Introduction to Renaissance Architecture

Prof. Amal Shah, Faculty of Design, CEPT University
HISTORY OF DESIGN
A J OU RNEY INTO T H E H ISTORY OF A RC H IT EC T U RE A ND INT ERIOR D ES IG N
T h e Re n ai s s an ce

Renaissance, literally means “rebirth,”.
The period in European civilization
immediately following the Middle Ages or
Medieval period and conventionally held to
have been characterized by a surge of
interest in Classical scholarship and
values.
The Renaissance also witnessed the
discovery and exploration of new
continents (India and America).
The substitution of the Copernican (Sun at
the centre) for the Ptolemaic (Earth at the
centre) system of astronomy, the decline of
the feudal system and the growth of
commerce and banking.
It also saw the invention or application of
such potentially powerful innovations as
paper, printing, the compass, and
gunpowder.
To the scholars and thinkers of the day,
however, it was primarily a time of the
revival of Classical learning and wisdom
after a long period of cultural decline and
stagnation.
The Renaissance
The School of Athens, is one of the most famous frescoes by the Italian Renaissance
artist Raphael. It represents the classical spirit of the Renaissance.

Beginning in Italy, and spreading to the
rest of Europe by the 16th century, its
influence was felt in literature,
philosophy, art, music, politics, science,
religion, and other aspects of intellectual
inquiry.
Renaissance scholars employed the
humanist method in study, and searched
for realism and human emotion in art.
Humanism is the study of classical
antiquity, at first in Italy, and then
spreading across Western Europe in the
14th, 15th and 16th centuries.
• Humanism, it took human nature in
all of its various manifestations and
achievements as its subject.
• Second, it stressed the unity and
compatibility of the truth found in all
philosophical and theological schools
and systems.
• Third, it emphasized the dignity of
man. In place of the medieval ideal of
a life of penance as the highest and
noblest form of human activity, the
humanists looked to the struggle of
creation and the attempt to exert
mastery over nature.
• Finally, humanism looked forward to a
rebirth of a lost human spirit and
wisdom.The effect of humanism was to help men break free from the mental strictures imposed by religious
orthodoxy, to inspire free inquiry and criticism, and to inspire a new confidence in the possibilities of human
thought and creations.

Brunelleschi
He is generally credited with bringing
about the Renaissance view of
architecture, (1377–1446). The
underlying feature of the work of
Brunelleschi was "order". In the early
15th century, Brunelleschi began to look
at the world to see what the rules were
that governed one's way of seeing.
He observed that the way one sees
regular structures such as the Baptistery
of Florence and the tiled pavement
surrounding it follows a mathematical
order—linear perspective.
From the observation of the architecture
of Rome came a desire for symmetry and
careful proportion in which the form and
composition of the building as a whole
and all its subsidiary details have fixed
relationships, each section in proportion
to the next, and the architectural features
serving to define exactly what those rules
of proportion are.
EARLY RENAISSANCE

Alberti
Leon Battista Alberti, born in Genoa
(1402–1472), was an important
Humanist theoretician and designer
whose book on architecture De re
Aedificatoria was to have lasting
effect.
An aspect of Humanism was an
emphasis of the anatomy of nature,
in particular the human form, a
science first studied by the Ancient
Greeks. Humanism made man the
measure of things.
Alberti perceived the architect as a
person with great social
responsibilities.
Two of Alberti’s best known
buildings are in Florence, the
Palazzo Rucellai and at Santa
Maria Novella. For the palace,
Alberti applied the classical orders
of columns to the façade on the
three levels.

