The period of the so-called “Early Renaissance” covers the period from 1420 to 1500 in Italy.
A distinctive feature of the Renaissance is the secular nature of culture and its anthropocentrism (that is, interest, first of all, in man and his activities). Interest in ancient culture appears, its “revival,” as it were, occurs - and this is how the term appeared.
The Quattrocento (or Early Renaissance) became a time of experimental exploration. If in the Proto-Renaissance the artist worked based on intuition, then the Early Renaissance brought to the fore precise scientific knowledge. Art began to play the role of universal knowledge of the surrounding world. In the 15th century A number of scientific treatises on art appeared.
The Early Renaissance in Italy is one of the peaks in the history of development European art, the period of approval of humanistic and realistic tendencies, a new artistic system. These processes also occurred in other European countries, but in Italy they were especially strong and served as the beginning of the development of culture and art of the early Renaissance. Major changes are taking place in the social life of the country.
The political crises of the previous period lead to the fact that small commune cities and small principalities give way to large regional states - Venice, Florence, Milan, Naples. The struggle of Florence and Venice begins against the Duchy of Milan, which sought power over all of Italy. In this struggle, the Duchy of Milan was defeated.
This victory is interpreted as the triumph of the republic, democracy over tyranny. Enormous economic power is concentrated in the hands of the rulers, and Italy enters a period of relative stability and prosperity. Florence, as the main center for the formation of a new social consciousness and humanistic tendencies, comes to the fore. There is a flourishing of democratic traditions in a number of centers.
The extensive construction that took place in Florence is changing the appearance of the city and, above all, its center, which has survived to this day. The main attention is focused on the development of the central domed temple structure and the city palace of the wealthy bourgeoisie and aristocracy.
The new direction in Italian architecture, when it emerged, was associated with the processing of ancient traditions and the order system in relation to local building materials and structures. In the buildings of this time, the plane of the wall and its materiality are again emphasized; the internal space is clearly limited, acquiring unity. The proportionality of the proportions of the supporting and pressing parts is also achieved; a balance of horizontals and verticals is established in the rhythmic division of the building.
Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446)
In the days of Brunelleschi's childhood and youth, Florence was a typical medieval city, closed both outside and inside. The growth of the city was limited by a triple ring of walls, with a total length of 8.5 km, a height of 12 m and a width of 2 m, forcing residents to pile tall, blank towers on cramped narrow streets instead of new houses. (Imagine 73 watchtowers, enclosing 150 towers inside the city. In medieval Florence there were no open horizons: the entire bowl of the city opened only upward, as if turning to the sky.
The Baptistery of San Giovanni, considered the most ancient building in the city, was cluttered with sarcophagi and tall marble tombstones that belonged to noble families. The baptistery building itself had by this time become dilapidated and suffered greatly from all sorts of natural and social disasters. And the main cathedral of the Opera del Duomo or Santa Maria del Fiori, founded in the Gothic style by Arnolfo di Cambio on the verge of the 13th and 14th centuries. stood unfinished.
Baptistery of San Giovanni
Brunelleschi was the son of a notary and received a broad humanistic education. His penchant for art forced him to study to become a jeweler instead of a notary.
In 1401, he took part in a competition to decorate the second doors of the baptistery and performed the first promising veduta.
In 1401 he participated as a sculptor in a competition for a relief for the bronze doors of the Florentine Baptistery.
In 1402 - 1409 he studied construction techniques and designs of ancient masters based on the ancient monuments of Ancient Rome, but applied the acquired classical traditions innovatively. Since 1404 he has been involved in the drafting of dome projects Santa Maria del Fiore. The Florentine Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, begun at the end of the 13th century, did not have a ceiling over the choir, and this task was entrusted to Brunelleschi. According to his project in 1420-1436. They erected, without scaffolding, a unique huge (diameter 42 m) hollow 8-sided dome, (“the lantern that closed” it, provided for by the project, was built in 1467). The structure is a closed vault of two shells connected by ribs and horizontal rings that dampen the thrust. The grandiose dome, covered with dark red tiles, bound with strong white ribs, topped with an elegant white marble lantern, solemnly hovers over the year like a majestic image of Florence.
Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore Section
Receives an order and becomes the work manager. The main difficulty is the gigantic span of the crossroads, over 48 m, which required special efforts to facilitate the expansion. By using an ingenious design (a hollow dome consisting of 2 shells, a frame system of 8 load-bearing ribs connected by encircling rings, a light lantern that closes and loads the vault), Brunelleschi solved the problem, creating, according to Alberti, a most ingenious invention. The dome was started in 1420 and completed in 1436 without a lantern, completed according to Brunelleschi's drawings after the death of the master.
In parallel with the construction of the cathedral in 1419, Brunelleschi began work on the creation of the Orphanage complex; after 3 years he takes over the reconstruction of the Church of San Lorenzo; at the same time he works on less important construction sites - in the Barbadori Chapel in the Church of Santa Felicita on the other side of the Arno and in Palazzo Barbadori; in 1424, the reconstruction of the fortress walls of Florence began; from 1429 – work in the monastery of Santa Croce; from 1432 - reconstruction of residential areas around the Cathedral, creation of various types of office premises for the Opera del Duomo; in 1442, a radical reconstruction of the Palazzo del Parte in Guelph; reconstruction of the premises in the Palazzo Signoria; finally, in 1446, the construction site of Santo Spirito is opened.
Church of San Lorenzo (1441-1444) in Florence. He laid the foundation for the creation of a domed temple based on the ancient order. He began it with the construction of a side chapel, which later received the name of the old sacristy 1421-1428. A type of centric structure, square in plan and covered with a dome resting on sails. The clarity of the architectural divisions of the interior is emphasized by dark stripes of pilasters, cornices and arches, standing out against the light background of the walls. The church building itself is a three-nave basilica. Its central nave is covered with a flat coffered ceiling, the side naves are covered with sail vaults. The latter are separated by a light arcade supported by columns, reminiscent in its proportions of the arcade on the façade of the Ospedale. The rhythmic structure of wide semi-circular arcades in the interiors of the Florentine churches of San Lorenzo and Santo Spirito gives the interior space clear harmony and at the same time monumentality. Slender columns made of gray stone contrast with the smooth surface of the white walls. The columns, classical in proportions, are topped with Corinthian capitals, the ceiling is decorated with coffers following the example of the buildings of Ancient Rome. No ornamental decorations disturb the architecturally clear structure of its buildings.
Church of San Lorenzo Pazzi Chapel in the courtyard of the Church of Santa Croce
Pazzi Chapel 1430-1443. Built in the courtyard of the Church of Santa Croce in Florence, it occupies one of the narrow walls of its enclosure. Rectangular in plan, covered in the center with a dome, and on the sides with semi-circular vaults, the Pazzi Chapel is distinguished by the clarity of its spatial composition, purity of lines, elegance of proportions and decoration. Its façade opens onto the courtyard with a 6-column portico with a large central opening. As in the old sacristy of San Lorenzo, the plane of the interior walls is dissected by darker stripes of architectural rods, as if outlining the skeleton of the building. These divisions are entirely subordinated to polychrome decoration in the form of reliefs from glazed terracotta, made by sculptors Luca della Robia and Desiderio da Settignano, and partly by Brunelleschi himself. The centric nature of the building, all volumes of which are grouped around the dome space, the simplicity and clarity of architectural forms, the harmonious balance of parts make the pazzi chapel the focus of new principles of Renaissance architecture.
