheres of art.
Development of Renaissance architecture in Italy during the 15th-16th centuries. can be divided into three stages:
- Early Renaissance- XV century (1420-1500). The leading architect of this period was F. Brunelleschi (1377-1446), and the main center was Florence.
- High Renaissance- the first three decades of the 16th century. D. Bramante (1444-1514) became the leading architect, and the center moved to Rome.
- Late Renaissance- 1530-1580. The leading architect of this time was great sculptor and the painter Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475-1564).
The early period is associated with the province of Tuscany and its main city of Florence - the cradle of art and architecture of the Italian Renaissance. The first buildings with features of the new style appeared here at the beginning of the 15th century; in Northern Italy and Venice they were celebrated only in the middle of the century. Further relocation of the center of Italian architectural activity to early XVI century in Rome was explained by the growth of political activity of the papacy. Rome retains its role as the architectural capital of Italy over the following centuries. Significant architectural monuments were created in the 16th century in other areas of Italy - in the North and in Venice.
The main, most characteristic motifs of early Renaissance architecture include:
- an arcade on small columns (the heels of the arches rest directly on the capitals or sometimes on “cutouts” of entablatures, in turn resting on the capitals);
- framed panels filled with symmetrical acanthus ornaments or containing relief sculpture;
- blades or pilasters with chain, candelabra ornaments; rustic motif - torn or faceted (in the north of Italy) for processing facade walls;
- a large extension (protrusion) of a highly developed crowning cornice on the facades of buildings (in Italy), etc.;
- in the period of the mature Renaissance - the motif of the Roman architectural cell, which replaced the arcade of the early Renaissance, etc.
- - Ospedale degli Innocenti
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The new direction in Italian architecture, when it emerged, was associated with the processing of ancient traditions and the order system in relation to local building materials and structures. In the buildings of this time, the plane of the wall and its materiality are again emphasized; the internal space is clearly limited, acquiring unity. The proportionality of the proportions of the supporting and pressing parts is also achieved; a balance of horizontals and verticals is established in the rhythmic division of the building.
Brunelleschi. The founder of Renaissance architecture was Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446), a native of Florence. After completing an apprenticeship in a jewelry workshop, Brunelleschi began his creative career as a sculptor, taking part in a competition to create a relief for the bronze doors of the Florentine baptistery (baptistery). A multi-talented person who combined an interest in art with the knowledge of an engineer, the mind of an inventor, and a mathematician, he soon devoted himself entirely to architecture. His first major work was the grandiose octagonal dome (1420–1436) erected over the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, built in the 14th century. An elongated dome with a diameter of 42 m at the base covers the altar part of the massive basilica. Its powerful, clear silhouette still reigns over the city, perfectly perceived from a long distance. Using new structures and a frame system, Brunelleschi managed to do without scaffolding, building a hollow dome with two shells. He thus lightened the weight of the vault and reduced the thrust force acting on the walls of the octagonal drum. For the first time in Western European architecture, Brunelleschi gave a clearly defined plastic volume of the dome, rising to the heavens and overshadowing, in the words of the architect Alberti, “all the Tuscan peoples.” The enlarged scale of the dome's shape, its powerful masses articulated by strong ribs, are emphasized by the grace and fine detailing of the decor of the lantern that completes it. In this building, erected to the glory of the city, the triumph of reason was embodied, an idea that determined the main direction of the culture of the Renaissance.
If, during the construction of the dome, Brunelleschi had to take into account the character of the previously built parts of the cathedral, then he gave a completely new understanding of the architectural image in the Orphanage (Ospedale degli Innocenti) in Florence (1419–1444) in Piazza Annunziata - the first civil building of the Renaissance that corresponded to progressive ideas time. The two-story facade of the house is distinguished by simplicity and lightness of proportions, clarity of horizontal and vertical divisions. On the lower floor it is decorated with an elegant loggia, the semi-circular arches of which rest on slender columns. They emphasize the friendly, hospitable character of the building. In the spaces between the arches there are round ceramic medallions by Andrea della Robbia depicting swaddled babies. With their cheerfulness and clarity, the gentle charm of childhood images, these reliefs subtly harmonize with the architecture of the building and its purpose.
The constructive and decorative techniques found in the Foundling House were developed by Brunelleschi in the Pazzi Chapel at the Church of Santa Croce in Florence (begun in 1430). This small chapel, striking in its harmonious integrity, is located in the depths of the narrow monastery courtyard; rectangular in plan, it is completed with a light dome. Its façade is a six-column Corinthian portico with a large middle bay covered by an arch. The slender proportions of the columns, the high attic above them, in combination with new decorative elements, speak of a sense of proportion and the creative use of the ancient order. The interior space of the chapel was also designed using an order system. Its walls, divided by pilasters into equal sections, are decorated with niches and round medallions. The pilasters end with a cornice that carries a vault and semicircular arches. Sculptural decoration and ceramics, graphic elegance of lines, contrast color scheme emphasize the flatness of the walls, impart integrity and clarity to the bright, spacious interior.
One of the most important problems of Italian architecture of the 15th century was the development of the basic principles for the construction of a palazzo (city palace), which served as a prototype for public buildings of later times. At this time, a type of majestic building was created, rectangular in plan, with a single closed volume, with many rooms located around the courtyard. The name of Brunelleschi is associated with the construction of the central part of Palazzo Pitti (started in 1440) in Florence, laid out from huge, roughly hewn stone blocks (block masonry was called rustication). The roughness of the stone texture enhances the power of architectural forms. Horizontal tie rods emphasize the division of the building into three floors. Huge eight-meter portal windows complete the impression of proud, stern power produced by this palace.
Alberti. The next stage in the development of Renaissance architecture was the work of Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472), an encyclopedist and theorist, author of a number of scientific treatises on art (“Ten Books on Architecture”). In his design of the Palazzo Rucellai in Florence (1446–1451), a three-story Renaissance palace with a courtyard and rooms located around it, Alberti introduces a system of pilasters, floor-by-floor dividing the wall, entablature and lightweight rustication with a smooth polished surface.
Rossellino. The ancient heritage (Roman architecture) received new plastic expressiveness in his interpretation. For the first time, the main elements of order architecture were introduced into the composition of the palazzo facade, load-bearing and non-supporting parts were identified, which also help to express the scale of the building and its inclusion in the surrounding ensemble. The execution of Alberti's plan belongs to Bernardo Rossellino.
Benedetto da Maiano. The development of the early Renaissance palace type in the 15th century is completed by the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence (begun in 1489) by Benedetto da Maiano (1442–1497). This majestic palace is characterized by the harmony of the main masses. Clear, correct in composition of plan and volume, with its three rusticated facades it faces the street and passages. Crowning it, magnificent in its classical form, the richly profiled cornice is clearly perceived in contrast to the austere simplicity of the walls. The courtyard, connected to the street, loses its intimate character and becomes one of the ceremonial parts of the palace.
The late Renaissance period is usually considered to be the mid to late 16th century. At this time, the economic recession in Italy continued. The role of the feudal nobility and church-Catholic organizations increased. To combat the reformation and all manifestations of the anti-religious spirit, the Inquisition was established. Under these conditions, humanists began to experience persecution. A significant part of them, persecuted by the Inquisition, moved to the northern cities of Italy, especially to Venice, which still retained the rights of an independent republic, where the influence of the religious counter-reformation was not so strong. In this regard, during the late Renaissance, two schools were the most prominent - Roman and Venetian. In Rome, where the ideological pressure of the Counter-Reformation greatly influenced the development of architecture, along with the development of principles High Renaissance There is a departure from the classics towards more complex compositions, greater decorativeness, a violation of the clarity of forms, scale and tectonics. In Venice, despite the partial penetration of new trends into architecture, the classical basis of architectural composition was more preserved.
