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Architecture

Like other art forms in the Renaissance, architecture drew increasingly on the traditions of ancient Greece and Rome. The revival of classical* forms was strongest in Italy, where the Renaissance began. Several Italian architects produced important treatises* on the principles of architectural design that provided models for others to follow. Northern Europe, by contrast, never completely abandoned the Gothic* styles of the Middle Ages. These survived in modified forms well into the 1600s.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE RENAISSANCE STYLE

The Renaissance style of architecture first emerged in FLORENCE in the early 1400s. It marked a rejection of medieval* styles and a celebration of ancient forms. One pioneer of the new style was Filippo BRUNELLESCHI, who designed the magnificent dome of Florence's cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore.

Renaissance architecture took many different forms throughout Europe. Other parts of Italy combined the Renaissance styles that developed in and around Florence with their own local traditions, creating a variety of distinct architectural styles. Italian Renaissance architecture also spread to other areas of Europe, but slowly and unevenly. It took 100 years or more for classical styles to take hold in France, Spain, Portugal, and Northern Europe. In these areas, the Italian styles blended with local traditions and Gothic forms to produce new and original designs. Architects adapted Renaissance styles based on their areas' landscape, climate, building materials, and customs.

Although Renaissance architects copied ancient forms, they had little opportunity to observe the designs firsthand. Few examples of ancient Roman architecture remained intact. Many structures had been destroyed or badly damaged, while others had been rebuilt and modified in later periods. Architects outside Italy had even less access to ancient buildings. Only a privileged few could actually visit the Roman ruins in Italy. Most had to depend on drawings, sketches, and books handed down from master to student.

In 1416 Italians rediscovered On Architecture, a treatise written by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius around 27 B.C. This work offered a great deal of insight into the theory and practice of architecture in ancient Rome. However, Vitruvius had lived before the time of the Roman Empire, when many of the surviving ruins were built. Therefore, the structures that could be studied in Italy were quite different from those described by Vitruvius. Renaissance architects had to rely on imagination to fill in the gaps in their knowledge.

BUILDING STYLES

Although Renaissance buildings varied a great deal from region to region, they shared various common features. This was particularly true of churches because the form of the religious service imposed certain requirements on the shape of the building. Palaces and villas*, by contrast, took on distinct forms that reflected the social and cultural traditions of an area.

Church Layouts. A typical European church of the Middle Ages featured a long, narrow central hall, or nave. During the Renaissance architects began to explore the idea of creating churches with a central plan, laid out symmetrically* around a central point. Such a church might take the form of a circle or a Greek cross, with vertical and horizontal arms of equal length. However, such designs did not provide a clear separation between the priest and the congregation. They also did not hold enough people.

The tension between these two types of forms is visible in the layout of the church of St. Peter's in Rome. The Italian architect Donato BRAMANTE originally designed the church in the form of a Greek cross topped by a huge dome. However, later architects who worked on the church, including RAPHAEL and MICHELANGELO, altered the plan many times over the course of construction. By the time the church was completed in the early 1600s, it had stretched to contain a longer nave while still including Bramante's original cross shape. In this way, St. Peter's combined traditional forms with the ideal shapes—circle and square—inspired by classical architecture.

In France, most architects continued to follow Gothic styles, although they sometimes used classical forms to decorate the outsides of buildings. Spanish architects designed few major churches in the classical style, but they used some new forms to modify old Gothic buildings. During the reign of PHILIP II (1556–1598), Spanish architecture moved toward a simple, classical style quite unlike the elaborate forms then popular in Italy. In the Protestant countries of northern Europe, churches gradually took on a functional auditorium shape. This design reflected the Protestant churches' emphasis on preaching.

Residential Buildings. The designs of homes—particularly large and luxurious ones, such as palaces and villas—also changed during the Renaissance. In Italy during the 1300s, a typical palace had looked like it was carved out of one rough block of stone. Over time, ancient Roman styles crept into the design of palaces. Buildings such as the Farnese palace in Rome had rooms with elegant frescoes*, courtyards surrounded by columns, and ornamentation both inside and out. Architects developed precise guidelines for how much decoration a dwelling should have based on its owner's social status.