House of the Ospedale degli Innocenti orphanage (hospital) in Piazza Santissima Annunziata 1419-1445. (1421-1444?) At the first glance at this building, its significant and fundamental difference from Gothic buildings is striking. The emphasized horizontality of the facade, the lower floor of which is occupied by a loggia opening onto the square with 9 arches, the symmetry of the composition, completed on the sides by 2 wider openings framed by pilasters - everything evokes the impression of balance, harmony and peace. However, having approached the classical concept, Brunelleschi did not embody it in the full-fledged forms of ancient architecture. The light proportions of the columns, the grace and subtlety of the profile of the cornices indicate a relationship with the Tuscan proto-Renaissance. The decoration of the portico of the Ospedale was successfully complemented by polychrome majolica reliefs and images of swaddled babies made by the sculptor Andrea della Robbia.
Orphanage
The clarity and simplicity of the compositional and spatial solution also distinguishes the architecture of the building’s gallery-enclosed courtyard. Brunelleschi created in the Ospedale degli Innocenti a new type of civil architectural structure, combining a large number of public or residential premises located around the perimeter of a square courtyard.
Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1474) was, along with Brunelleschi, a central figure in the architecture of the Early Renaissance. A comprehensively gifted and widely educated man, he was one of the most brilliant humanists of his time. A passionate admirer of classical antiquity, he devoted much time to the study of ancient architecture, compiling in the 1430s or 1440s. "Description of the City of Rome."
His range of interests was unusually diverse. He covered morality and law, mathematics, mechanics, economics, philosophy, poetry, music, painting, sculpture, and architecture. A brilliant stylist, Alberti left numerous works in Latin and Italian. While studying science, he also sought to develop physical strength and dexterity. For the first time in the history of the Italian Renaissance, he became the embodiment of the humanistic ideal of the “universal man.” In terms of the variety of knowledge and activities, he can only be compared with Leonardo da Vinci.
His activities are connected with Florence, Ferrara, Rimini, Mantua. He did not supervise the construction, but drew up detailed projects, the implementation of which he entrusted to his assistants, leaving himself only to monitor the progress of the work.
Palazzo Rucellai in Florence 1446-1451. the palace with smooth walls devoid of rustication and elegant framing of portals and windows loses its fortress character. The main innovation is the order decoration of the facade. The wall plane is designed as a system of pilasters supporting entablatures delimiting the individual floors. The wall ends with a strongly extended cornice. The design of the facade was influenced by the study of the architecture of Ancient Rome, although the proportions and drawing of architectural elements are far from ancient monuments.
Palazzo Rucellai. Reconstruction of the facade Facade of the Church of Sant'Andrea in Mantua
Decoration of the facade of the Gothic Dominican Church Santa Maria Novella 1456-70(commissioned by Giovanni Rucellai). Decoration began in the 14th century, but remained unfinished. Alberti composed the facade in the forms of the new style, although he included some parts of the old Gothic façade. The general scheme of the wall division resembles a combination of a four-column Greek portico (above) with the forms of a triumphal Roman arch (below). Both tiers are connected on the sides by volutes. In accordance with the old tradition of Tuscan architecture, colored marble was widely used in cladding the façade of the church.
Cathedral of Santa Maria Novella Church of San Francesco in Rimini. South facade
Northern Italy. Rebuilding the old Gothic church San Francesco to the family mausoleum of the ruler of Rimini, Sigismondo Malatesta, late 1440s. OK. 1450 Alberti made a design and a wooden model of the new temple, and after that its construction began. To give the Church of San Francesco a more impressive appearance, Alberti planned to surround it with new facades and build spacious choirs covered with a hemispherical dome. The main facade designed by him and partially implemented in the form of a two-tier triumphal arch turned the building into a majestic memorial structure that had little in common with the usual appearance of the church. The facade is decorated with columns with capitals, arcades and pediments.