A prominent representative of the Roman school was the great Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564). His architectural works lay the foundations of a new understanding of form characteristic of this period, characterized by great expression, dynamics and plastic expressiveness. His work, which took place in Rome and Florence, reflected with particular force the search for images capable of expressing the general crisis of humanism and the internal anxiety that progressive circles of society then experienced before the approaching forces of reaction. As a brilliant sculptor and painter, Michelangelo knew how to find bright plastic means to express in art the inner strength of his heroes, the unresolved conflict of their spiritual world, and titanic efforts in struggle. In architectural creativity, this was consistent with an emphasized identification of the plasticity of forms and their intense dynamics. Michelangelo's order often lost its tectonic meaning, turning into a means of decorating walls, creating enlarged masses that amaze a person with their scale and plasticity. Boldly violating the architectural principles customary for the Renaissance, Michelangelo to a certain extent was the founder of a creative manner that was later picked up in Italian Baroque architecture. Michelangelo's largest architectural works include the completion of Peter's Cathedral in Rome after Bramante's death. Michelangelo, taking as a basis a centric scheme close to Bramante’s plan, introduced new features into its interpretation: he simplified the plan and generalized the internal space, made the supports and walls more massive, and added a portico with a solemn colonnade on the western façade. In the volumetric-spatial composition, the calm balance and subordination of the spaces of Bramante’s project are translated into an emphasized dominance of the main dome and the under-dome space. In the composition of the facades, clarity and simplicity were replaced by more complex and large plastic forms, the walls are dissected by ledges and pilasters of the large Corinthian order with a powerful entablature and a high attic; between the pilasters there are window openings, niches and various decorative elements (cornices, belts, sandriks, statues, etc.) that seem to be squeezed into the piers, giving the walls an almost sculptural plasticity.
In the composition of the Medici chapel (Fig. 9) of the church San Lorenzo in Florence (1520), the interior and sculptures made by Michelangelo merged into a single whole. Sculptural and architectural forms are full of internal tension and drama. Their acute emotional expressiveness prevails over the tectonic basis; the order is interpreted as an element of the artist’s fundamentally common sculptural plan.
One of the outstanding Roman architects of the late Renaissance is also Vignola, the author of the treatise “The Rule of the Five Orders of Architecture”. His most significant works are considered to be the Caprarola Castle and the Villa of Pope Julius II (Fig. 10). During the Renaissance, the type of villa undergoes significant development associated with a change in its functional content. Back at the beginning of the 15th century. it was a country estate, often surrounded by walls, and sometimes even had defensive towers. By the end of the 15th century. the villa became a country retreat for wealthy citizens (Villa Medici near Florence), and from the 16th century. it often becomes the residence of large feudal lords and high clergy. The villa loses its intimacy and acquires the character of a ceremonial front-axial structure, open to the surrounding nature.
The Villa of Pope Julius II is an example of this type. Its strictly axial and rectangular composition in external outlines descends along the mountainside in ledges, creating a complex game of open, semi-open and closed spaces located at different levels. The composition shows the influence of ancient Roman forums and Vatican courtyards.
Outstanding masters Venetian school late Renaissance were Sansovino, who built the building of the Library of San Marco in Venice (started in 1536) - an important component of the remarkable ensemble of the Venetian center, and the most prominent representative of the classical school of the Renaissance - the architect Palladio.
The activities of Andrea Palladio (1508 - 1580) took place mainly in Vicenza, near Venice, where he built palaces and villas, as well as in Venice, where he built mainly church buildings. His work in a number of buildings was a reaction to the anti-classical tendencies of the late Renaissance. In an effort to preserve the purity of classical principles, Palladio relies on the rich experience he acquired in the process of studying the ancient heritage. He tries to revive not only order forms, but entire elements and even types of buildings of the ancient period. Structurally true order portico becomes main theme many of his works.
In the Villa Rotunda, built near Vicenza (begun in 1551), the master achieved exceptional integrity and harmony of the composition. Situated on a hill and clearly visible from a distance, the four facades of the villa with porticoes on all sides, together with the dome, form a clear centric composition.
In the center there is a round domed hall, from which exits lead to porticoes. Wide portico staircases connect the building with the surrounding nature. The centric composition reflected the general aspirations of Renaissance architects for the absolute completeness of the composition, clarity and geometricity of forms, the harmonious connection of individual parts with the whole and the organic merging of the building with nature.
But this “ideal” composition scheme remained isolated. In the actual construction of numerous villas, Palladio paid more attention to the so-called three-part scheme, consisting of a main volume and one-story order galleries extending from it to the sides, serving to communicate with the services of the estate and organizing the front courtyard in front of the facade of the villa. It was this scheme of a country house that later had numerous followers in the construction of manor palaces.
In contrast to the free development of the volumes of country villas, Palladian city palaces usually have a strict and laconic composition with a large-scale and monumental main facade. The architect widely uses the large order, interpreting it as a kind of “column-wall” system. A striking example is the Palazzo Capitanio (1576), the walls of which are decorated with columns of a large composite order with a powerful, loose entablature (Fig. 12). The upper floor, expanded in the form of a superstructure (attic floor), gave the building completeness and monumentality,
Palladio also widely used in his city palaces two-tiered division of facades with orders, as well as an order placed on a high rusticated ground floor - a technique first used by Bramante and subsequently widespread in the architecture of classicism.
From the end of the 14th century. In Western Europe, signs of an approaching crisis of the feudal mode of production are multiplying. The continuous growth of productive forces and the associated revival of domestic markets and foreign trade are accompanied by the development of commodity-money relations, which undermined the agrarian base of feudalism. In numerous cities, the foundations of the dominance of a new class were laid, and a worldview was formed that replaced the ideology of the Middle Ages. The awakening came gradually. But in the XV-XVI centuries. all the diverse factors in the development of new public relations, ripening gradually, seemed to unite in a concentrated effort to overthrow feudalism and the church. The evolution of medieval society broke the resistance of outdated feudal-theocratic schemes, and they collapsed, making way for new trends, in which the entirety of social life and culture was evidence of the turning point. This complex and contradictory process was accompanied by two phenomena of world-historical significance: “Renaissance” (Renaissance) and “Reformation”. In both cases, these terms, designed to express the ideological essence of the revolution that took place, do not reveal the content of the concept: just as the Reformation was not a restoration of the original purity of Christian doctrine, so the Renaissance was not a revival of antiquity.
Paths of development of Italian architecture in the XV-XVI centuries.
