16Th 17Th Century Architecture

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- Early Renaissance Architecture

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o all about reviving what had been done by the Classical Greeks and Romans
o Brunelleschi and Alberti
o Re-embracing the Classical architecture that they saw in ruins all over Italy
 Rounded, Roman arch
 Rows of round arches—arcades
 Rows of columns—colonnades
 Triangular architectural forms—pediments
o Brunelleschi and Alberti believed that if you’re going to use these features, must follow the rules of the ancient architects

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o Alberti wrote a treatise on architectural ideas

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 Said perfect form of the church is a central plan
 Said perfect shape would be central plan with dome on top because it represented the heavens/ cosmos and symbolized the purity and perfection of God
 Primacy of the Wall
• If you are using a wall as a structural support to hold up the roof, then it ought to be a flat wall—not a lot of recessions or protrusions

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- High Renaissance

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o Bramante is THE WHO
o Reworking of the Classical vocabulary—Greco/Roman architectural forms
o Ideas of proportions
 Maintaining proportrion of vertical to horizontal
 Balance of vertical elements with horizontal elements
o Mood of calm dignity
o Stability
o Restraint
o Symmetrical balance
o Regularity—if using columns, all are the same and spaced the same
o Not over the top with ornamentation
o A lot of vertical and horizontal linesrectilinear
o Treat walls like sculpture instead of treating walls like a flat surface(Early Renaissance)
 Contrast of light and dark
 Voids create shadow
 Things that stick out catch light

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 “Tempietto”

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Bramante
• Means “little temple”
\ a martyrium—marks the burial place/serves as a monument for either the tomb of a martyr or where they were crucified
o sacred space is marked by elevation
• colonnade around entire perimeter—refer to as a peripheral structure
o row of columns around building also called peristyle
• apses all over inner walls—serve as little chapels
•DOME--Represent the perfection of God, the cosmos, etc.
o Treating the building like a sculpture—“Sculptural treatment of architecture”
o Central plan
o Columns
o Vitruvius, in his treatise, advised that when designing a structure for a deity, must think about the personality of the deity and design based off of that
 Doric—strongest and stoutest, so Bramante chooses Doric order because Peter is known as “The Rock”
• Trying to balance vertical and horizontal elements
• Trying to harmonize lower part of structure with higher part

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o Lantern

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—on top of dome

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o Tholos

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—very small round temple

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Cornice

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—divides first story from the second story—acts like a lid on building

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o Architrade

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—above columns, between capitals and roof

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Railing

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—Balustrade

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Cupola

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—dome

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 St. Peter’s Basilica

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• Julius II decides that the Old St. Peters needed renovation and should be torn down; a new structure should be built to reflect the power and stability of papacy
o Also Pope that sells indulgences
• Bramante gets commission, designs a very complex, central-planned church
• Greek cross inscribed within a square, dome in the middle
• Died before done, Michelangelo carries it forward
• Medal shows his original design
• Michelangelo does not fit with Bramante—believes that God gave him the gift of genius and his responsibility with God was to follow his own instincts and not the art rules
o From the beginning, breaks all architectural rules that Bramante, Brunelleschi, Alberti were all trying to revive
post ren

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o Michelangelo

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 Laurentian Library, Campidoglio, and St. Peter’s
 Loves the Colossal Order/ column
• Helps solve the problem of harmonizing and unifying the lower part of the structure with the upper
 During the last 30 years of his life, dedicates himself much more to architecture than anything else; very little painting and still some sculpture, but in terms of public commissions, mainly architecture
post ren

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 Campidoglio/ Capitoline Hill

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• Temple for Jupiter was on hill
• Thought of spiritual center of ancient Rome
• Important site in Roman history
• Where Medieval Roman government met; still meet there today
• At this time, hill about to go into decay
o Pope Paul III—driving force behind the Catholic Reformation
 Wants this hill to become a symbol of Papal power and authority
 Says the guild/government building and the conservatory must remain
 Problem—if we put two buildings next to each other, expect 90 degrees but these are 80 degrees; Michelangelo must fix it
o He has to balance it by building a whole other building that must be at an 80 degree angle
o Uses oval as design in pavement to bring the two together
 Becomes the favorite shape of Baroque
o Puts matching facades on the twin buildings, then redesigns the front of the government building as well

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• Conservatorio

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o Uses Classical vocabulary but mixes it up and breaks rules
o Two-story building—unified by colossal order
 Colossal Corinthian Pilaster—flat column in wall
 Two smaller Corinthian columns inside spaces; unified with the upper floor by Corinthian columns on each side of the window
 Broken pediment—pediment with the triangle broken in any place
 Segmental pediment—pediment with a round top
 Strong cornice across top
 Balustrade on top