The Cattedrale di Santa Maria
del Fiore (English, "Cathedral of
Saint Mary of the Flower") is the
main church of Florence, Italy. Il
Duomo di Firenze, as it is
ordinarily called, was begun in
1296 in the Gothic style to the
design of Arnolfo di Cambio and
completed structurally in 1436
with the dome engineered by
Filippo Brunelleschi.
The exterior of the basilica is
faced with polychrome marble
panels in various shades of
green and pink bordered by
White.
The basilica is one of Italy's
largest churches, and until
development of new structural
materials in the modern era, the
dome was the largest in the
world. It remains the largest
brick dome ever constructed.
The cathedral is the mother
church of the Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Florence.
FLORANCE CATHEDRAL

The dimensions of the building are enormous: building
area 8,300 square meters, length 153 metres (502 ft),
width 38 metres (124 ft), width at the crossing 90 metres
(295 ft). The height of the arches in the aisles is 23 metres
(75 ft). The height of the dome is 114.5 m.[

Huge clock decorated by Paolo
Uccello.

Main portal by Augusto
Passaglia
Vasari's fresco (the dome) begun in 1568, and completed by
Federico Zuccari in 1579.
The Last Judgement (detail) under the dome.
Tomb of Filippo Brunelleschi.
On 18 August 1418, the Arte della Lana announced a structural design competition for erecting Neri's dome. The two
main competitors were two master goldsmiths, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi, the latter of whom was
supported by Cosimo de Medici. Ghiberti had been the winner of a competition for a pair of bronze doors for the
Baptistery in 1401 and lifelong competition between the two remained acute. Brunelleschi won and received the
commission.

BASILICA OF SAN LORENZO, FLORENCE
The Basilica di San Lorenzo (Basilica of
St Lawrence) is one of the largest
churches of Florence, Italy, situated at
the centre of the city’s main market
district, and the burial place of all the
principal members of the Medici family
from Cosimo il Vecchio to Cosimo III.
Filippo Brunelleschi, the leading
Renaissance architect of the first half of
the 15th century, was commissioned to
design it.
The church is part of a larger monastic
complex that contains other important
architectural and artistic works: the Old
Sacristy by Brunelleschi, with interior
decoration and sculpture by Donatello;
the Laurentian Library by Michelangelo;
the New Sacristy based on
Michelangelo's designs; and the Medici
Chapels by Matteo Nigetti.

the attempt to create a
proportional
relationship between
nave and aisle (aisle
bays are square
whereas nave bays are
2X1).
the articulation of the
structure in pietra
serena (Italian: “dark
stone”).
the use of an
integrated system of
column, arches,
entablatures.
a clear relationship
between column and
pilaster, the latter
meant to be read as a
type of embedded
pier.
the use of proper
proportions for the
height of the columns
the use of spherical
segments in the vaults
of the side aisles.

Michelangelo's model
Michelangelo made a wooden model, which shows how he adjusted the classical proportions of the facade, drawn to scale,
after the ideal proportions of the human body, to the greater height of the nave. The work remained unbuilt. Michelangelo
did, however, design and build the internal facade, seen from the nave looking back toward the entrances. Rosso Fiorentino,
Marriage of the Virgin.

In the late 15th
century and early
16th century,
architects such as
Bramante, Antonio
da Sangallo the
Younger.
The style became
more decorated and
ornamental,
statuary, domes and
cupolas becoming
very evident. The
architectural period
is known as the
"High Renaissance"
and coincides with
the age of
Leonardo,
Michelangelo and
Raphael.
HIGH RENAISSANCE

Bramante
Donato Bramante, (1444–1514), was born
in Urbino and turned from painting to
architecture. Bramante’s finest architectural
achievement in Milan is his addition of
crossing and choir to the abbey church of
Santa Maria delle Grazie (Milan).
This is a brick structure, the form of which
owes much to the Northern Italian tradition
of square domed baptisteries.
In Rome Bramante created what has been
described as "a perfect architectural gem",
the Tempietto in the Cloister of San Pietro
in Montorio. This small circular temple
marks the spot where St Peter was martyred
and is thus the most sacred site in Rome.
Bramante went on to work at the Vatican
where he designed the impressive Cortili of
St. Damaso and of the Belvedere. In 1506
Bramante’s design for Pope Julius II’s
rebuilding of St. Peter’s Basilica was
selected, and the foundation stone laid. After
Bramante’s death and many changes of plan,
Michelangelo, as chief architect, reverted to
something closer to Bramante’s original
proposal.