How mobile and elusive is the final boundary of the architectural cycle of the Renaissance in Italy, its “Renaissance”, so clear and stable is the time line with which science - from Burckhardt to the present day - continues to mark its beginning. This is 1420, the appearance of Brunellesco's first building in "classical" forms (Ospedale degli Innocenti) and the beginning of the broad artistic movement "rinascimento" ("Renaissance") in the culture of Florence. Starting the history of Renaissance architecture in Italy from this date, the authors of this work rely, therefore, on the point of view already accepted in science, which is firmly based on a historical and architectural event of critical importance: the first and decisive appeal of the architecture of Florence (after the Gothic period) to Brunellesco's newly “discovered” system of the classical order. In its own way, the classical order recreated by the great Florentine marked the victory of new, scientific thinking in architecture. It seemed that the lost language of the architecture of antiquity itself had been rediscovered, its method and means, which the architects lacked to create that harmony, clarity and humanity of images, which the art of the beginning of the century strived for and which, in the eyes of the era itself, was a revival of the “ancient” beauty of architecture. The historical synchronicity of Brunellesco's innovative act in architecture and the creative discoveries of Brunellesco, Donatello and Masaccio in the visual arts based on the new scientific method (perspective, anatomy, chiaroscuro) lend credibility to the fact of the beginning of the Renaissance. However, in architecture, the renewal that came with the beginning of the "Rinascimento" at that moment was purely artistic and essentially did not affect its material, structural and typological foundations. Brunellesco's order reform was a typical architectural expression of the general change in the sphere of culture and ideology that marks the transition to the Renaissance.
Architecture of Tuscany, Umbria, Marches of the Early and High Renaissance (1420-1520)
One of the most advanced cities of medieval Italy and the earliest center of new urban culture, art and architecture was Florence. The planning diagram of Florence (Fig. 1) clearly reflects the main stages of the city's development. The core of the modern city dates back to the ancient period, where the rectangular layout characteristic of Roman camps with clearly identified cardo and decumanus (mutually perpendicular, intersecting main thoroughfares) and a central square at their intersection has been preserved. The medieval period is characterized by the main roads and streets converging in a radial manner towards the gates of the camp and neighborhoods with a separate public square and a separate cathedral ensemble that grew freely around the walls surrounding the ancient settlement. This territory was protected by a second row of walls, beyond which the city expanded during the period of economic prosperity that had begun (In Florence in the 14th century there were about 100,000 people: 30,000 artisan weavers, 300 shoemakers, 150 masons and carpet makers, 300 lawyers, 100 judges, 60 doctors, 100 pharmacists, 80 money changers, etc.). There is a ring of monasteries here, which gradually became the centers of individual areas of Florence. In the period from 1285 to 1388, the city was surrounded by a new ring of fortress walls, which were repeatedly reconstructed and updated in the following centuries. The diverse socio-economic functions of urban life, previously limited by the walls of the old city, were moved beyond its borders: new ensembles partially took over the functions of the main city center and themselves became the centers of growing peripheral areas. Along with this, the development of a new type of ensembles was planned, formed around the parish churches and palaces of the most noble families of the Medici, Rucellai, Pitti and others, whose majestic dwellings introduced a new scale to the development.
Filippo Brunellesco
Filippo Brunellesco (1377-1446) - the first great master of modern architecture, greatest artist, inventor and theoretical scientist. Filippo's father, the notary Ser Brunellesco di Lippo Lappi, intended him to become a notary, but at his son's request he was apprenticed to the jeweler Benincasa Lotti. In 1398, Brunellesco joined the workshop of silk spinners (which also included jewelers) and in 1404 received the title of master. In 1405-1409, 1411-1415, 1416-1417. Brunellesco traveled to Rome, where he studied architectural monuments. He began his creative activity as a sculptor and participated in a competition for the bronze doors of the Florentine Baptistery. At the same time he studied the laws of perspective; he is credited with paintings with illusory effects depicting the squares - the Cathedral and the Signoria (1410-1420). Brunellesco carried out a number of engineering and fortification works in Pisa, Lucca, Lastere, Rencina, Stage, Ferrara, Mantua, Rimini and Vicopisano. Architectural works of Brunellesco in or near Florence: the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore (1417-1446); Orphanage (since 1419); the church of San Lorenzo and the old Sacristia (from 1421) (the project was later reworked); Palazzo di Parte Guelph (design commissioned in 1425, construction - 1430-1442); Pazzi Chapel (from 1430); oratorio Santa Maria degli Angeli (after 1427); Church of San Spirito (started in 1436). In addition, the following buildings are associated with the name of Brunellesco: Palazzo Pitti (the project could have been completed in 1440-1444, built in the 1460s); Palazzo Pazzi (the project was commissioned in 1430, built in 1462-1470 by Benedetto da Maiano); the Barbadori Chapel in the Church of Santa Felicita (1420); Villa Pitti in Rusciano near Florence; the second courtyard of the monastery of Santa Croce (built according to a modified design by Brunellesco), the abbey in Fiesole (Bagia Fiesolana, rebuilt in 1456-1464 by Brunellesco's followers).
Michelozzo di Bartolomeo
Michelozzo di Bartolomeo (Michelozzo Michelozzi, 1396-1472) was born in Florence into the family of a tailor and in his youth worked at the mint. Later he collaborated with Ghiberti (in 1420-1424 he made the doors of the baptistery and the statue of St. Matthew in Or San Michele in Florence) and with Donatello (the external pulpit of the Cathedral in Prato, 1425-1438, the font of the Siena Baptistery, 1425, the tombs of Pope John XXIII in the Florentine Baptistery, circa 1427, and of Cardinal Brancacci in Naples, 1426). He executed the tombstone of Aragazzi (circa 1437) in the cathedral in Montepulciano. For a long time, Michelozzo was the court architect of the Medici family. Main architectural works: Palazzo Medici (Riccardi) in Florence (1444-1452); villas in Cafagiolo (1454) and in Careggi (1459); facade of the church of Sant'Agostino in Montepulciano (from 1432); reconstruction of the monastery, library and church of San Marco (1437-1451); work in the Church of Santissima Annunziata (1444-1455) in Florence, Palazzo Strozzino there (1457); the Medici Chapel of Santa Croce in Florence (circa 1445); tabernacles in the churches of San Miniato (1447-1448) and Santissima Annunziata (1448) in the same place; reconstruction of the courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence (from 1454); the Medici bank and possibly the Portinari Chapel in the Church of Sant'Eustorgio in Milan (1462-1468, see p. 147); reconstruction of the Prince's court in Dubrovnik (Ragusa, 1462-1464); the library of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, which has not survived to this day. Already Michelozzo's early works reveal his commitment to the architectural direction created by Brunellesco, and at the same time the originality of his talent, despite the borrowing of Brunellesco's architectural and constructive techniques. Having mastered the main features of the new style, its clear dissection, tectonicity and life-affirming force, Michelozzo at the same time simplified and made many of Brunellesco’s techniques more accessible. In the interiors, Michelozzo did not strive for the exquisite laconicism of Brunellesco, but for the richness and variety of decor. The same is noticeable in his architecture of small forms, the solution of which he often approached not as an architect, but rather as a sculptor.
Leon Battista Alberti
Leon Battista Alberti is one of the most gifted people of his time - an architect, painter, poet, musician, art theorist and scientist. Alberti was born in Genoa in 1404, died in Rome in 1472. He came from a noble Florentine family expelled from his hometown; educated in Padua and Bologna. After the amnesty of 1428 he settled in Florence, but lived for a long time in Rome under papal court. Architectural works: in Florence - Palazzo Rucellai (1446-1451), loggia and chapel Rucellai at the Church of San Pancrazio (finished in 1467), choir of the Church of Santissima Annunziata (1472-1477), facade of the Church of Santa Maria Novella ( 1456-1470); in Rimini - the Church of San Francesco (1450-1461, damaged during last war and has now been restored); in Mantua - the churches of San Sebastiano (1460-1472) and Sant Andrea (beginning 1472; the dome dates back to 1763); in Rome, Alberti is credited without sufficient grounds for the Palazzo Venice and the façade of the Church of San Marco, as well as participation in drawing up projects for the reconstruction of Rome under Pope Nicholas V. Alberti’s theoretical works are “Ten Books on Architecture”, “Three Books on Painting”, “On the Statue” , “Mathematical Fun”, etc. The treatise on the movement of weights has not survived to this day. Alberti is the author of a number of literary works - poems, dialogues. Alberti, as a theoretical scientist with an exceptionally broad understanding of the role of architecture in the development of society, was interested in his creative activity not so much in the detailed development of the compositions he had conceived and their implementation in kind, but rather in the problematic, typological side of each project, leaving their implementation to his assistants.
