NAME: DHRUVI KANANI

EN.NO. - 048 CLASS- B

1. Why there is a need of introduction of Renaissance Movement?

Enumerate the various important features of Renaissance Architecture?

During the Renaissance architects began to look back to the

Romans and Greeks for inspiration when designing buildings.
Much of Renaissance architecture style was taken from Ancient
Rome and Greece and then altered to fit their current lifestyle.
Renaissance architecture had some distinct features that were
fairly common to major construction:

 Square - Many buildings were built as square or rectangle

symmetrical shapes.
 Front - The front or "facade" of the buildings were generally
symmetrical around the vertical axis.
 Columns - They used Roman type columns.
 Arches and Domes - Arches and domes were popular. This was
again taken from Roman and Greek architecture.
 Ceilings - The ceilings of buildings were generally flat.
Previously in the middle Ages ceilings were often left open.

Renaissance style places emphasis on symmetry, proportion,

geometry and the regularity of parts, as they are demonstrated in
the architecture of classical antiquity and in particular ancient
Roman architecture, of which many examples remained.

 Renaissance architecture adopted distinguishing features of

classical Roman architecture. However, the forms and purposes of
buildings had changed over time, as had the structure of cities,
which is reflected in the fusion of classical and 16th century
forms.
 The primary features of 16th century structures, which fused
classical Roman technique with Renaissance aesthetics , were
based in several foundational architectural concepts: facades,
columns and pilasters , arches , vaults , domes , windows, and
walls.
 Although studying and mastering the details of the ancient
Romans was one of the important aspects of Renaissance
 architectural theory, the style also became more decorative and
ornamental, with a widespread use of statuary, domes, and
cupolas.
 Renaissance facades are symmetrical around their vertical axis.
For instance, church facades of this period are generally
surmounted by a pediment and organized by a system of pilasters,
arches, and entablatures. The columns and windows show a
progression towards the center. One of the first true Renaissance
façades was the Cathedral of Pienza (1459–62), which has been
attributed to the Florentine architect Bernardo Gambarelli (known
as Rossellino).
 Renaissance architects also incorporated columns and pilasters,
using the Roman orders of columns (Tuscan, Doric, Ionic,
Corinthian, and Composite) as models. The orders can either be
structural, supporting an arcade or architrave, or purely
decorative, set against a wall in the form of pilasters. During the
Renaissance, architects aimed to use columns, pilasters, and
entablatures as an integrated system. One of the first buildings to
use pilasters as an integrated system was the Old Sacristy (1421–
1440) by Brunelleschi.

The dome is used frequently in this period, both as a very large

structural feature that is visible from the exterior, and also as a
means of roofing smaller spaces where they are only visible
internally. Domes were used in important structures such as the
Pantheon during antiquity, but had been used only rarely in the
middle Ages. After the success of the dome in Brunelleschi’s
design for the Florence Cathedral and its use in Bramante’s plan
for St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the dome became an
indispensable element in Renaissance church architecture and
carried over to the Baroque.
Windows may be paired and set within a semicircular arch and
may have square lintels and triangular or segmental pediments,
which are often used alternately. Emblematic in this respect is the
Palazzo Farnese in Rome, begun in 1517. In the Mannerist period,
the “Palladian” arch was employed, using a motif of a high
semicircular topped opening flanked with two lower square-topped
openings. Windows were used to bring light into the building and
in domestic architecture, to show the view. Stained glass, although
sometimes present, was not a prevalent feature in Renaissance
windows.
Finally, external Renaissance walls were generally of highly
finished ashlar masonry, laid in straight courses. The corners of
buildings were often emphasized by rusticated quoins. Basements
and ground floors were sometimes rusticated, as modeled on the
Palazzo Medici Riccardi (1444–1460) in Florence. Internal walls
were smoothly plastered and surfaced with white chalk paint. For
more formal spaces, internal surfaces were typically decorated
with frescoes.
Another key figure in the development of Renaissance architecture
in Florence was Leon Battista Alberti (1402—1472), an important
Humanist theoretician and designer, whose book on
architecture De re aedificatoria was the first architectural treatise
of the Renaissance. Alberti designed two of Florence’s best known
15th century buildings: the Palazzo Rucellai and the facade of the
church of Santa Maria Novella. The Palazzo Rucellai, a palatial
townhouse built 1446–51, typified the newly developing features
of Renaissance architecture, including a classical ordering of
columns over three levels and the use of pilasters and entablatures
in proportional relationship to each other.
The facade of Santa Maria Novella (1456–70) also showed similar
Renaissance innovations based on classical Roman architecture.
Alberti attempted to bring the ideals of humanist architecture and
proportion to the already existing structure while creating harmony
with the existing medieval facade. His contributions included a
classically inspired frieze decorated with squares, four white-green
pilasters, and a round window crowned by a pediment with the
Dominican solar emblem and flanked on both sides by S-shaped
scrolls. While the pediment and the frieze were inspired by
classical architecture, the scrolls were new and without precedent
in antiquity, and ended up becoming a very popular architectural
feature in churches all over Italy.
 The buildings of the early Renaissance expressed a new
sense of light, clarity, and spaciousness that reflected the
enlightenment and clarity of mind glorified by the
philosophy of Humanism.

