Gothic Influences On The Renaissance Revival: Combined Historicism

One of the most widely copied features of Renaissance architecture were the great staircases
from the chateaux of Blois and Chambord.[6] Blois had been the favourite residence of the French
Kings throughout the renaissance. The Francis I wing, completed in 1524, of which the staircase
is an integral part was one of the earliest examples of French Renaissance.[7] French
renaissance architecture was a combination of the earlier Gothic style coupled with a strong
Italian influence represented by arches, arcades, balustrading and, in general, a more flowing
line of design than had been apparent in the earlier Gothic. The Chateau de Blois's triumphal
staircase was imitated almost from the moment of its completion, and was certainly the
predecessor of the "double staircase" (sometimes attributed to Leonardo da Vinci) at
the Château de Chambord just a few years later.
A Grand Staircase whether based on that of Blois, or the Villa Farnese was to become one of the
features of Neo-Renaissance design. It became a common feature for the staircase to be not just
a feature of the internal architecture but also the external. But whereas at Blois the stairs had
been open to the elements in the 19th century new and innovative use of glass was able to give
protection from the weather, giving the staircase the appearance of being in the true renaissance
open style, when it was in fact a truly internal feature. Further and more adventurous use of glass
also enabled the open and arcaded Renaissance courtyards to be reproduced as lofty halls with
glazed roofs. This was a feature at Mentmore Towers and on a far larger scale at the Warsaw
University of Technology, where the large glazed court contained a monumental staircase. The
"Warsaw University of Technology staircase", though if Renaissance in spirit at all, is more in the
lighter, more columned style of Ottaviano Nonni's (named il Mascherino) staircase designed
for Pope Gregory XIII at Rome's Palazzo Quirinale in 1584, thus demonstrating that architects
wherever their location were selecting their Neo-Renaissance styles regardless of geography
Combined historicism[edit]
Gothic influences on the Renaissance Revival[edit]
See also: Gothic Revival architecture and Scottish baronial architecture
This Renaissance Revival doorway illustrates a Gothic influence on French Renaissance design. A basket-
handle portal is surmounted by a floral ogee hood moulding.
Gothic influences on both period and revived Renaissance architecture are readily apparent, first
as much building occurred during the period of transition from the Gothic to the Renaissance
style; and also as Renaissance−era design took the form of the addition of Renaissance
ornamentation to Gothic−era buildings thus creating an accretion of details from disparate
sources. Architects who designed in the Renaissance Revival style usually avoided any
references to Gothic Revival architecture, drawing instead on a variety of other classically based
styles.[citation needed] However, there are exceptions and occasionally the two distinct styles are mixed.
The sub-variety of Gothic design most frequently employed is floral Venetian Gothic[citation needed], as
seen in the Doge's Palace courtyard, built in the 1480s.
Baroque influences on the Renaissance Revival[edit]
The staircase at the Warsaw University of Technology, with strong Baroque Revival influences.
See also: Baroque Revival architecture

A common Baroque feature introduced into the Renaissance Revival styles was the "imperial
staircase" (a single straight flight dividing into two separate flights).
The staircase at Mentmore Towers designed by Joseph Paxton, and the one at the Warsaw
University of Technology designed by Bronisław Rogóyski and Stefan Szyller (late 19th century),
both rise from pastiches of true Renaissance courtyards. Both staircases seem more akin
to Balthasar Neumann's great Baroque staircase at the Würzburg Residenz than anything found
in a true Renaissance Palazzo. The apparent Baroque style staircase at Mentmore is not without
a Renaissance influence, its first flight is similar to "The staircase of the Giants" rises from the
Doge's Palace Courtyard, designed when the Venetian Gothic was being uncomfortably merged
with Renaissance style. Similarly to that at Mentmore, the Staircase of the Giant's terminates on
to an arcaded loggia. Perhaps not ironically the Hall and Staircase at Mentmore were designed
by Paxton to display furniture formerly housed in the Doge's Palace.
Paris is home to many historicist buildings that partake equally from Renaissance and Baroque
source material, such as the Opera Garnier. However, the Parisian Hôtel de Ville faithfully
replicates the true French Renaissance style, complete with the steeply pitched roofs and towers,
as it was a reconstruction, completed circa 1880, of the previous Hôtel de Ville.[8]
In the British Raj in 1880, the façades of the 1777 Writers' building in Kolkata were redesigned in
the Renaissance Revival style then popular in colonial India, though this version was remarkable
in its unique design. Loggias of Serlian arches deceptively form an almost Indian appearance,
yet they sit beneath a mansard roof. In what at first glance appears an Indian building, on closer
examination shows a Historicist example of Classical Palladianism combined with the French
Renaissance, a uniquely distinctive interpretation of the Renaissance Revival style.
Renaissance Revival interiors

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One of the most widely copied features of Renaissance architecture were the great staircases

Baroque influences on the Renaissance Revival[edit]

See also: Baroque Revival architecture

Renaissance Revival interiors

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