Bernardo Rossellino
Bernardo Rossellino, a member of the Gamberelli family of hereditary builders and sculptors, worked in Florence as an architect and sculptor. Rossellino (1409-1464) was the chief architect of the Florence Cathedral and completed the lantern of its dome. He also worked in Fabriano, Empoli and Pistoia. His architectural works: the facade of the Misericordia Church in Arezzo (1433-1435), Palazzo Rucellai in Florence (designed by Alberti 1446), the ensemble in Pienza (1459-1463). In Rome, Rossellino is credited with, in addition to not surviving works, for Pope Nicholas V and the choir of the Cathedral of St. Petra Palazzo Venice, facade of the Church of San Marco, Loggia San Pietro; in Siena - Palazzo Piccolomini and Palazzo Nerucci. Rossellino's most significant work is the ensemble of the town square in Pienza, a small Italian city named after Pope Pius II (Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini), who landscaped and reconstructed his hometown of Corsignano. According to the original plan, the entire city was to be rebuilt: the layout of streets was regulated, intersections were widened, and new houses were built. At the behest of Pius II, the prelates bought land in Pienza and built palaces in accordance with the general reconstruction project. In addition, in many cases, the facades of old houses were rebuilt according to the new fashion. However, the construction of the city was carried out intensively only for five years and was almost stopped after the death of the pope (1464).
Giuliano da Maiano. Benedetto da Maiano
Giuliano da Maiano, the son of a mason and carpenter, was an architect and master of wood carving. His brother - Benedetto da Maiano - Florentine sculptor, architect and woodcarver. Giuliano da Maiano (Giuliano Leonardo d'Antonio, 1432-1490) was born near Fiesole and died in Naples. In Florence, he ran a woodworking workshop where his brothers Benedetto and Giovanni worked. In 1477-1490 was the architect of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, in 1490 he took part in a competition for designs for the facade of the cathedral. Since 1466, Giuliano da Maiano worked mainly as an architect in Florence, Naples, Siena, Loreto and other cities: Palazzo Spannocchi (1473-1476) in Siena, Palazzo Pazzi Quaratesi in Florence (courtyard), Palazzo del Capitanio in Sarzana (rebuilt), Palazzo Venier in Recanata (courtyard loggia), Porta Capuana in Naples, the cathedral in Faenza, the Santa Fina Chapel in the city cathedral of San Gimignano, the courtyards of the monastery of Santa Fiore and Santa Lucilla in Arezzo. The portals of the churches of San Domenico and Sant'Agostino in Recanata (probably made by Lombard craftsmen) are attributed to him. Benedetto da Maiano (Benedetto di Leonardo da Maiano, 1442-1497) built the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence (from 1489) and the portico of the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie near Arezzo (around 1490).
Cronaca (Simone Pollaiuolo)
Among the architects who worked in Florence in the second half of the Quattrocento, Cronac occupies a prominent place. Cronaca (Simone Pollaiolo, 1457-1508) studied antiquity in Rome from 1475 to the mid-1480s, then returned to Florence. Architectural works: Palazzo Strozzi (courtyard and cornice), Palazzo Guadagni (1503-1506), Church of San Salvatore al Monte (1475-1504) in Florence, etc. His largest work is Palazzo Guadagni. The asymmetrical plan is due to the cramped site and the use of parts of the existing structure, as can be inferred from the varying thickness of the building's walls. Nevertheless, Kronaka achieved overall compositional clarity in a variety of interiors. He managed to preserve the traditional elements of the city palace: a small courtyard with loggias, a main entrance and reception rooms adjacent to the courtyard. A single-flight grand staircase leads from the entrance lobby to the upper floors. The fourth floor on the side of the main facade is occupied by a large open loggia. The stonework of the wall of the main facade is depicted through sgraffito and inlaid relief (it is possible that Kronak was inspired to use painted architectural decoration by similar interior paintings of ancient Roman monuments). The surface of the façade has been transformed, as it were, into a huge picturesque canvas: only the interfloor traction rods, imitating masonry, window casings and archivolts are in relief. The illusory nature forced the architect to introduce figurative tectonic elements, for example, wide rusticated pillars at the corners of the facade. They are finished with thin three-quarter columns cut into the corners, and the rusticated window casings have a keeled arched finish.
Giuliano da Sangallo
The most striking exponent of architectural trends of the second half of the 15th century. was Giuliano da Sangallo - architect, sculptor and engineer. Giuliano da Sangallo (1445-1516) was born into the family of Francesco Giamberto in Florence. He studied woodcarving (apparently with his brother Antonio da Sangallo the Elder) and worked in Florence, Rome, Milan, Naples, Perugia and many other cities in Italy, as well as in Southern France. He was the chief engineer in Florence (1497) and the chief architect of the construction of the Cathedral of St. Peter's in Rome (1514). Since 1503 - member of the guild of masons and carpenters. He worked together with Antonio da Sangallo (senior and junior), with Cronaca and B. d'Agnolo. Main buildings: Villa Poggio a Caiano (1480-1485); Church of the Madonna delle Carceri in Prato (1485-1491); in Florence - the Augustinian monastery (started in 1488), the sacristy of the Church of San Spirito (1488-1492) together with Cronaca, Palazzo Gondi (1490-1494), his own house (now Palazzo Panciatica Jimenez, 1490-1498 .), courtyard and facade of the church of Maddalena de'Pazzi (begun in 1492), Palazzo Strozzi (1489-1505) together with B. da Maiano and Cronaca; dome of the church in Loreto (1490-1500). He participated in the construction of fortifications in Val d'Elsa (1479), Sarzana (1483-1488), Borgo San Sepolcro, Cortona, Arezzo, Pisa and Livorno. (1509-1512). Basic architectural projects and models: model of a palace in Naples (1488); model of the Palazzo Strozzi (1489-1490); model of Lodovico Moro's palace in Milan (1492); model of the palace for Charles VIII (1494-1496); model of the gallery of the dome of the cathedral in Florence with Baccio d'Agnolo; Sapienza's project in Siena (1492); design of the Medici Palace in Piazza Navona in Rome (1513); six versions of the design of the facade of the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence (1515-1516); project of the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome (1467-1472).
Luciano da Laurana
Luciano di Martino da Laurana (circa 1425-1479) came from the town of Vrana, near Zadar. His Slavic name is Lucian of Vrana; There is no information about the year of his birth and activities in his homeland. In 1465 he was at the Sforza court in Pesaro and in the same year he moved to Mantua. In documents of 1467 he is referred to as the engineer and architect of the Duke of Urbino Federigo da Montefeltro. In 1468, Laurana was appointed chief architect of the Urbino palace. In 1472, for unknown reasons, he left Urbino and became the chief of artillery of King Ferrante in Naples. In addition to the Urbino Palace, Laurana is considered, without reliable grounds, to be the author of the Palazzo Prefetizzio in Pesaro (Fabrizzi, Willich). Laurana is credited with the so-called vedata - paintings depicting an ideal city; Among the sculptural works are some fireplaces of the Urbino palace (A. Venturi). Laurana's largest work is the Palazzo Ducale in Urbino. The composition of this complex is complicated by its dual purpose - a ceremonial palace and a fortified ducal residence, as well as the presence of an old medieval palace and fortifications that had to be included in the new ensemble located on a hill.