1. Explain the contribution of Filippo Brunelleschi in the field of

Architecture during Renaissance period with
suitable examples.
Filippo Brunelleschi (1377 – 15 April 1446), considered to be a
founding father of Renaissance architecture, was an Italian
architect and designer, and is now recognized to be the first
modern engineer, planner, and sole construction supervisor.
His earliest extant sculptures are two small bronze statues of
evangelists and saints (1399–1400) made for the altar of the
Crucifix Chapel Pistoia Cathedral. In 1400 the City of Florence
decided to celebrate the end of a deadly epidemic of the Black
Death by creating new sculpted and gilded bronze doors for
the Baptistry of Florence. A competition was held in 1401 for the
design, which drew seven competitors, including Brunelleschi and
another young sculptor, Lorenzo Ghiberti. For the competition,
each sculptor was required to produce a single bronze panel,
depicting the Sacrifice of Isaac within a Gothic four-leaf frame.
The panels each contained Abraham, Isaac, an angel and other
figures imagined by the artists, and had to harmonize in style with
the existing doors, made in 1330 by Andrea Pisano. The head of
the jury was Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, who later became an
important patron of Brunelleschi. The jury selected Ghiberti,
whose composition was simpler and more classical, but the work
of Brunelleschi, with more dramatic movement, made a good
impression. Brunelleschi did not like to be second at anything; he
would eventually abandon sculpture and devote his attention
entirely to architecture and optics, but continued to receive
sculpture commissions until at least 1416.
Brunelleschi is also generally credited as the first person to
describe a precise system of linear perspective. This revolutionized
painting and opened the way for the naturalistic styles of
Renaissance art. He systematically studied exactly how and why
objects, buildings, and landscapes changed and lines appeared to
change shape when seen from a distance or from different angles,
and made drawings of the Baptistry in Florence, Place San
Giovanni and other Florence landmarks in correct perspective.
According to his early biographers Giorgio Vasari and Antonio
Manetti, Brunelleschi conducted a series of experiments between
1415 and 1420, including making drawings with correct
perspective of the Florence Baptistery and the Palazzo Vecchio,
seen obliquely from its northwest corner. According to Manetti,
his experiment used a wood panel divided into a grid of squares, a
plaque with a hole at eye level, and a grid or set of crosshairs. He
looked at the facade of the church through the hole in the plaque
and the grid of crosshairs, and then copied onto the panel exactly
what he saw, square by square. He made a similar drawing of the
buildings of Place San Giovanni. The results were drawings with
accurate perspective. The original panels were lost. To compare
the accuracy of his image with the real object, he placed his
drawing next to a mirror reflecting the building. The observer saw
the striking similarity between the drawing and the mirror image.
Both panels have since been lost. Brunelleschi's studies on
perspective were amplified by further studies of the topic by Leon
Battista Alberti, Piero della Francesca and Leonardo Da Vinci.
Following the rules of perspective studied by Brunelleschi and the
others, artists could paint imaginary landscapes and scenes with a
perfectly accurate three-dimensional perspective and realism. The
most important treatise on a painting of the Renaissance, Della
Pittura libri tre by Alberti, with a description of Brunelleschi's
experiment, was published in 1436 and was dedicated to
Brunelleschi. The painting The Holy Trinity by Masaccio (1425–
1427) in the Santa Maria Novella, Florence, was a good example
of the new style, which accurately created the illusion of three
dimensions and also recreated, in painting, Brunelleschi's
architectural style. This was the beginning of the standard method
of painting studied by artists until the 19th century.