Raphael
Raphael, (1483–1520), Urbino, trained
under Perugino in Perugia before
moving to Florence, was for a time the
chief architect for St. Peter’s, working in
conjunction with Antonio Sangallo.
He also designed a number of buildings,
most of which were finished by others.
His single most influential work is the
Palazzo Pandolfini in Florence with its
two stories of strongly articulated
windows of a "tabernacle" type, each set
around with ordered pilasters, cornice
and alternate arched and triangular
pediments.
Together with Michelangelo and
Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the
traditional trinity of great masters of
that period.

Santa Maria delle Grazie ("Holy
Mary of Grace") is a church and
Dominican convent in Milan,
northern Italy, The church contains
the mural of The Last Supper by
Leonardo da Vinci, which is in the
refectory of the convent.
The design of the apse of the church
has been attributed to Donato
Bramante; however, while it was
built while he was in the service of
the Duchy, there is scant
documentary evidence linking him to
this church. His name is inscribed in
a piece of marble in the church vaults
delivered in 1494.
SAINT MARIA DELLE GRAZIE, MILAN

The main architect was
Guiniforte Solari.
The design of the apse
of the church has been
attributed to Donato
Bramante.
This chapel is frescoed
with Stories of the
Passion by Gaudenzio
Ferrari.
In the small cloister
adjacent to the tribune
near the door that
leads to the sacristy is
a fresco by
Bramantino.
The church also
contained frescoes
depicting the
Resurrection and
Passion by Bernardo
Zenale.

The Last Supper is a late 15th-century mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. It is
one of the world's most famous paintings, and one of the most studied, scrutinized, and satirized.

SAINT PETER’S BASILICA, VATICAN

The Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican, or simply St. Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within Vatican City. Designed principally by
Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Peter's is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and
remains one of the two largest churches in the world. While it is neither the mother church of the Catholic Church nor the Catholic Roman Rite cathedral of the
Diocese of Rome, St. Peter's is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines.
By Catholic Tradition, the Basilica is the burial site of its namesake St. Peter, one of the Apostles of Jesus Christ and, also according to tradition, the first
Pope and Bishop of Rome. Tradition and strong historical evidence hold that St. Peter's tomb is directly below the high altar of the Basilica. For this reason,
many Popes have been interred at St. Peter's since the Early Christian period. There has been a church on this site since the time of the Roman Emperor
Constantine the Great. Construction of the present basilica, replacing the Old St. Peter's Basilica of the 4th century AD, began on 18 April 1506 and was
completed on 18 November 1626.
Bramante's plan Raphael's plan
Michelangelo's plan

Michelangelo's plan
extended with
Maderno's nave and
narthex

The design of St. Peter's Basilica, and in particular its dome, has greatly influenced
church architecture in Western Christendom. Within Rome. This was followed by the
domes of San Carlo ai Catinari, Sant'Agnese in Agone, and many others. Christopher
Wren's dome at St Paul's Cathedral (London, England), the domes of Karlskirche
(Vienna, Austria), St. Nicholas Church (Prague, Czech Republic), and the Pantheon (Paris,
France) all pay homage to St Peter's Basilica.

Mannerism in architecture was marked
by widely diverging tendencies in the
work of Michelangelo, Giulio
Romano, Baldassare Peruzzi and
Andrea Palladio, that led to the
Baroque style in which the same
architectural vocabulary was used for
very different rhetoric.
Michelangelo
Michelangelo Buonarroti was one of
the creative giants whose
achievements mark the High
Renaissance. He excelled in each of the
fields of painting, sculpture and
architecture and his achievements
brought about significant changes in
each area. His architectural fame lies
chiefly in two buildings: the interiors of
the Laurentian Library and its lobby
at the monastery of San Lorenzo in
Florence, Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
and St Peter's Basilica in Rome.
St Peter's was "the greatest creation of
the Renaissance", and a great number
of architects contributed their skills to
it. But at its completion, there was
more of Michelangelo’s design than of
any other architect, before or after him.
MANNERISM