Francesco di Giorgio Martini
Francesco di Giorgio Martini in his youth worked in his homeland, Siena, mainly as a painter and builder of fortresses. In Urbino he worked as a military engineer and architect for about ten years. Later he built in Gubbio, Iesi and Ancona. He spent his last years in his homeland, traveling to Naples and Milan, where he met Leonardo da Vinci during an examination of the construction of the cathedral. At the end of his life he wrote an architectural treatise. Main architectural works: supervision of the construction of the Urbino palace according to Laurana's design and, probably, independent decoration of some rooms (1475-1480), palace in Gubbio (1476-1479), Palazzo degli Ancisni in Ancona (1486), Palazzo del Comune in Iesi (1486), the church of San Bernardino near Urbino (between 1482 and 1491), the church of Santa Maria del Calcinaio near Cortona (1485). Some authors attribute to him, along with Laurana, the construction of the Palazzo Prefettizio in Pesaro. Francesco built on the towers of the main facade of the Urbino palace, completed hanging garden, the eastern facade was continued to the south and the construction of a courtyard began, called Cortile del Pasquino, with a seven-arch loggia partially laid down later. He should also be credited with the rich frames of windows and portals in different parts of the palace in the form of two fluted pilasters bearing a complete three-part entablature. Under his leadership, the interior of the palace was also more luxuriously decorated in accordance with the changing tastes of the owner.
Architecture of Venice during the Early and High Renaissance (1420-1520)
New trends in the architecture of Venice appeared only in the last quarter of the 15th century. Until this time, it was influenced by the medieval building traditions of the cities of the northern coast of the Adriatic (Padua, etc.), Byzantium and, to a large extent, the East. Therefore, the first three quarters of the 15th century. in Venice received the widespread name of "Venetian Gothic", while the last quarter of this century is usually called the "early Venetian Renaissance". The boundaries between these periods are not always clearly defined (cf. Fig. 4, 6, 7.). Venice was the largest trade intermediary between the West and the East, which contributed to the rapid economic prosperity and political independence of this trade and aristocratic republic and led to the establishment of strong cultural ties with a number of countries in the Near and Middle East. These features of the development of Venice caused the appearance in its architecture in the 11th-14th centuries. various types religious buildings: five-domed, centric, basilica and others. A significant role in the addition characteristic features Natural conditions played a role in Venetian architecture - construction was possible only on islands or in shallow parts of the lagoon, where structures were erected on stilts. This was expressed not only in the light appearance of buildings, built mainly of brick, but also in the urban plan, characterized by a lack of regularity, narrow streets, the functions of which were mainly transferred to canals, and unusually crowded buildings (Fig. 1, 2). Residential buildings stood close to the sides of the canals, and the open nature of their facades with loggias and frequent windows was determined by the island position of the city, protected by the sea.
Architecture of Rome during the Early Renaissance
Throughout the 15th century. In Rome, there was an ongoing struggle of the papacy against the Roman nobility and the exhausted cities of Italy, which met the head of the church returning from Avignon with a series of anti-papal uprisings. The most powerful patrician families, who owned vast lands in Latium, made Rome the scene of political battles for power; in the 15th century, as before, they repeatedly opposed one or another pope, demagogically leading uprisings of the townspeople (for whom the outdated city commune still retained its former aura of democracy) with the goal of seizing the papal throne or profitable church positions. Individual representatives of the Roman nobility and the pope turned for support to foreign rulers: the Spanish and French royal houses, which were at odds over the Neapolitan inheritance and were always ready to seize Italian cities and areas that were consequently subjected to constant plunder. Moments of calm were again replaced by strife. In this difficult situation, small Italian cities gradually lost their economic power and political independence. By the end of the 15th century. Five largest states were formed around Milan, Florence, Venice, Rome and Naples. But the commercial, industrial and usurious centers - Milan, Florence and Venice - gradually lost foreign markets, while at the same time the Roman church state became increasingly stronger politically. The importance of Rome in social and artistic life grew rapidly. The secularization of ideology has penetrated far, threatening the main sources of income for the curia. Humanism and the revival of positive knowledge were shaking the dilapidated worldview of the church. Therefore, the most far-sighted representatives of the papacy with great determination tried to use those moods of society that they were powerless to overcome (flexibility and opportunism have always been characteristic of Catholicism). Humanists are beginning to be widely attracted to work in the Curia; from the second half of the 15th century. Rome hastily exchanged its medieval clothes for new ones. By the end of the century, huge funds and all the fullness of political power in Rome and in the vast domains that depended on it were again concentrated in the hands of the popes.
Architecture of Milan and Lombardy during the Early and High Renaissance (1420-1520)
Along with tectonicism, monumental constructiveness and strict clarity of thought, characteristic of the main, most important and life direction In Italian Quattrocento architecture, another movement developed in it, characterized by an insatiable thirst for decorative richness and love for detail. While the first current, outlined with amazing force by Brunellesco, continued in the works of Alberti, Giuliano and Antonio da Sangallo, Luciano da Laurana and Francesco di Giorgio Martini and gradually covered central Italy, reaching Mantua in the north, the second direction, emanating from Lombardy and by the middle of the century, having penetrated (as shown above) into Venice, was limited to northern Italy. This was reflected in the persistent adherence to traditional methods and forms of Northern Italian Gothic. A new worldview, an intoxication with life and a joyful admiration of the world in all its many colors were clearly expressed here in the indomitable extravagance, abundance of decoration and polychrome, for the sake of which architects often sacrificed the tectonic clarity of their buildings. The free combination of Romanesque, Gothic, Byzantine and early Christian architectural forms gave rise to a unique, heterogeneous, sometimes atectonic, but captivating in its picturesque northern version of Italian Quattrocento architecture, which reached its apogee in the Colleoni Chapel in Bergamo and in the Pavia Certosa. In the last quarter of the 15th century. a sharp change occurred in northern Italian architecture, the history of which is insufficiently studied, and the significance is often underestimated. The buildings of this period speak of serious changes in the tastes of society and the builders themselves, who were returning from a passion for decoration to deeper and more meaningful problems. In Lombardy, they began to persistently develop a centric monumental type of composition, previously found only in the work of Tuscan masters.