Diagram of Brunelleschi's experiment in perspective

The Foundling Hospital (1419–1445)

Brunelleschi's first architectural commission was the Ospedale
degli Innocenti (1419–c. 1445), or Foundling Hospital, designed
as a home for orphans. The hospital was funded and
administered by the Silk Merchants' Guild to which he
belonged. As with many of his architectural projects, the
building was completed much later, with considerable
modifications, by other architects. He was the official architect
until 1427, but he was rarely on the site after 1423. The hospital
was completed by Francesco della Luna in 1445.
The major portion completed by Brunelleschi was an arcade
or loggia with nine arches, supported on each side by pilasters,
which gave the appearance of columns, and opening to the
interior by a small door. The arcade was supported by slender
columns with Corinthian capitals. This first arcade, with its
columns, rounded arches and simple classical decoration,
became the model for a long series of Renaissance buildings
across Europe. Its long loggia would have been a rare sight in the
tight and curving streets of Florence, not to mention its
impressive arches, each about 8 m high. The building was
dignified and sober, with no displays of fine marble or
decorative inlays. It was also the first building in Florence to
make clear reference in its columns and capitals to classical
antiquity.
Basilica of San Lorenzo (1421–1442)
The Basilica of San Lorenzo was his next great project,
undertaken soon after he began the Foundling Hospital. It was
the largest church in Florence, sponsored by the Medici family,
whose tombs were located there, and it was the work of several
different architects, including, later, Michelangelo. The parts
undertaken by Brunelleschi were the central nave, with the two
collateral naves on either side bordered by small chapels, and the
old sacristy.
The Old Sacristy was begun first, and built between 1419 and
1429. It contains the tomb of the donor, Giovanni di Bicci de'
Medici and his wife, beneath a central dome, very simply
decorated. The form is very simple; the chapel is a cube of about
eleven meters on each side, covered with a hemispheric dome. A
level of ornamental enablement divides the vertical space into
two parts, and pilasters support the dome. The altar is set into a
recess at one end beneath a smaller dome. All of the arcs of the
ceiling are supported by pilasters, like classical columns, set into
the walls. This room, using classical elements in an entirely
original way, was one of the first perfectly Renaissance spaces.
In the nave, the massive pillars of Gothic architecture were
replaced by slender columns with Corinthian capitals, and the
traditional vaulted ceiling of the central nave by a coffered
ceiling of square compartments with delicately gilded trim. To
adjust to the difference of height between the low chapels and
the much higher nave, the circular windows above each chapel.
The finished interior gave an impression of perfect harmony and
balance.
One practice of Brunelleschi in the Old Sacristy, which later
became a doctrine of Renaissance architecture, was the use of
white walls in churches. The first major theorist of Renaissance
art, Leon Battista Alberti, writing in 1450, declared that, since
classical times, according to such authorities Cicero and Plato,
white was the only color suitable for a temple or church, and
praised "the purity and simplicity of the color, like that of life.
Basilica of Santo Spirito (1434–1466)
The Basilica of Santo Spirito in Florence was his next major
project, which, characteristically, he carried out in parallel with
his other major works. Though he began designing in 1434,
construction did not begin until 1436, and continued beyond his
lifetime. The columns for the facade were not delivered until
1446, ten days before his death, and the facade was not
completed until 1482, and then was modified in the 18th century.
The bell tower was also a later addition.
Santo Spirito is an example of the mathematical proportion and
harmony of Brunelleschi's work. The church is in the form of a
cross. The choir, the two arms of the transept, and the space in
the center of the transept are composed of squares exactly the
same size. The continuation of the nave contains four more
identical squares. and a half-square at the end. The length of the
transept is exactly one-one half of the length of the nave. Each
square of the lower collateral naves is one-quarter the size of the
squares in the principal nave. The collateral naves are lined with
thirty-eight small chapels, which were later filled with altars
decorated with works of art.
The vertical plan is also perfectly in proportion; the height of the
central nave is exactly twice its width, and the height of the
collateral naves on either side is exactly twice their width. Other
aspects of his original plan, however, were modified after his
death. The main aisle of the nave, lined by columns with
Corinthian capitals, is topped by a row of semicircular arches,
like his galleries. His original plan called the ceiling of the nave
to be composed of a barrel vault, which would have echoed the
collateral naves, but this was also changed after his death to the
flat coffered ceiling. Little remains of the exterior walls that he
had planned. They were unfinished at his death, and were
covered with a facade in a different style in the Baroque period.
Pazzi Chapel (1430–1444)
The Pazzi Chapel was commissioned in about 1429 by Andrea
Pazzi to serve as the Chapter House, or meeting place of the
monks of the Monastery of Santa Croce. Like nearly all of his
works, the actual construction was delayed, beginning only in
1442, and the interior was not finished until 1444. The building
was not entirely finished until about 1469, twenty years after his
death. Some of the details, such as the lantern on top of the
dome, were added after his death.
 The portico of the chapel is especially notable for its fine
proportions, simplicity, and harmony. Its centerpiece is a sort of
arch of triumph. Its six columns are by an entablature sculpted
medallions, an upper level divided by pilasters and a central
arch, and another band of sculpted entablature the top, below a
terrace and the simple cupola. The interior spaces are framed by
arches, entablatures, and pilasters. The floor is also divided into
geometric sections. Light comes downward from the circular
windows of the dome, and changes throughout the day. The
interior is given touches of color by circular blue and white
ceramic plaques made by the sculptor Luca Della Robbia. The
architecture of the chapel is based on an arrangement of
rectangles, rather than squares, which make it appear slightly
less balanced than his chapel in old Sacristy of San Lorenzeo.

