Transcript italy, 1500-1600

ITALY,
1500-1600
GARDNER CHAPTER 22-3
PP. 597-603
ARCHITECTURE: ROME

The Sistine Chapel was a small
part of the vast VATICAN
complex on the west side of the
Tiber

Construction on the Vatican
began under Constantine -> Old
Saint Peter’s

The 1000 year old basilica was
insufficient for the needs and
aspirations of the Renaissance
papacy

Rebuilding of the 4th century
church will go on for over a
century
BRAMANTE

The first in the line of distinguished
architects of the new Saint Peter’s
was BRAMANTE

Trained as a painter -> later turns
to architecture

Influenced by Brunelleschi and
Alberti -> Bramante developed
the High Renaissance form of the
central plan church
TEMPIETTO

Donato Bramante’s career began
in Milan, but it was in Rome that he
achieved his greatest
accomplishments during the high
Renaissance

One of Bramante's earliest
commissions, the "Tempietto" is
one of the most harmonious
buildings of the Renaissance. It is
meant to mark the traditional spot
of St. Peter's martyrdom
BRAMANTE’S
“LITTLE TEMPLE”

DONATO D’ANGELO BRAMANTE,
Tempietto, San Pietro in Montorio,
Rome, Italy, 1502(?)

The Tempietto is almost a piece of
sculpture, for it has little
architectonic use. The building
absorbed much of Brunelleschi's
style. Perfectly proportioned, it is
composed of slender Tuscan
columns, a Doric entablature
modeled after the ancient Theater
of Marcellus, and a dome.
NEW SAINT
PETERS

Bramante's vision for St Peter's, a
centralized Greek cross plan that
symbolized sublime perfection for
him and his generation, was
fundamentally altered by the
extension of the nave after his
death in 1514. Bramante's plan
envisaged four great chapels
filling the corner spaces between
the equal transepts, each one
capped with a smaller dome
surrounding the great dome over
the crossing
BRAMANTE – PLAN FOR THE NEW
SAINT PETER’S

DONATO D’ANGELO BRAMANTE,
plan for the new Saint Peter’s, the
Vatican, Rome, Italy, 1505

Bramante’s design for the new
church to replace the
Constantinian basilica of Saint
Peter’s -> central plan consisting of
a cross w/arms of equal length,
each terminating in an apse
CHRISTOFORO FOPPA CARADOSSO, medal
showing Bramante’s design for the new Saint
Peter’s, 1506
PALAZZO
FARNESE

Antonio da Sangallo, FARNESE PALACE, c.
1530-1546, Rome

High Renaissance palace

Palazzo Farnese in Rome High
Renaissance palace whose building
history involved some of the most
prominent Italian architects of the 16th
century

Heavily rusticated entrance -> each story
has different window frames

Heavy cornice crowns the work

Built for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese ->
later elected Pope Paul III
ANTONIO DA SANGALLO THE YOUNGER, courtyard of the Palazzo Farnese,
Rome, Italy, ca. 1530–1546. Third story and attic by MICHELANGELO
BUONARROTI, 1548.
ARCHITECTURE: VENICE

Venice had long been a major
coastal port and gateway to the
Orient

Reaches the height of its
commercial and political power in
the 15th century

Declines in the 16th century ->
discoveries of the New World and
the rise of Atlantic economies

Threats from the Ottoman Empire
and from Pope Julius II

Despite challenges, Venice
developed a flourishing ,
independent, and influential school
of artists
ANDREA
PALLADIO

Palladio is often considered the
most influential person in the
history of western architecture. His
architectural works have "been
valued for centuries as the
quintessence of High Renaissance
calm and harmony" (Watkin, D., A
History of Western Architecture).
Palladio designed many churches,
villas, and palaces, especially in
Venice. His villas found resonance
as a prototype for Italian villas and
later for the country estates of the
English nobility
VILLA
ROTONDA

ANDREA PALLADIO, Villa Rotonda
(formerly Villa Capra), near
Vicenza, Italy, ca. 1566–1570

Four identical facades -> each
one resembling a Roman temple
with a columnar porch

In the center is a great dome
covered rotunda modeled on the
Pantheon
SAN GIORGIO MAGGIORE
PALLADIO – SAN
GIORGIO MAGGIORE

ANDREA PALLADIO, west facade
of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice,
Italy, begun 1565

Andrea Palladio's design for the
façade of San Giorgio Maggiore in
Venice integrates the high central
nave and lower aisles into a
unified façade design by
superimposing a tall, narrow
classical porch on a low broad
one

ANDREA
PALLADIO,
interior of
San
Giorgio
Maggiore
(view
facing
east),
Venice,
Italy,
begun
1565