Andrea Palladio
His first major architectural
commission was the rebuilding of
the Basilica Palladiana at
Vicenza, in the Veneto where he
was to work most of his life.
Palladio was to transform the
architectural style of both palaces
and churches by taking a different
perspective on the notion of
Classicism.
This Ancient Roman motif is often
referred to as the Palladian Arch.
The best known of Palladio’s
domestic buildings is Villa Capra,
otherwise known as "la
Rotonda", a centrally planned
house with a domed central hall
and four identical façades, each
with a temple-like portico like
that of the Pantheon in Rome.
Other notable Examples include:
Villa Foscari, Villa Trissino, and
Redentore Church

VILLA CAPRA "LA ROTONDA“, VICENZA
Villa La Rotonda is a
Renaissance villa just outside
Vicenza in northern Italy, and
designed by Andrea Palladio.
The proper name is Villa
Almerico Capra Valmarana, but
it is also known as La Rotonda,
Villa Rotonda, Villa Capra and
Villa Almerico. The name "Capra"
derives from the Capra brothers,
who completed the building after
it was ceded to them in 1592.
This house, later known as 'La
Rotonda', was to be one of
Palladio's best-known legacies to
the architectural world. Villa
Capra may have inspired a
thousand subsequent buildings,
but the villa was itself inspired
by the Pantheon in Rome.

The design is for a completely symmetrical building having a square plan with four facades, each of which has a projecting portico. The whole is contained
within an imaginary circle which touches each corner of the building and centres of the porticos. The name La Rotonda refers to the central circular hall with
its dome. To describe the villa, as a whole, as a 'rotonda' is technically incorrect, as the building is not circular but rather the intersection of a square with a
cross. Each portico has steps leading up, and opens via a small cabinet or corridor to the circular domed central hall. This and all other rooms were
proportioned with mathematical precision according to Palladio's own rules of architecture which he published in the Quattro Libri dell'Architettura.

The design reflected the humanist values of Renaissance architecture. In order for each room
to have some sun, the design was rotated 45 degrees from each cardinal point of the compass.
Each of the four porticos has pediments graced by statues of classical deities. The pediments
were each supported by six Ionic columns. Each portico was flanked by a single window. All
principal rooms were on the second floor or piano nobile.

LAURENTIAN LIBRARY, FLORENCE
The Laurentian Library is a historical library in Florence, Italy, containing a repository of more than 11,000 manuscripts and 4,500
early printed books. Built in a cloister of the Medicean Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze under the patronage of the Medici
pope, Clement VII, the Library was built to emphasize that the Medici family were no longer mere merchants but members of
intelligent and ecclesiastical society. It contains the manuscripts and books belonging to the private library of the Medici family.
The library is renowned for the architecture planned and built by Michelangelo and is an example of Mannerism.

The reading room is 46.20 m. long, 10.50 m. wide, and 8.4 m. high. There are two blocks of seats separated by a centre aisle with the backs of each
serving as desks for the benches behind them. The desks are lit by the evenly spaced windows along the wall. The windows are framed by pilasters,
forming a system of bays which articulate the layout of the ceiling and floor.
Because the reading room was built upon an existing story, Michelangelo had to reduce the weight of the reading-room walls. The system of frames
and layers in the walls’ articulation reduced the volume and weight of the bays between the pilasters.
Beneath the current wooden floor of the library in the Reading Room is a series of 15 rectangular red and white terra cotta floor panels. These panels,
measuring 8 foot-6-inches (2.6 m) on a side, when viewed in sequence demonstrate basic principles of geometry. It is believed that these tiles were
arranged so as to be visible under the original furniture; but this furniture was later changed to increase the number of reading desks in the room.

Introduction to Renaissance Architecture

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Introduction to Renaissance Architecture