Renaissance Architecture Timetable of Events

Year Events
14th-15th century  Renaissance started at Florence Italy (1420) – a
conscious revival of Graeco-Roman Style
 All of the Italian peninsula was influenced by this
style
 Russia and Hungary are the only countries which
adopted 15th century Renaissance
16th Century  All of Europe, but unlike Italy who had a greater
understanding of current architecture, others may
employ “Italianate motifs”
 School of Fontainebleau
17th-early 18th Century  “Age of Baroque” characterized by Illusionism,
curvilinear movements, bizarre detail, spatial
experimentation (Austria, Bohemia, Germany)
 “Palladian Revival” (England and Holland)
 “French Classicism” – a distinctive national
manner based on rational geometries, columnar
facades, and crisp handling of stone(France)
Early 18th Century  “Rococo”
 More curvilinear
 Asymmetric surface decoration
 Domestic interiors
Mid 18th Century  “Neo Classical” movements (France, Italy,
Germany)
 Anti-Rococo – revival of the Greek architecture; a
return to rational structural principles
After French Revolution  “Post Renaissance”
19th Century  Eclecticism
 Technological Developments
 Rapid growth of population
 Faster industrialization and urbanization

Influences

Aside from geographical & climatic conditions and availability of local materials, historical events helped in
diffusing the Renaissance style throughout Europe.

New styles were diffused through:

 Connections powerful nations
 By war and conquest
 By the invention of printing
 Movement of architects to search for employment
 Appropriation on the part of the rulers and the ruling class of an architectural language to reinforce
their political and social positions
Examples:

1. The marriage of King Matthias Cornivus of Hungary to a French woman brought Renaissance to
Hungary.

2. Italian wars – Italy lost its independence to France, but gained cultural hegemony.

3. Vitruvius treatise on architecture, which was known and partially understood to a few (during
middle ages), was now being compared to the writings of Alberti.

4. Woodcut and copperplate engraving allowed faster transmission of architectural theories.

Illustrated works of Serlio, Vignola and Palladio allowed the building of new style without even
visiting Italy.

5. Reformation movement of Martin Luther had important implications for church architecture. Such
movement resulted in plain forms and uncluttered interiors.

6. Counter reformation spearheaded by the Jesuits introduced aisle-less single nave, side chapels and
choir placed behind altar

7. Urban Design centered on secular public buildings such as town halls guild halls, hospitals,
buildings for charitable foundations, etc. During late 18th century, it shifted to prisons, public
education buildings, museums theatre and opera house.

8. Invalides was built for military needs- for military training and rewards for military service.

Architecture as a Profession during Renaissance Times

 Brunelleschi – invention of linear perspective (elevations with shades and shadows)

 Francesco di Giorgio and Leonardo da Vinci – Bird’s eye view and perspectival sections
 Raphael – Orthogonal drawings
 Peruzzi – Axonometric drawings
 Michelangelo – Chalk on graphite
 Use of wooden models; clay is used for more complex forms
 These methods of drawing and the use of models enable more convincing renderings of designs
and freed the architect from day-to-day supervision
 The Royal Academy of Architecture (1671) moved architects firmly out of the artisan class and
conferred on them the status of artists and intellectuals
 Institute of Architects (1835) – 1st organization for architects
 By the end of the Industrial Revolution, a greater demand for structural engineers forced the
architect to supplement their income in a variety of ways. Aside from designing and supervising,
they started contracting their own designs, surveying, and publishing speculative developments
 In Italy, the Capo Maestro or the foreman for stonecutters, plasterers, and carpenters end up as
architects
 In Germany, stucco-workers become architects. Some also have military origin. And often,
architects come in family teams (brothers, father and son)
FAMOUS ITALIAN ARCHITECTS 3. Donato Bramante

1. Filippo Brunelleschi

 Sta. Maria del Fiore a.k.a. Florence

Cathedral (2nd largest dome at 138  1st Architect in Renaissance style
ft. in diameter)  1st Architect of St. Peters Basilica
 Palazzo Pitti (largest palace in  Palazzo della Cancelleria
Italy except for Vatican)  Vatican Palace (Palace of the Popes)

2. Leon Battista Alberti 4. Rafaello Sanzi or Santi

 Painter, Nephew of Bramante

 Vatican Loggia
 Author of first architectural book
after the invention of printing “De
Re Aedificatoria”
 Sta. Maria Novella
 Sta. Andrea in Mantua
5. Michelangelo Buonarroti

 Medici Mausoleum
 Capitol in Rome (his most
successful civic work)
 Sistine Chapel fresco

6. Giacomo Vignola

 Palazzo Farnese, Caprarola – most

significant Roman palace
 Gesu Church, Rome – prototype of
Jesuit churches in Baroque style

7. Baldasarre Longhena

 Sta. Maria della Salute, Venice (in

the middle of the Venetian canal)