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 St. Peter’s Basilica

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• Only had four central piers built when Michelangelo takes over the project at the age of 71accepted this monumental task with the understanding that he was going to be his own boss, so he would not accept any form of payment
• Simplifies Bramante’s snowflake-like design
o Square, Greek cross, square
o Portico on front—columns
• St. Peter’s had hardly been finished when the Pope decided he didn’t like a central plan, and in order to emphasize the special power of the clergy, needed more space between clergy and people
• Turned it into a basilica plan during Baroque Period
• Colossal Corinthian Pilaster
o Pairs of these columns all the way around the structure
o Narrow vertical area in between called bays
• Space between cornice and roof is called the attic
o Inside is a barrel vault, unable to see on outside because the attic conceals it
• Unifies top and bottom
• Dome called cupola
o Windows—huge amounts of light floating in
• Interior
o Bernini spends entire career decorating the inside and the area in front
o Pairs of colossal Corinthian pilasters

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 Vestibule of the Laurentian Library

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• Laurentian—“Laurence””Lorenzo””San Lorenzo” by Brunelleschi
• Medici’s church, they really support the arts and learning, want to add a library to it
• Very strange space, upstairs from actual church, attached to structure in odd ways
• Outside, cloister for monastery, then covered walkway all the way around
• Very tight and very high
o Feels awkward, make us feel cramped
o Entrance on bottom floor, but library elevated, has to take people up to this high space
o Creates flowing staircase
o Breaks all Classical rules

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o Palladio

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 Most influential of 16th century—the biggie
 Classicist—follows the rules; uses Classical vocabulary correctly
 Different because even though he is absolutely committed to rules, going to be applying them to new forms of buildings
 Put them all together, follow as closely as possible
 Was the chief architect for the Venetian Republic
• Knew Titian very, very well
- 16th Century Classicist Architecture

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 Villa Rotonda”

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• Not very big
• Elevated by stairs on all four sides
• Inside four piers—spiral staircases—two stories
• Cube with a dome on top, four porticos that look like Classical temple entrances
o Columns and architrave, pediment
o Never seen that before?
• Palladio specialized in building beautiful, Classicist-style wealthy homes for the wealthy/high church officials of Venice
• Built this for a Venetian church official—recreational country home
• Porches on all sides—meant to be viewed from all sides; meant to see out from all sides
o Views in all four directions—scenic, elevated
• Called a belvedere—“belle verdure” house built specifically on a hill to take advantage of views in all directions
• Most famous and most copied house
• Also writes about architecture—“The Four Treatises”
o Importance of following Classical rules and ways they can be applied
o Here first time we see a Classical temple front on a secular building
• Vicenza, Italy
• Also known as the Villa Capra
• Building is the prototype of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello
o Greatly admired him, modeled all buildings after his architecture
• Prototype for neo-Classical houses in England
o Influence of Palladio so strong on British architects, called the Palladian Revival/ Georgian Style

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 Claudio San Giorgio Maggiore

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• Cruciform planned church
o Basic Christian church with high nave and low aisles
o Classical temple front does not work
o So he superimposes two Classical temple fronts
Tintoretto’s The Last Supper

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- Mannerist Architecture

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o Romano
o Palazzo del Te
 Just like Mannerist painting and sculpture in that indifferent to and openly break Classical rules
 Very unconventional
• Post and lintel column and architrave
• Rusticated stone with classical columns and architraves
• Blind windows—can’t see through
• Uses stones that would typically go above arches on top of rectangles
• Triglyphs look like they are falling below level—breaking idea of stable, balanced architecture
o Sala de Giante
 So typically mannerist in the way it is put together and ornamented—making fun of stableness; looks like a whirlpool

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- Proto-Baroque Architecture

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o Il Jesu
 Façade architect= Jiacomo de la Porta (Michelangelo’s assistant who finished the dome on St. Peter’s)
 Interior architect—Jiacomo Vignola
 Jesuits need a headquarters for organization—this is their world headquarters; very important
 Interior is extremely influential
• Before this, a row of columns marked the edge of the nave and was outlined by an aisle
• This church gets rid of a separate aisle on both sides in order to create one, vast interior space that isn’t broken up by rows of columns
 Transverse arches go across and mark a barrel vault
 Side chapels
 Influential façade because it predicts what is going to become the main style of architecture when we go later down the road

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Baroque characteristics

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• Classicist? No—a lot of things don’t look very classical at all
• Dramatic contrast of like and dark due to deep voids and protruding parts
• Crescendo effect—closer it gets to center, juts out, then juts out more as get closer, coming further and further out into the space of the viewer
• Dramatic focal points—especially the central portal
• Vertical emphasis
• Symmetry

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- 16th century Spanish architecture

