RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE IN ITALY (Florence)15TH – 19TH CENTURY

PREPARED BY: JUZZ

RENAISSANCE -also known as ‘’REBIRTH’’ or ‘’REVIVAL’’ of the ROMAN CLASSICAL ARTS.

-the architecture of the curve lines.

- FLORENCE, ITALY – birth place of RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE.

SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS OF THE STYLE IN RENAISSANCE1.REINTRODUCTION OF THE FIVE CLASSICAL ROMAN ORDERS OF ARCHITECTUREA. doricB. ionicC. corinthianD. compositeE. tuscan2. USED OF THE RUSTICATED MASONRY3. PARAPETS ARE USAULLY WITH BALUSTERS4. DOME ON A DRUM

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

OF RENAISSANCE

dignity and formality shown through ‘’symmetry’’

Periods of development of Renaissance

A. ITALIAN RENAISSANCE1. Early Period – Transition Period2. High Renaissance or Proto-Baroque Period3. Baroque Perioda. Neo-classical or Antiquarian Phase

GEOGRAPHICALItaly is divided into three centers of developmentFLORENCE- influence by Bramante. Florence was more than a city, being, in fact, one of the powers of Italy, although its dominions included only a small part of Central Italy. The activity and influence of the Florentines caused a Pope to declare that they were the fifth element.

ROME- central position made use of existing classical buildings. It follows old rules.

VENICE- Influenced by Andrea Palladio

GEOLOGICAL

FLORENCE- The quarries of Tuscany supplied large blocks of stone and marble, which, being near the surface, were easily obtained for building purposes, and the monumentalcharacter and massiveness of these materials considerably influenced the style of the architecture.

CLIMATIC1. bright and sunny- small windows

2. structure dictated upon by climate cortile, colonnade, low pitched roof

RELIGIOUSFLORENCE- produced the great Dominican preacher, Savonarola, whose reforming energy divided the city, and swayed its policy. He looked to the French king to call a general council to reform the Church. In art he tended to the Puritan theory, and although suppressed by the Pope, his influence on the minds of his generation was not lost, the Sistine frescoes bearing witness to his power over Michael Angelo.

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

1. Medici family was the patron of artists Brunelleschi, Michellozzo, Lippi, Donatello, Massaccio

2. Community rivalry resulted in fortification. As rival parties in the city were engaged in constant hostilities, safety and defense were primary motives in building, the palacesbeing in reality semi -fortresses.

Historical Influence

-The renaissance marked a great cultural change throughout Europe and is viewed as a bridge between the medieval and modern ages.- Scholars schooled in literature, notably he  intellectual movement known as the humanists, rediscovered Greek and Latin texts and began to teach Latin literature. Beginning in Italy the new thinking eventually spread to the rest of Europe. 

- Florence was a major financial center and was dominated by the Medici family for around sixty years, The Medici became patrons of art and lie at the heart of the early Renaissance. Almost all of the art of the period has a religious theme with scenes from the bible taking prominence-.The Medici family was one of the wealthiest in Europe, and were the most important family to patronize the arts in Renaissance Italy.- The Plague  The black death swept across Europe in the fourteenth century, and it has been estimated that one third of the population died as a result of this pandemic. The result was that the innovation started by Giotto was not taken up again until much later by such artists as Masaccio, Donatello,and Brunelleschi.

-The printing press and availability of books The printing press was invented by Gutenberg who lived in Strasbourg in the 1440's. Before the printing press written works had been confined to manuscripts, Gutenberg's invention led to the production of affordable books that could be widely distributed on a scale that had been unimaginable previously. - In terms of painters, the renaissance artists developed realistic liner perspective, developed by Brunelleschi and executed by artists such as Masaccio, they studied light and shadow in the search for realism in their work.

-The Italian Renaissance gave rise to many innovations in medicine and science and literature. The generation of artists after 1500 culminated in the flowering of the arts known as the High Renaissance and included such greats as Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael.

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERThree main parts of renaissance in Italy1. Early Period – Transition Period from gothic 15th century; famous architect is Filippo Brunelleschi2. High Renaissance or Proto-Baroque Period- mannerist phase – 16th century ; famous architect is Bartolomeo Ammanati3. Baroque Period – Neo-Classical or Antiquarian Phase – 17th and early 18th century; best known architect is Bartolome Bianco.

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES1. columns and twisted shafts2. curved and broken pediment3. huge wavy scroll

ARCHITECTS AND THEIR WORKS! FLORENCE ITALY

1. FILIPO BRUNELLESCHI (1377-1448) – was one of the foremost architects and engineers of the Italian Renaissance. He is perhaps most famous for his discovery of perspective and for engineering the dome of the Florence Cathedral, but his accomplishments also include other architectural works, sculpture, mathematics, engineering and even ship design. His principal surviving works are to be found in Florence,Italy.