Villas, even more than urban palaces, reflected the goal of re-creating the lifestyles of ancient Rome. Pliny the Younger and other writers from that time had described the magnificent villas of wealthy Romans. The structures that survived inspired Renaissance architects, who let their imaginations run free. Their villas often contained beautiful gardens, artificial caves, courtyards filled with sculpture, and private theaters.

In France, these Roman styles never took hold. The wealthy continued to prefer traditional castles, or châteaus, in the styles of the Middle Ages. One notable architectural feature of French châteaus involved using a combination of brick and stone. This practice, which became popular in the late 1500s, helped blend large new building complexes into existing cities.

Urban Planning. During the Renaissance, architects developed theories about city design. The ruins of ancient Roman buildings provided few clues to the city's overall layout, so architects relied largely on some written sources, such as Vitruvius. However, the limited information left much to the imagination, leading architects to propose new ideas on urban design.

Two notable examples of Renaissance town planning are the Italian cities of Pienza and Palmanova. These cities use simple geometry and central planning to create a sense of order. Architects tried to apply the same ideas to existing cities, but they had few opportunities to redesign cities on a grand scale. Instead, they focused on the layout of squares and streets, placing major buildings in these areas. In the late 1500s a large-scale urban renewal in Rome transformed the city into a network of public squares and major roads.

ARCHITECTURAL THEORY

In the 1500s and 1600s, various Italian architects attempted to establish the basic principles governing architecture. They explained their ideas in treatises. Some architects looked to the natural world for ideas about the ideal proportions of objects. This approach helped to link architecture to painting, sculpture, and literature, which often tried to imitate nature. Architectural treatises helped raise the status of architecture from a technical skill to an art. They also helped spread ideas about architecture throughout Europe.

The first manuscripts on architecture appeared in the mid-1400s. Many early writers, such as Leon Battista ALBERTI, modeled their works on Vitruvius's On Architecture. Alberti's On the Art of Building, published in Florence in 1486, presented the basic principles of ancient architecture. Alberti copied Vitruvius in using the human body as the model for good design. He defined architectural beauty in terms of the "reasoned harmony of all the parts within a body."

Most of the early architectural treatises were aimed at scholars rather than practicing architects. One of the first authors to focus on the practical needs of architects was Sebastiano Serlio (1475–1554). He wrote seven easy-to-understand volumes in Italian, illustrated with woodcuts*, that provided a complete program of instruction for architects. The final book dealt with practical problems an architect might face, such as building on a slope.

One of the most influential Renaissance writers on architecture was Andrea PALLADIO. His highly popular designs helped keep classical styles alive throughout Europe during the late 1500s. Palladio's Four Books on Architecture (1570) provided a complete practical guide to architecture. The first book discussed the different parts of buildings and types of rooms. The second focused on homes of all kinds, ranging from ancient houses to palaces and villas. The third dealt with public works, such as roads and bridges, and the fourth covered ancient temples. Palladio illustrated his volumes with many woodcuts of his own work. More than any other writer, Palladio shifted the focus of architectural works from theory to practical design.

During the 1500s, architects formed academies of design, modeled on the literary ACADEMIES that had recently appeared throughout Italy. The Accademia del Disegno in Florence, founded in 1563, provided architects with a professional identity and a place to discuss and teach architecture. The use of design rather than architecture in the name suggests that its founders were trying to link architecture to other art forms. Later architects explored their craft's connections to the sciences.

(See also Art; Cities and Urban Life; Classical Antiquity; Classical Scholarship; Luxury; Palaces and Townhouses.)

* classical

in the tradition of ancient Greece and Rome

* treatise

long, detailed essay

* Gothic

style of architecture characterized by pointed arches and high, thin walls supported by flying buttresses

* medieval

referring to the Middle Ages, a period that began around A.D. 400 and ended around 1400 in Italy and 1500 in the rest of Europe

* villa

luxurious country home and the land surrounding it

* symmetrical

balanced with matching forms on opposite sides of a structure or piece of art

See color plate 10, vol. 1

* fresco

mural painted on a plaster wall

* woodcut

print made from a block of wood with an image carved into it

Human Geometry

The ancient Roman architect Vitruvius saw the human body as the source of ideal geometric forms. He observed that a human with outstretched limbs fit precisely within the shapes of a circle and a square. Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci illustrated this idea in a drawing that became very famous. The artist saw in this drawing an image of the human body as a small-scale model of the entire universe.