The most significant building designed by Alberti is Cathedral of Sant'Andrea in Mantua, erected by his students in 1472-1494. Here the architect was able to find a solution that would combine the traditional basilica form of the temple with a large domed roof. This is the first experience in Renaissance architecture of using an ancient vault - the single-nave space of the temple is covered with a large coffered vault and is reminiscent in scale of ancient Roman baths. The interior and facade are organically interconnected by the motif of a triumphal arch. The portal is flanked by Corinthian pilasters, its barrel vault is decorated with classical coffers. Alberti brought the spirit of truly Roman monumentality to Renaissance architecture. The majestic facade, reminiscent of a triumphal arch, the grandeur of the interior space, the design of the facade and interior with two systems of orders - large and small - lead close to the architecture of the High Renaissance.
From the end of the 14th century. In Western Europe, signs of an approaching crisis of the feudal mode of production are multiplying. Continuous growth of productive forces and the associated revival of domestic markets and foreign trade accompanied by the development of commodity-money relations, which undermined the agrarian base of feudalism. In numerous cities, the foundations of the dominance of a new class were laid, and a worldview was formed that replaced the ideology of the Middle Ages. The awakening came gradually. But in the XV-XVI centuries. all the diverse factors in the development of new social relations, which had been ripening gradually, seemed to unite in a concentrated effort to overthrow feudalism and the church. The evolution of medieval society broke the resistance of outdated feudal-theocratic schemes, and they collapsed, making way for new trends, in which the entirety of social life and culture was evidence of the turning point. This complex and contradictory process was accompanied by two phenomena of world-historical significance: “Renaissance” (Renaissance) and “Reformation”. In both cases, these terms, designed to express the ideological essence of the revolution that took place, do not reveal the content of the concept: just as the Reformation was not a restoration of the original purity of Christian doctrine, so the Renaissance was not a revival of antiquity.
Paths of development of Italian architecture in the XV-XVI centuries.
How mobile and elusive is the final boundary of the architectural cycle of the Renaissance in Italy, its “Renaissance”, so clear and stable is the time line with which science - from Burckhardt to the present day - continues to mark its beginning. This is 1420, the appearance of Brunellesco's first building in "classical" forms (Ospedale degli Innocenti) and the beginning of the broad artistic movement "rinascimento" ("Renaissance") in the culture of Florence. Starting the history of Renaissance architecture in Italy from this date, the authors of this work rely, therefore, on the point of view already accepted in science, which is firmly based on a historical and architectural event of critical importance: the first and decisive appeal of the architecture of Florence (after the Gothic period) to Brunellesco's newly “discovered” system of the classical order. In its own way, the classical order recreated by the great Florentine marked the victory of new, scientific thinking in architecture. It seemed that the lost language of the architecture of antiquity itself had been rediscovered, its method and means, which the architects lacked to create that harmony, clarity and humanity of images, which the art of the beginning of the century strived for and which, in the eyes of the era itself, was a revival of the “ancient” beauty of architecture. The historical synchronicity of Brunellesco's innovative act in architecture and the creative discoveries of Brunellesco, Donatello and Masaccio in the visual arts based on the new scientific method (perspective, anatomy, chiaroscuro) lend credibility to the fact of the beginning of the Renaissance. However, in architecture, the renewal that came with the beginning of the "Rinascimento" at that moment was purely artistic and essentially did not affect its material, structural and typological foundations. Brunellesco's order reform was a typical architectural expression of the general change in the sphere of culture and ideology that marks the transition to the Renaissance.