2. Explain the contribution of Andrea Palladio in the

field of Architecture during Renaissance period with
suitable examples.
Palladio was one of the leading architects of the 16th century.
However, his legacy reached far beyond his own lifetime.
Palladio was one of the most influential figures in the history of
Western architecture.
Palladio was living and working during the Italian Renaissance,
a time in which people looked back to the accomplishments of
ancient Greece and Rome as the foundations of Western culture.
People of the Renaissance read the philosophies and ideas of
classical antiquity and sought to build upon them. Palladio's role
in this was translating classical ideas of architecture into
buildings of the 16th century.
The surviving buildings of ancient Greece and Rome were
mostly temples, used for worshipping pagan deities. To make
these designs relevant to 16th-century Christian Italy, it was
necessary to adopt the artistic philosophy of antiquity while
leaving the pagan element behind. Palladio accomplished this by
adopting the ideology of ancient architecture, while not
necessarily committing to the strict orders of classical
architecture. Specifically, Palladio focused on capturing the cool,
rational logic of classical architecture through idealized
mathematical ratios and geometric forms. His works helped
translate classical building styles into non-pagan buildings,
representing a synthesis of ancient traditions with Renaissance
needs. His works and drawings were compiled into a collection
called The Four Books of Architecture, which was published
during his lifetime and set the standard for using classical
elements in modern architecture. It's one of the most influential
books in architecture history.

Palladio's first works date from the 1530s, when the stability had
been restored on the Venetian mainland. But the key year was
1538-9, when he worked for the Humanist scholar, Gian Giorgio
Trissino, on the reconstruction of the Villa Cricoli. Trissino, who
was an avid follower of the Roman architect Vitruvius took an
interest in the young man's work and encouraged him to study
the arts and sciences, and to study Ancient architecture in Rome.
In fact, Palladio accompanied his patron on three trips to Rome,
where he made sketches of Roman monuments. Trissino also
gave him a new name - Palladio, meaning "wise one", after the
Greek goddess of wisdom Pallas Athene. See also: Greek Art
(650-27 BCE).

By the time of his death in 1580, he had designed two dozen

villas. Most of these were catalogued in the second book of his
famous treatise, the Quattro Libri dell Architettura, published in
Venice in 1570. Not all were built, and several remained
unfinished; but the surviving villas stand as impressive
monuments to his own genius and to his illustrious patrons.

Palladio was certainly an innovator. However, his designs were

also firmly rooted in local architectural traditions. Fifteenth-
century villas in the Veneto had ordinarily been fortified,
symbolically at least, by towers and roof-top crenellations. In
more rural sites, the whole villa, together with its gardens and
outbuildings, were protected by a fortified enclosure. The
principal legacy of villas such as these to Palladio was the
characteristically Venetian convention of the symmetrical, three-
part facade.

After the Cambrai Wars, three of Palladio's immediate

predecessors began to show how classical architectural language
could be more systematically and correctly applied to traditional
villa types. The designs of Falconetto's Villa La Vescovi,
Sansovino's Villa Garzoni, and Sanmicheli's Villa La Soranza,
reveal the impact of these three architects' intensive studies in
the ruins of ancient Rome.

