ITALY,1500-1600

GARDNER CHAPTER 22-3PP. 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

Despite challenges, Venice developed a flourishing , independent, and influential school of artists

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

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