Architecture of Tuscany, Umbria, Marches of the Early and High Renaissance (1420-1520)
One of the most advanced cities of medieval Italy and the earliest center of new urban culture, art and architecture was Florence. The planning diagram of Florence (Fig. 1) clearly reflects the main stages of the city's development. The core of the modern city dates back to the ancient period, where the rectangular layout characteristic of Roman camps with clearly identified cardo and decumanus (mutually perpendicular, intersecting main thoroughfares) and a central square at their intersection has been preserved. The medieval period is characterized by the main roads and streets converging in a radial manner towards the gates of the camp and neighborhoods with a separate public square and a separate cathedral ensemble that grew freely around the walls surrounding the ancient settlement. This territory was protected by a second row of walls, beyond which the city expanded during the period of economic prosperity that had begun (In Florence in the 14th century there were about 100,000 people: 30,000 artisan weavers, 300 shoemakers, 150 masons and carpet makers, 300 lawyers, 100 judges, 60 doctors, 100 pharmacists, 80 money changers, etc.). There is a ring of monasteries here, which gradually became the centers of individual areas of Florence. In the period from 1285 to 1388, the city was surrounded by a new ring of fortress walls, which were repeatedly reconstructed and updated in the following centuries. The diverse socio-economic functions of urban life, previously limited by the walls of the old city, were moved beyond its borders: new ensembles partially took over the functions of the main city center and themselves became the centers of growing peripheral areas. Along with this, the development of a new type of ensembles was planned, formed around the parish churches and palaces of the most noble families of the Medici, Rucellai, Pitti and others, whose majestic dwellings introduced a new scale to the development.
Filippo Brunellesco
Filippo Brunellesco (1377-1446) - the first great master of modern architecture, a major artist, inventor and theoretical scientist. Filippo's father, the notary Ser Brunellesco di Lippo Lappi, intended him to become a notary, but at his son's request he was apprenticed to the jeweler Benincasa Lotti. In 1398, Brunellesco joined the workshop of silk spinners (which also included jewelers) and in 1404 received the title of master. In 1405-1409, 1411-1415, 1416-1417. Brunellesco traveled to Rome, where he studied architectural monuments. He began his creative activity as a sculptor and participated in a competition for the bronze doors of the Florentine Baptistery. At the same time he studied the laws of perspective; he is credited with paintings with illusory effects depicting the squares - the Cathedral and the Signoria (1410-1420). Brunellesco carried out a number of engineering and fortification works in Pisa, Lucca, Lastere, Rencina, Stage, Ferrara, Mantua, Rimini and Vicopisano. Architectural works of Brunellesco in or near Florence: the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore (1417-1446); Orphanage (since 1419); the church of San Lorenzo and the old Sacristia (from 1421) (the project was later reworked); Palazzo di Parte Guelph (design commissioned in 1425, construction - 1430-1442); Pazzi Chapel (from 1430); oratorio Santa Maria degli Angeli (after 1427); Church of San Spirito (started in 1436). In addition, the following buildings are associated with the name of Brunellesco: Palazzo Pitti (the project could have been completed in 1440-1444, built in the 1460s); Palazzo Pazzi (the project was commissioned in 1430, built in 1462-1470 by Benedetto da Maiano); the Barbadori Chapel in the Church of Santa Felicita (1420); Villa Pitti in Rusciano near Florence; the second courtyard of the monastery of Santa Croce (built according to a modified design by Brunellesco), the abbey in Fiesole (Bagia Fiesolana, rebuilt in 1456-1464 by Brunellesco's followers).