Donato Bramante (Milan. Lombardy)
Donato Bramante (1444-1514) was born in Monte Asdrualdo (now Fermignano) near Urbino. In 1477, Bramante participated in the painting of the facade of the Palazzo del Podesta in Bergamo. In Milan, he also first engaged in painting. From 1482 to 1486, Bramante reconstructed the church of Santa Maria Presso San Satiro (a project possibly begun in 1478); from 1492 he rebuilt the cross and apses of the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (until 1497), the courtyards of the canons and the monastery of Sant'Ambrogio (work was interrupted in 1499). In addition, he carried out painting and many engineering works on the reconstruction of the ducal castle of Carmagnola (1491) and the fortification of Crevola in the Ossola valley (1498), participated together with Cristofor Rocchi in the examination, reworking of the design and construction of the cathedral in Pavia (1487- 1488 - until approximately 1492), participated in the discussion of problems associated with the dome of the Milan Cathedral. In 1493 Bramante left Milan. After his return, he erected a chapel in the Church of San Francesco, the Palazzo delle Dame and a loggia at the ducal residence in Vigevano; It is believed that the castle tower and the square surrounded by arcades in front of it were also made according to his design. In 1497 Bramante began the façade of the cathedral of Abbiategrasso, which remained unfinished. In 1499, after the capture of Milan by the French and the fall of Sforza, Bramante moved to Rome, where he was initially busy painting, sketching and measuring ancient monuments. The first architectural works were the courtyard of the monastery of Santa Maria della Pace (1500-1504) and the bell tower of the church of Santa Maria del Anima. At the same time, Bramante built the palace of Cardinal Riario (Cancelleria) and the church of San Lorenzo in Damaso. In 1502 he built the Tempietto in the courtyard of the Church of San Pietro in Montorio. Bramante's largest creation is the Cathedral of St. Peter, which he was engaged in, apparently, from 1505 until his death. Of his works, the Belvedere courtyard in the Vatican should be highlighted (project since 1503, construction completed after Bramante’s death), as well as the octagonal courtyard and spiral staircase-ramp at the Villa Innocent VIII. Other works by Bramante in Rome: the choir of the church of Santa Maria del Popolo (1509), the building of the papal tribunal with the church of San Biagio della Pagnotta (not completed), the courtyard of San Damaso in the Vatican (1510, completed by Raphael), his own house (demolished in the 17th century), the church of San Celso e Giuliano (1510-1514). Bramante also advised on the construction of fortifications in Imola, Foligno, etc.
Architecture of Rome during the High Renaissance (first quarter of the 16th century)
By the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries. The once advanced Italian cities, which gave birth to new urban culture and new architecture, experienced economic stagnation and profound social changes. Italy's domestic markets were limited, and external markets were narrowed due to Turkish conquests and the development of industry in other European countries. Trade, and with it industry, fell, and the leading role in the Italian states passed from bankers and merchants to feudal rulers and the landed nobility. All this, combined with the wars that rocked the country since the last decade of the 15th century, led to a noticeable limitation in the demand for works of art and to a sharp curtailment of construction activity. Architects, carvers and other masters of construction, as well as artists, flocked from different cities to the courts of the most prosperous rulers. During the first two decades of the 16th century. the center of the architectural process in Italy moved to the capital of the papal state - to Rome. The cardinals and the papal curia were the most stable clients for artists and builders in those years. But best artists and the architects of Italy were drawn to Rome not only in the hope of generous nobles. The wars of conquest that ravaged the scattered states of the country led to a short-lived rise in national self-awareness, which had previously only been visible among a few leading figures of Italian culture. The Papal State, as the center of the international Catholic Church, was seen by many as the core of Italy around which it could unite. Elements of national identity in Italy were manifested both in art and in the tendency towards a unified architectural style. Among the best and most advanced people of that time, the unity of culture was inextricably linked with the idea of political unification. This idea was also more or less consciously present in the sermons of Savonarola (1452-1498), who, relying on the petty bourgeoisie and the poor, ruled Florence for almost ten years and called in vain for church reform and to the purification of morals for the sake of saving the fatherland, in the activities and writings of Machiavelli (1469-1527), who sought salvation in the unlimited dictatorship of the ideal “prince,” and, finally, even in the shameless policy of Pope Alexander VI and his son, famous for his atrocities, Caesar Borgia, who dreamed of becoming the head of a unified Italian empire.
Donato Bramante (Rome)
At the beginning of the 16th century. The papacy allocated huge funds for construction to improve and decorate the city, to build new streets, etc. One after another, architects, artists, sculptors, woodcarvers, and stone masons came here. In addition to the elderly Giuliano da Sangallo and Fra Giocondo who lived in Rome, Donato Bramante, Baldassare Peruzzi, Rafael Santi, Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Michelangelo Buonarotti, Andrea and Jacopo Sansovino, Giovanni da Udine and others came here; The Roman Giulio Romano also worked here. Among these masters, Bramante occupied a special place, who played the same fundamental role in the culminating stage of the development of humanistic architecture as Brunellesco played in the initial one. The earliest of the Roman buildings with which the name Bramante is associated is the Palazzo Cancelleria (1483-1526), the first Roman building of general Italian significance and one of the most majestic and austere palaces of the capital (it received its name from the papal office, which was soon placed in it after completion of construction). The highest achievement of the Roman Quattrocento and the first work of the new century, an example of a fully mature “classical” style of the Renaissance, Cancelleria remains a mystery to historians who have not yet come to an agreement regarding its author and the share of Bramante’s possible participation in its creation. Before understanding this issue, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the structure itself.
Rafael Santi
Rafael Santi, greatest painter, who worked in Rome with Bramante during 1514-1520, was undoubtedly the most important architect in Italy. Raphael (1483-1520) was born in Urbino, one of the cultural and artistic centers of Italy. From 1500, Raphael worked in the workshop of Perugino, where in 1504 he painted The Betrothal of Mary (Sposalicio, now in the Brera Museum in Milan); in 1505 he moved to Florence, where he completed many paintings. The exact time of Raphael's move to Rome is not known, but in October 1509 he received a permanent position as “apostolic painter” at the court of Pope Julius II, who commissioned him to paint the papal rooms (stanzas) in the Vatican. Stanza called della Segnatura, with frescoes "Disputation", "School of Athens" (Fig. 18), "Parnassus", and "Three Virtues" (1509-1511), and a second stanza, frescoes of which depict "The Expulsion of Heliodorus" , "Mass at Bolsena", "Release of the Apostle Peter from Prison" and "Meeting of Pope Leo I with Attila" (1511-1514), were remarkable achievements of monumental realism in painting and its synthesis with architecture. The frescoes of the third stanza were largely executed by the master's students based on his drawings. The fourth stanza, the so-called “Hall of Constantine,” was completed by the students after the death of Raphael (1517-1525). To the first architectural works Raphael's works include the church of Sant Eligio degli Orefici (begun in 1509) and the chapel of the Agostino Chigi family in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo (1512-1520). From 1514, after the death of Bramante, Raphael's architectural activity became more intense, he was appointed head of the construction of the Cathedral of St. Peter (from April 1514 - temporarily, from August - in consultation with Fra Giocondo, from July 1515 - chief architect), participated in the competition for the facade of the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence, completed the construction of the courtyard of San Damaso in the Vatican, begun by Bramante, while simultaneously painting together with the students of his Loggia (graduated in 1519). Raphael did a lot of work for Chigi: in addition to participating in the construction of the Villa Farnesina (started in 1509; many researchers attribute it entirely to Raphael) and in its paintings (The Triumph of Galatea, 1515; plafond with the story of Psyche, 1518), he built several more buildings in the same area of Trastevere, of which only the stables on Lungara Street are partially preserved. IN last years During the life of Raphael, according to his drawings, several palaces were built by various masters: Palazzo Vidoni-Caffarelli; Palazzo da Brescia and Palazzo del L'Aquila in Rome (finished in 1520); Palazzo Pandolfini in Florence (1516-1520). Construction of the Villa Madama began near Rome (from 1517). In August 1515, Raphael, who had been interested in studying ancient monuments since his arrival in Rome, was appointed guardian of Roman antiquities in place of the deceased Fra Giocondo.