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o El Escorial
 By Herrera and Toledo
 Philip II wants this built to show power and authority, but doesn’t want it to appear showy or ostentatious—wants it to reflect his religious devotion
• Wall doesn’t have any ornamentation
• Windows plain, evenly spaced and uniform
• Round arches—Renaissance

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- Back to Italy

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o Baroque period and ornamentation is most obvious in Italy
o Least over the top in France under Louis XIV and England is half-way in between

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o Carlo Maderno

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 Architectural reformer—bringing about changes in style
 A “Moderniser”—Maderno
 Develops the fully mature Baroque Italian Style
 Santa Susana
• Façade
o Much more mature sequence of characteristics seen in Il Jesu
o Symmetry around a central portal; vertical axis
o Comes further out into space the closer we get to center; once we get to center, ornamented intended to make eyes move up
 Establishes the Baroque Style
 Re-does the façade and extends the nave of St. Peters
• Original St. Peter’s had been finished by Michelangelo
• Get to beginning of 17th century, smack dab in the heart of the Counter-reformation; church trying to refute everything Protestants had said
o Said didn’t need priests; they are normal, not special
• At beginning of 17th century, Pope Paul V unhappy with St. Peters because the plan did not provide enough physical separation between people and clergy
• Maderno gets the job of creating that space from turning it from a central plan to a basilica
• Bernini creates Piazza out in front—MOTHERLY ARMS OF THE CHURCH-- hates maderno

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o St. Peter’s

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 Bramante does original design
 Michelangelo carries out design, but dies
 Jiacomo de la Porta finishes the dome
 Maderno extends the nave, puts façade
 Bernini creates piazza in front with the motherly arms
• Classicist; very conservative in architecture
• Doric colonnade
 Crescendo effect
 Verticality
 Symmetry
 Sculpturesque treatment of architecture, lots of voids and protruding parts
 ROME; St. Paul’s in London
 Attic

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o Borromini

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 Maderno’s nephew
 Son of a stonecutter
• Learned as a boy to cut stone with curving lines
 Older, comes to Rome, becomes a stonecutter assistant to Maderno in building St. Peter’s
 Also becomes an assistant to Bernini, but develop a huge personality conflict because Borromini wants to try new things, but Bernini is so conservative
 Ultimately, gets fed up, leaves Bernini to start own architectural career at 35 years old
 Moody, depressing personality—when Italians see his buildings, don’t appreciate them as much
 Commits suicide at 68
 Of all of our architects in this unit, Borromini is THE MOST REVOLUTIONARY
• Think of concave/convex when thinking of his buildings

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 San Carlo Alle Quattro Fontane

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borromini
• Saint Carlo at the four fountains
o Fountain at edge of four buildings by church
• Not a very large place
• Irregular building site—steep hill
• When we look at the façade—CURVY; revolutionary
o No flat walls as façade of the building—Baroque idea of movement; treats wall like plastic
o Entire church is composed of concave, convex curves on the outside
• Hybrid of a Greek cross, but ellipse
• Dome
o Concave, convex
o Greek crosses and hexagons, get smaller as closer to the center—makes dome seem taller and bigger
• Spiral staircase
• No chapels really, one big space
• Baroque characteristics
o Sculptural treatment of the building—projections and voids
o Symmetrical around the dramatic portal
o Vertical emphasis
 Bad proportions, but don’t care—turning backs on Classical architecture

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 The Chapel at St. Ivo

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borromini
• got a commission to do a chapel at a pre-existing school that had two story wings that went down in a U shape
o the only space open was the space out in the courtyard between the wings
• façade curves IN—concave curve—revolutionary
o lets him connect the pre-existing buildings better; looks like a continuation; integrates what is there and what is new by doing that
• inside—taken a triangle and three circles and overlap
o straight up, cornice
o shape stays the same all the way up
o concave, convex dome
 doesn’t gain much admiration in Italy because Italians expectation of good architecture is Classical architecture, so he doesn’t gain many followers—see his influence the most in Rococo architecture built outside of Italy

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o Guarino Guarini

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–most talented follower of Borromini
 Turin—the shroud of Turin is there; believed covered Jesus after he was crucified
 The Chapel of the Holy Shroud
• Relic—claims to be the shroud that miraculously held Jesus’ image
• Dome is completely revolutionized
• Overlapping concave/convex terms
• Burned down, but was completely rebuilt

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Palazzo Carignano

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Guarino Guarini
• Two-story palace
• Baroque characteristics
o Verticality
o Sculpturesque treatment
o Symmetrical
• Influence of Borromini
o Concave/convex façade
o Oval dome
• Curving staircases, spiral staircases
o Italian Baroque is the most experimental, revolutionary, exuberant type of architecture—fits with Baroque drama, space, time; France has the least impact of Italian Baroque—much more disciplined, Classicist, conservative; England is in the middle

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- England

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o Dominant architectural style in England was Gothic
 `perpendicular style