Michelozzo di Bartolomeo
Michelozzo di Bartolomeo (Michelozzo Michelozzi, 1396-1472) was born in Florence into the family of a tailor and in his youth worked at the mint. Later he collaborated with Ghiberti (in 1420-1424 he made the doors of the baptistery and the statue of St. Matthew in Or San Michele in Florence) and with Donatello (the external pulpit of the Cathedral in Prato, 1425-1438, the font of the Siena Baptistery, 1425, the tombs of Pope John XXIII in the Florentine Baptistery, circa 1427, and of Cardinal Brancacci in Naples, 1426). He executed the tombstone of Aragazzi (circa 1437) in the cathedral in Montepulciano. For a long time, Michelozzo was the court architect of the Medici family. Main architectural works: Palazzo Medici (Riccardi) in Florence (1444-1452); villas in Cafagiolo (1454) and in Careggi (1459); facade of the church of Sant'Agostino in Montepulciano (from 1432); reconstruction of the monastery, library and church of San Marco (1437-1451); work in the Church of Santissima Annunziata (1444-1455) in Florence, Palazzo Strozzino there (1457); the Medici Chapel of Santa Croce in Florence (circa 1445); tabernacles in the churches of San Miniato (1447-1448) and Santissima Annunziata (1448) in the same place; reconstruction of the courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence (from 1454); the Medici bank and possibly the Portinari chapel in the church of Sant'Eustorgio in Milan (1462-1468, see p. 147); reconstruction of the Prince's court in Dubrovnik (Ragusa, 1462-1464); The library of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, which has not survived to this day. Already Michelozzo's early works reveal his commitment to the architectural direction created by Brunellesco, and at the same time the originality of his talent, despite the borrowing of Brunellesco's architectural and constructive techniques. Having mastered the main features of the new style, its clear dissection, tectonicity and life-affirming force, Michelozzo at the same time simplified and made many of Brunellesco’s techniques more accessible. In the interiors, Michelozzo did not strive for the exquisite laconicism of Brunellesco, but for the richness and variety of decor. The same is noticeable in his architecture of small forms, the solution of which he often approached not as an architect, but rather as a sculptor.
Leon Battista Alberti
Leon Battista Alberti is one of the most gifted people of his time - an architect, painter, poet, musician, art theorist and scientist. Alberti was born in Genoa in 1404, died in Rome in 1472. He came from a noble Florentine family expelled from his hometown; educated in Padua and Bologna. After the amnesty of 1428, he settled in Florence, but lived for a long time in Rome at the papal court. Architectural works: in Florence - Palazzo Rucellai (1446-1451), loggia and chapel Rucellai at the Church of San Pancrazio (finished in 1467), choir of the Church of Santissima Annunziata (1472-1477), facade of the Church of Santa Maria Novella ( 1456-1470); in Rimini - the Church of San Francesco (1450-1461, damaged during last war and has now been restored); in Mantua - the churches of San Sebastiano (1460-1472) and Sant Andrea (beginning 1472; the dome dates back to 1763); in Rome, Alberti is credited without sufficient grounds for the Palazzo Venice and the façade of the Church of San Marco, as well as participation in drawing up projects for the reconstruction of Rome under Pope Nicholas V. Alberti’s theoretical works are “Ten Books on Architecture”, “Three Books on Painting”, “On the Statue” , “Mathematical Fun”, etc. The treatise on the movement of weights has not survived to this day. Alberti - author of the series literary works- poems, dialogues. Alberti, as a theoretical scientist who had an exceptionally broad understanding of the role of architecture in the development of society, was interested in his creative activity not so much in the detailed development of the compositions he had conceived and their implementation in kind, but rather in the problematic, typological side of each project, leaving their implementation to his assistants.
Bernardo Rossellino
Bernardo Rossellino, a member of the Gamberelli family of hereditary builders and sculptors, worked in Florence as an architect and sculptor. Rossellino (1409-1464) was the chief architect of the Florence Cathedral and completed the lantern of its dome. He also worked in Fabriano, Empoli and Pistoia. His architectural works: the facade of the Misericordia Church in Arezzo (1433-1435), Palazzo Rucellai in Florence (designed by Alberti 1446), the ensemble in Pienza (1459-1463). In Rome, Rossellino is credited with, in addition to not surviving works, for Pope Nicholas V and the choir of the Cathedral of St. Petra Palazzo Venice, facade of the Church of San Marco, Loggia San Pietro; in Siena - Palazzo Piccolomini and Palazzo Nerucci. Rossellino's most significant work is the ensemble of the town square in Pienza, a small Italian city named after Pope Pius II (Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini), who landscaped and reconstructed his hometown of Corsignano. According to the original plan, the entire city was to be rebuilt: the layout of streets was regulated, intersections were widened, and new houses were built. At the behest of Pius II, the prelates bought land in Pienza and built palaces in accordance with the general reconstruction project. In addition, in many cases, the facades of old houses were rebuilt according to the new fashion. However, the construction of the city was carried out intensively only for five years and was almost stopped after the death of the pope (1464).