Baldassare Peruzzi
Baldassare Peruzzi, a painter, decorator and architect who worked in Rome at the same time as Bramante and Raphael, is usually mentioned in the history of architecture as one of the masters of the High Renaissance. Peruzzi (1481-1536) was born in Siena, where he painted, probably as an assistant to Pinturicchio, the chapel of San Giovanni in the cathedral (1501) and built the courtyard of the oratory of St. Catherine. He began his first period in Rome (1503-1527) with studying and sketching ancient monuments. Peruzzi carried out numerous painting, architectural and decorative works: painting the chapel in the Church of St. Onufria (together with Pietro d'Andrea from Volterra), the construction of the Villa Farnesina (1509-1511) and the painting of the hall on its second floor, the facade of the church of San Pietro in Montorio, the painting of the Ponzetti Chapel in the church of Santa Maria della Pace (1516-1517 gg.), model of the dome of the cathedral and fortifications in Carpi (1515-1520), design of the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini (participation in the competition of 1520), drawings of costumes and scenery for the performance of the comedy “Calandras” (1520), drawings and model of the facade of the Cathedral of San Petronio in Bologna (1522), the construction of a villa for Cardinal Trivulzio near Tivoli (1521-1524), plans for the Caprarola Castle (same years), construction of the Palazzo Spada (1523-1530) and Ossoli (c. 1525) in Rome. Since 1520, Peruzzi was appointed coadjutor of the construction of the Cathedral of St. Petra. During the sack of Rome, Peruzzi was captured and released for ransom, after which he returned to Siena, where he was appointed chief architect of the republic (from July 1527) and worked on the construction of fortifications and the cathedral (from 1529). Since 1534, Peruzzi was appointed chief architect of the Cathedral of St. Peter and began construction of the Palazzo Massimi (1535). In Montepulciano he built the Palazzo Ricci and Contucci. According to Vasari, Peruzzi began a book on Roman antiquities and commented on Vitruvius.
One of the first buildings of the Renaissance is the Dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence (1420-1436). Architect Brunelleschi Phillipi (1377-1446)
The 15th and 16th centuries, thanks to geographical discoveries, became a turning point in the history of European civilization. Grew up world trade, crafts developed, the urban population increased, and construction volumes increased. Science, literature, and art developed. Italian Renaissance architecture was also driven by economic growth, as well as the weakening influence of the church. The name of the style was given by the artist, a researcher of Italian art, who wrote the book “Lives of the most famous painters, sculptors and architects” (1568) by Giordano Vasari. From his point of view, which was supported by the majority of architects of that time, the Middle Ages were a period of decline, characterized by the barbarism of the tribes that destroyed The Roman Empire, and with it ancient art. It was he who wrote about the revival of Italian art, viewing the Middle Ages as a period of ignorance that followed the collapse of ancient art. Later, the term came to be used to designate the era of the emergence of a new style of art that arose in Italy in the 16th century, and then became fashionable in other European countries.The aesthetics of the Renaissance turned man's gaze to nature.Art Ancient Rome formed the basis of the artistic culture of that period. It should be noted that certain elements of ancient architecture were also used in the Middle Ages. For example, individual fragments of antiquity are found in buildings from the Carolingian Renaissance period; They also exist in the so-called “Ottonian period” at the end of the 10th century. (this was a time of cultural upsurge in Germany under the Ottonian emperors of the Saxon dynasty). Elements of antiquity can also be seen in the Gothic architecture of Germany. Unlike medieval architects, the masters of architecture of the Italian Renaissance tried to reflect in their architecture the very ancient philosophy characteristic of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome: admiration for the beauty of nature and man, a realistic worldview. Renaissance architecture in Italy is characterized by symmetry, proportionality, and strict order systems. Not only churches, but also public buildings are built in this style: educational institutions, town halls, houses of merchant guilds, markets. In the 16th century, new types of urban and country palaces appeared in Italy - palazzo and villa. The composition of customers also changed: in the Middle Ages, the main customers were the church and feudal lords; now orders come from guild associations, guilds, city authorities, and the nobility.
Founder of Italian Renaissance architecture
The architect and sculptor Filippo Brunelleschi is considered the founding father of Renaissance architecture.
The first building of Italian Renaissance architecture was the dome of the Florence Cathedral (1420-1436). In the design of this dome, Brunelleschi embodied new construction ideas that would have been difficult to implement without specially developed mechanisms. During the same period, in 1419-1444, Brunelleschi was engaged in the construction of an educational home for orphans - the “Shelter for the Innocents”.
Orphanage (1419-1444) Architect Brunelleschi
The Law of Linear Perspective Means Feature human perception distant objects, their proportions and shapes.
It was one of the first buildings in Italy whose design resembled the buildings of antiquity. It is Brunelleschi who is credited with the discovery of the law of linear perspective, the revival of ancient orders in the architecture of the Italian Renaissance. Thanks to his work, proportions again became the basis of new architecture; he was responsible for the revival of the use of the “golden ratio” in architecture, which made it possible to achieve harmony in architectural structures. Thus, Brunelleschi revived ancient traditions in Renaissance architecture in Italy, taking them as a basis when creating a new type of architecture. Brunelleschi's ideas coincided with new directions in the philosophy of society: in this period, medieval prohibitions and contempt for everything earthly were replaced by an interest in reality and man.
The golden ratio is a mathematical concept, in architecture it means the relationship between two quantities (one larger in size, the other smaller) contained in a common value. In this case, the ratio of the larger quantity to the smaller corresponds to the ratio of the general quantity to the larger of the two related quantities. Such a ratio was first discovered by Euclid (300 BC). During the Renaissance, the ratio was called the “divine proportion”, the modern name appeared in 1835. The ratio between quantities in the golden ratio is a constant number 1.6180339887.
Periods in Italian Renaissance architecture
There are several stages in the development of the Renaissance in Italian architecture: early - 15th century, mature - 16th century and late. In the early period, elements of Gothic were still present in architecture, combined with ancient forms, and in the mature period, elements of the Gothic style are no longer found, preference is given to architectural orders and proportional forms; in the late period of the Renaissance, the spirit of the new Baroque style is already felt. Early period. The main principle of the Italian Renaissance was the symmetry of the structure in plan, uniform distribution architectural elements: portals, columns, doors, windows, sculptural compositions and decor around the perimeter of the facade. Renaissance architecture in Italy early period Its development is mainly associated with Florence. It was here that in the 15th century palaces for the nobility, temple buildings, public buildings. In Florence, in 1420, the architect Filippo Brunelleschi began erecting the dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore; in 1421, he rebuilt San Lorenzo and worked on the construction of a chapel - the Old Sacristy. In 1444 Brunelleschi completed the construction of the Orphanage. The Pazzi Chapel in Florence, also the work of Brunelleschi, is considered one of the most elegant buildings of the early Renaissance. The chapel is crowned with a dome on a drum; the building is decorated with a Corinthian portico with a wide arch.
The Church of San Lorenzo (Basilica di San Lorenzo) was consecrated by St. Ambrosius in 393. In 1060 it was rebuilt in the Romanesque style. In 1423 it was rebuilt by Brunelleschi in the early Renaissance style.
In 1452, the architect Michelozzi completed the construction of the Medici Palace (Palazzo Medici Riccardi) in Florence. Alberti designs the Rucellai Palace (Palazzo Rucellai, designed in 1446 and 1451), Benedetto de Maiano and Simon Polayola complete the Strozzi Palace (Palazzo Strozzi, 1489-1539).