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o Inigo Jones

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 Brings them closer to modern architectural style
 Travels to Italy and studies Palladio, reads his Four Books on Architecture, is profoundly influenced, decides that he needs to bring Renaissance architecture back to England
 Banqueting House at Whitehall
• Commissioned to build a banqueting hall at the royal palace—Whitehall Palace
o Right in middle of London
o The whole complex except the Banqueting hall burned down
o Two-story building—second floor ballroom
 Massive Rubens fresco on ceiling of ballroom
 King Charles I—about to lose his head
• Beheaded right in front—sculpture of his head above doorway
 Looks like Alberti—not Baroque treatment, looks more Renaissance regularity of features and spacing; not dramatic
• Ionic and Corinthian order
• Only nod to Baroque is that the center of the façade projects out
• Balance and stability of Renaissance

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o Sir Christopher Wren

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 The BIG name in English architecture
 Much later, decades younger than Jones
 Had been a professor of astronomy at Oxford, by the time in early twenties—brilliant mathematician, dabbling in architecture
Just be means of his brilliance, came to attention of king and by that point, the original St. Paul’s, main cathedral, was dilapated, old, falling down

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• St. Paul’s Cathedral

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Wren
• Thinking about how to bring that about, but 1666 The Great Fire of London
o Whole thing is flattened, tons of structures completely destroyed including old St. Paul’s
o Wren dedicates his life to rebuilding St. Paul’s using Classical design using Baroque types of figures
• Designs 52 different churches in London, believes that in urban landscapes, should be able to tell which is a church
o TOWERS on all of them—become American church steeples
• 2nd largest church in the world
• Shows how England is in between Italy and France
• Influence by St. Peter’s
o Admires Jones and Palladio
o Doesn’t like classical temple front of St. Peter’s
 Solves this by instead of having one straight over-sized pediment, having a two-story façade
 Can still unify and harmonize his first and second story
• Aligned columns; also on dome and towers
 Sculptural treatment of the building—deep voids and protruding areas
 Repetition of columns---eyes forced upward
 Symmetry around central portal
 Crescendo affect
• Inside
o Classicist, Classical vocabulary

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o Sir John Vanbrugh—Blenheim Palace

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 1701
 Given this palace by Queen Ann to a very important military leader because of an accomplishment in a very important battle
 Bernini’s colonnade—the motherly arms at St. Peter’s
 Vanbrugh is so awed by this feeling
 So big—everything precise and right—extremely far away, a lot of time to get intimidated
 Dominating feeling of space
 Dramatic portal
 Symmetry
 Not as much vertical emphasis because England is in the middle

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- FRANCE BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE

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o Remember historical context
o Louis XIV is becoming king
o When Louis XIV comes to power, he recognizes the importance of imagery for propaganda
o Beginning of the French Academy—Charles LeBrun
o L saw himself as the new incarnation of the great Roman emperors of the past
o Balance, stability, regular lines

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The Louvre

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—original palace of L XIV
 Before he realized monarch should be removed from the people
 The East Wing
• Perrault, Le Vau, and LeBrun
• Puzzle they have to solve—the Louvre is already vast at this point, huge three-story building with long wings
• All they are doing is adding a wing to the pre-existing building
• All they have to do is add in classical vocab and proportions—how will they do this with a long, three-story building?!
• Keeping proportions correct—put Parthenon classical temple front over stories 2 and 3, then use bottom story as if it is the base of temple
• Going to swing the colonnades out so that they are aligned with the pediment
• Double Corinthian columns like St. Peter’s
• Very little ornamentation
• Still reflects Baroque ideas
o Symmetrical
o Focal point at central portal
o Sculptural treatment
o Crescendo effect

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o The Palace at Versailles

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 Thinks it will increase power and recognize it if he seperates himself from people
 Starts as a rustic hunting lodge out at little village at Versailles 12 miles out of Paris
 Uses building and space to establish power
 Policy relating to aristocrats—before him, was fellow nobles who looked at the king as their equal, who were the most rebellious
• Learned he needed to gain more control of the aristocracy—summons them to come live in Versailles; Now they owe him something
 In Versailles, all roads lead to the palace---focal point for city
 Impact of a monumental approach—if you want to speak to the king, long dramatic entry way
 Architects are Le Vau, Hardouin-Mansart, LeBrun
 Motherly arm affect—surrounds during very long approach
 Absolute exact regularity of spacing of the features
• Military discipline representation
 Entry way is public, park is sort of private area
• Manicured into disciplined gardens—king controls everyone and everything in his realm—metaphor
 The Hall of Mirrors
• Very long hall—one side mirrors, one side windows—mirrors reflecting windows and gardens
• MIRRORS IMPORTANT IN ROCOCO AND BAROQUE