Dome of Florence Cathedral

Dome of Florence Cathedral – was Brunelleschi's principal work, his design being accepted in competition. It is said that it was constructed without any centering, with voussoirs having horizontal joints. It covers an octagonal apartment 138 feet 6 inches in diameter, and is raised upon an octagonal drum in which are circular windows lighting the interior. The dome itself is constructed of inner and outer shells, and is pointed in form, being constructed on a Gothic principle with eight main ribs and sixteen intermediate ribs.

San Lorenzo, Florence - San Lorenzo was consecrated in 393 AD and one of the many churches that claims to be the oldest in Florence. 

San Spiritu, Florence originally Basilican later converted into Latin cross by addition into wide trancepts. The church of Santo Spirito founded in 1250 received its present form in the 15th century when it was built after a model by Brunelleschi who had conceived it as a twin to the church of San Lorenzo. The facade however was never finished and is still only a rough plastered wall with an undefined silhouette at the top.

San Spiritu, Florence

Palazzo Pitti, Florence – second largest palace in Italy, symmetrically planned, central contile by Amanati, façade of astylar treatment.

Palazzo Quaratesi, Florence – rusticated walls and windows with central shaft and sub-arches recalling Gothic tracery

The Pazzi Chapel, Florence (A.D.1420) is a refined example of his smaller works, consisting of a dome over a square compartment, which is entered through an open colonnade of six columns supporting a decorated vault and forming the front facade.

2. Alberti (1404- 1472) Italian humanist, architect, and principal initiator of Renaissance art theory. In his personality, works, and breadth of learning, he is considered the prototype of the Renaissance “universal man.”... 

Santa Maria Novella, Florence (A.D. 1470), was one of the first churches in which consoles were placed in the facade over the side aisles to connect them with the nave.

Palazzo Rucellai, Florence- (A.D. 1451-1455) is known as the first Renaissance building in which superimposed pilasters were used, and shows a lighter and more refined character, although dignity was lost compared with the Pitti Palace, by thereduction in size of the great crowning cornice.

San Andrea, Mantua- is particularly notable and important as the type of many modern Renaissance churches, and consists of a single nave with transepts, the interior ornamented with a single order on pedestals supporting a barrel vault. Chapels, alternating with entrance vestibules, take the place of the customary aisles on each side of the nave. The perfection of the proportions makes the interior of this church one of the grandest in the style, and the front is reminiscent of a Roman triumphal archway.

San Andrea, Mantua

3. Michelozzo (1407- 1473) Born in Florence, the son of a tailor. Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi was an Italian architect and sculptor who strikingly combined Italian Gothic and classical styles. 

Palazzo Riccardi – best known work of Michelozzo, plan has a cortile with grand stair leading to the piano nobile, exterior of the astylar style, effective use of graduated rustication, semi-circular arches enclosing pediment windows, plain ashlar masonry for upper storey, bold

cornice.

Home of the Medici for 100 years from 1444, the palazzo was later acquired by the Riccardi family and now houses government offices.

Through the main door, the courtyard walls are covered in ancient Roman masonry fragments.

4. II Cronaco – (1454-1508)

Palazzo Strozzi, Florence – begun by da Majano, completed by cronaco, main feature central cortile with arches, stairs, rusticated front, individual string courses for each floor level.

5. Filarete (1396-1465) Antonio di Pietro Averlino, also "Averulino", known as Filarete, was a Florentine Renaissance architect, sculptor and architectural theorist

Ospedale, Maggiore, Milan –facing central cortile of delicate transitional details, North façade by Bramante, continued by Solari, completed by Ricchini. The Ospedale Maggiore, traditionally named Ca' Granda, is a building in the center of Milan, northern Italy, constructed to house one of the first community hospitals, the largest such undertaking of the fifteenth century.

6. Borgogne – (1455- 1524)

Certoza, Pavia – façade by Borgogne was an addition to an existing Gothic building, therefore sized with Classic elements

Certoza, Pavia

7. Alessi – (1500-1572) Pupil of Michaelangelo ( was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art)

Palazzo Sauili, Genoa – brick faced with stucco, famous for it’s vestibule, courtyards, stair flights, terraces and hanging gardens

8. Lurago- follower of Alessi

Palazzo Municipio, Genoa- entrance leads into vestibule and cortile with piano nobile beyond. Wider façade due to the added loggia.

that's all folks!!!

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