Michelozzi - (Michelozzo, Michelozzi, 1391 (1396) - 1472) - Florentine architect and sculptor, student of Brunelleschi.
Alberti Leon Battista - (Alberti, 1404-1472), Italian scientist, architect, writer, musician. In his creations he made extensive use of the ancient heritage, using volutes and the order system.
Benedetto da Maiano - real name: Benedetto da Leonardo d'Antonio (Benedetto da Maiano), 1442 - 1497) - Italian sculptor. Simone del Pollaiolo (1457 - 1508) - Florentine architect. High Renaissance.
Medici Palace. Architect Michelozzi. Built for Cosimo de' Medici il Vecchio between 1444 and 1464.
Rucellai Palace - commissioned by philanthropist Giovanni Rucellai. Project by Leon Baptiste Alberti 1446-1451. Erected by Bernardo Rossellino
Strozzi Palace. The building was built by Benedetto de Maiano commissioned by Filippo Strozzi in 1489-1539. The model was the Medici Palace (Palazzo Medici-Riccardi) Michelozzi
These buildings have a general spatial solution scheme. Each of them has three floors and a courtyard with arched galleries. The walls have floor divisions, are rusticated or decorated with an order. The façade is lined with brickwork.
Michelozzi - (Michelozzo, Michelozzi, 1391 (1396) - 1472) - Florentine architect and sculptor, student of Brunelleschi. Alberti Leon Battista - (Alberti, 1404-1472), Italian scientist, architect, writer, musician. In his creations he made extensive use of the ancient heritage, using volutes and the order system. Benedetto da Maiano - real name: Benedetto da Leonardo d'Antonio (Benedetto da Maiano), 1442 - 1497) - Italian sculptor. Simone del Pollaiolo (1457 - 1508) - Florentine architect. High Renaissance.
Italy's trade with the East was interrupted at the end of the 15th century due to the Turkish conquest of Constantinople. As trade died out, the country's economy collapsed. And it was during this period that High Renaissance architecture began to develop. This style reaches particular heights in Rome, where great architects formed a general approach to the construction of buildings based on the use of architectural orders. High Renaissance architecture is characterized by cubic shapes of houses and an internal closed courtyard. On the facades, relief window frames were made, decorated with half-columns and having triangular and bow pediments. Donato de Angelo Bramante (Bramante, 1444-1514) - one of the most famous masters Italian High Renaissance architecture. His work was developed in Milan, which was considered a conservative city, where the traditions of brick construction and terracotta decoration were preserved. During the same period, Leonardo da Vinci worked in Milan, and his work undoubtedly influenced the works of Bramante. The architect managed to connect national traditions with Renaissance elements. Bramante's first work was in 1479 the restoration of the church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro in Milan.
Church of Santa Maria presso San Satino in Milan (1479-1483) Architect Donato de' Angelo Bramante
He also rebuilt the chapel of San Satino: the architect made a round, decorated one from a cruciform building decorative elements. After moving to Rome, Bramante built the Temple of Tempietto (monastery of San Pietro in Mantorio) in 1502, and designed the courtyard of the church of Santa Maria della Paci.
Temple of Tempietto. Architect Bramante
In 1505, Bramante, who held the position of chief architect, began working on the papal palace complex Belvedere, a residence next to the Vatican. His works include the Palazzo Caprini - the House of Raphael - designed around 1510, in 1517 it was purchased by Raphael. The house has not survived to this day.
Palazzo Caprini in an engraving by Antoine Lafrerie. Architect Bramante
Rafael Santi (Raffaello Santi, Raffaello Sanzio, Rafael, Raffael da Urbino, Rafaelo, 1483 -1520) - Italian painter and architect.
In the last years of his life, the architect was designing St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The architectural elements and techniques used by the architect were used by the masters of the Italian Renaissance in the construction of villas and city buildings. After Bramante great fame During the development of High Renaissance architecture, Raphael used it.
Raphael's first project was the Church of Sant'Eligio degli Orefici (Chiesa di S. Eligio degli Orefici, early 16th century. Subsequently, the church was rebuilt. The dome was created by B. Peruzzi, the current facade is by F. Ponzio (17th century)).
Church of Sant'Eligio degli Orifici
By order of the papal banker Chigi, he added a chapel to the church of Santa Maria Del Popolo. In the Palazzo del Aquila, he created a new type of facade: at the bottom there was an order arcade, the mezzanine was framed by windows, niches with sculptures, and stucco.
In the Palazzo Landolfini in Florence, the architect came up with another type of façade design: widely spaced, richly decorated windows, combined with smoothly plastered walls, complemented by a cornice with a wide frieze, rusticated corners and a portal. Raphael designed the Villa Madama for Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, who later became Pope Clement VII. The villa was built on the slope of Monte Mario on the west bank of the Tiber River north of the Vatican. Work began in 1518, and Raphael died in 1520. The villa remained unfinished: by this time only one U-shaped wing had been completed. The villa was left unfinished and only the completed part was used. The building received its current name in honor of Margatha of Parma, the wife of Pope Clement the Seventh’s nephew, Alexander de’ Medici, the first Duke of Tuscany.
Villa Madama - country villa of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici (Pope Clement the Seventh)
Since 1514, Raphael led the project for the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral. Then the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral, the construction of which resumed in 1534, was led by Antonio da Sagallo the Younger, after whom the leadership passed to Michelangelo, whose arrival served as an impetus for the development of the later stage in the architecture of the Italian Renaissance. This stage was marked by various architectural experiments with shapes, the frequency of columns and other architectural elements on the facade, the complication of details, and the appearance of complex lines. Since 1530, after the sack of Rome, the process of development of Italian Renaissance architecture took other directions. Some architects tried to restore the lost grandeur of the Eternal City: for example, Peruzzi, Antonio da Sangallo Jr. - representatives of the older generation of Renaissance architects, returned to Rome after its fall and tried to find a compromise between ancient principles and new trends.
Peruzzi - Peruzzi Baldassare (1481-1536) Italian artist and architect. Worked with Donato Bramante and Raphael. Peruzzi in his work combined the traditions of the High Renaissance with the ideas of mannerism. Antonio da Sangallo Jr. - (Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane; 1484 -1546 real name Antonio Cordini (Italian Antonio Cordini)) - Florentine architect of the Renaissance. Researchers also attribute him to the founders of the Baroque style due to the creation of unusual structures: for example, the façade with a forward slope in the Zecca Vecchia (Banco di Spirito), the arched plinth of the Palazzo Farnese.
Other masters began to look for other ways in their work. In the mid-16th century, a group appeared in Tuscany, uniting masters whose work belongs to the movement of mannerism. Many representatives of this group were students of Michelangelo, however, borrowing some from him artistic techniques, they exaggerated and hypertrophied them, while the violation of some canons of the ancient style, which was an expression of the plans of the great master, became an end in itself for them. Italian Renaissance architects borrowed characteristic techniques and elements of Roman architecture into their designs. classical architecture, using them not only in temples, but also in urban ones, country houses wealthy citizens, public buildings. The plan of the buildings was determined by rectangular shapes, symmetry, proportionality, the facade was symmetrical about the vertical axis, decorated with pilasters, cornice, arches, and topped with a pediment. The development of Italian Renaissance architecture was characterized by the appearance building materials and technologies, architects now have a personal recognizable style which made them famous. Renaissance architecture in Italy went through a full stage of development - from early to late, which created the preconditions for the emergence of a new style - Baroque. Thanks to the art of Italian architects, Renaissance architecture conquered all of Europe.