The adoption of Roman forms in the Veneto was not only a

question of architectural fashion; it also served to remind
Venetians of their legendary ancestry as refugees from barbarian
invasions at the fall of the Roman Empire. The fact that modern
Rome had been horrifically sacked by imperial troops in 1527
pointed to an ever-present "barbarian" threat. Civilization had to
be defended at all cost, and the revival of classical architecture
became one of the most effective vehicles for its expression. See
also: Roman Art (c.500 BCE - 500 CE)

Like the three forerunners just mentioned, Palladio studied

assiduously in the ruins of ancient Rome. Indeed, he made no
fewer than five visits between 1541 and 1554. However, before
the excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum, few remains of
classical domestic buildings were known. Literary sources such
as Vitruvius and Pliny provided the only detailed evidence for
the villas of the ancients. Palladio's great feat of imagination was
to combine his knowledge of the ruins of ancient temples and
civic buildings with written information relating to antique
villas, and to adapt this synthesis to the practical needs of the
Veneto landowner.

Villa Almerico-Capra (The Rotonda)

The Villa Almerico-Capra, or Villa Capra, is also known as The

Rotonda for its domed architecture. Located near Vicenza, Italy,
west of Venice, it was begun c. 1550 and completed c. 1590 after
Palladio's death by Vincenzo Scamozzi. Its archetypal late
Renaissance architectural style is now known as Palladian
architecture. Palladio's design for Villa Almerico-Capra
expressed the humanist values of the Renaissance period. It is
one of more than twenty villas that Palladio designed on the
Venetian mainland. Palladio's design echoes the Roman
Pantheon.
Villa Almerico-Capra is symmetrical with a temple porch in
front and a domed interior. It is designed with four facades, so
the visitor will always face the front of the structure. The
name Rotunda refers to the villa's circle within a square design.
American statesman and architect Thomas Jefferson drew
inspiration from Villa Almerico-Capra when he designed his
own home in Virginia, Monticello.

San Giorgio Maggiore

Andrea Palladio modeled the façade of San Giorgio Maggiore

after a Greek temple. This is the essence of Renaissance
architecture, begun in 1566 but completed by Vincenzo
Scamozzi in 1610 after Palladio's death. San Giorgio Maggiore
is a Christian basilica, but from the front it looks like a temple
from Classical Greece. Four massive columns on pedestals
support a high pediment. Behind the columns is yet another
version of the temple motif. Flat pilasters support a wide
pediment. The taller "temple" appears to be layered on top of the
shorter temple.

The two versions of the temple motif are brilliantly white,

virtually hiding the brick church building behind. San Giorgio
Maggiore was built in Venice, Italy on the Island of San Giorgio.

Basilica Palladiana

Andrea Palladio gave the Basilica in Vicenza two styles of

classical columns: Doric on the lower portion and Ionic on the
upper portion. Originally, the Basilica was a 15th
century Gothic building that served as the town hall for Vicenza
in northeast Italy. It is in the famous Piazza dei Signori and at
one time contained shops on the lower floors. When the old
building collapsed, Andrea Palladio won the commission to
design a reconstruction. The transformation was begun in 1549
but completed in 1617 after Palladio's death.

Palladio created a stunning transformation, covering the old

Gothic facade with marble columns and porticos modeled after
the Classical architecture of ancient Rome. The enormous
project consumed much of Palladio's life, and the Basilica was
not finished until thirty years after the architect's death.

Palladianism

Later architects continued to admire and imitate Palladio's style,

and this revival of Palladianism eventually became fashionable
during the 17th, 18th and early 19th century in Europe and the
USA. In Britain, both Inigo Jones (who owned a huge collection
of original drawings and sketches by Palladio) and Christopher
Wren were huge fans of the Italian. In France, Palladian villas
can be seen extensively in parts of the Loire Valley. In Germany,
Johann von Goethe described Palladio as a genius, and
acclaimed his Convent of S. Maria della Carita as one of the
most perfectly designed buildings in Europe. In Russia, Charles
Cameron (c.1745–1812) was an avid exponent of Palladianism.
In America, Thomas Jefferson was a notable supporter - as
were Benjamin Latrobe (1764-1820) and Charles
Bulfinch (1763-1844) - and commended the United States
Capitol building (1793-1829) as a version of Palladianism. Other
examples of Palladian architecture in America include:
Jefferson's Monticello mansion in Virginia; Drayton Hall, South
Carolina; Redwood Library, Newport, Rhode Island; and the
Morris-Jumel Mansion, New York City. In 1979, a nonprofit
membership organization - The Center for Palladian Studies in
America, Inc. - was established to promote understanding of
Palladio's style and influence in American architecture during
the preceding century and a half.