Giuliano da Maiano. Benedetto da Maiano
Giuliano da Maiano, the son of a mason and carpenter, was an architect and master of wood carving. His brother - Benedetto da Maiano - Florentine sculptor, architect and woodcarver. Giuliano da Maiano (Giuliano Leonardo d'Antonio, 1432-1490) was born near Fiesole and died in Naples. In Florence, he ran a woodworking workshop where his brothers Benedetto and Giovanni worked. In 1477-1490 was the architect of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, in 1490 he took part in a competition for designs for the facade of the cathedral. Since 1466, Giuliano da Maiano worked mainly as an architect in Florence, Naples, Siena, Loreto and other cities: Palazzo Spannocchi (1473-1476) in Siena, Palazzo Pazzi Quaratesi in Florence (courtyard), Palazzo del Capitanio in Sarzana (rebuilt), Palazzo Venier in Recanata (courtyard loggia), Porta Capuana in Naples, the cathedral in Faenza, the Santa Fina Chapel in the city cathedral of San Gimignano, the courtyards of the monastery of Santa Fiore and Santa Lucilla in Arezzo. The portals of the churches of San Domenico and Sant'Agostino in Recanata (probably made by Lombard craftsmen) are attributed to him. Benedetto da Maiano (Benedetto di Leonardo da Maiano, 1442-1497) built the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence (from 1489) and the portico of the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie near Arezzo (around 1490).
Cronaca (Simone Pollaiuolo)
Among the architects who worked in Florence in the second half of the Quattrocento, Cronac occupies a prominent place. Cronaca (Simone Pollaiolo, 1457-1508) studied antiquity in Rome from 1475 to the mid-1480s, then returned to Florence. Architectural works: Palazzo Strozzi (courtyard and cornice), Palazzo Guadagni (1503-1506), Church of San Salvatore al Monte (1475-1504) in Florence, etc. His largest work is Palazzo Guadagni. The asymmetrical plan is due to the cramped site and the use of parts of an existing structure, as can be inferred from the varying thickness of the building's walls. Nevertheless, Kronaka achieved overall compositional clarity in a variety of interiors. He managed to preserve the traditional elements of the city palace: a small courtyard with loggias, a main entrance and reception rooms adjacent to the courtyard. From the entrance lobby to the upper floors there is a single-flight main staircase. The fourth floor on the side of the main facade is occupied by a large open loggia. The stonework of the wall of the main facade is depicted through sgraffito and inlaid relief (it is possible that Kronak was inspired to use painted architectural decoration by similar interior paintings of ancient Roman monuments). The surface of the facade has been transformed into a huge painting: only interfloor traction rods imitating masonry, window frames and archivolts are embossed. The illusory nature forced the architect to introduce figurative tectonic elements, for example, wide rusticated pillars at the corners of the facade. They are finished with thin three-quarter columns cut into the corners, and the rusticated window casings have a keeled arched finish.
Giuliano da Sangallo
The most striking exponent of architectural trends of the second half of the 15th century. was Giuliano da Sangallo - architect, sculptor and engineer. Giuliano da Sangallo (1445-1516) was born into the family of Francesco Giamberto in Florence. He studied woodcarving (apparently with his brother Antonio da Sangallo the Elder) and worked in Florence, Rome, Milan, Naples, Perugia and many other cities in Italy, as well as in Southern France. He was the chief engineer in Florence (1497) and the chief architect of the construction of the Cathedral of St. Peter's in Rome (1514). Since 1503 - member of the guild of masons and carpenters. He worked together with Antonio da Sangallo (senior and junior), with Cronaca and B. d'Agnolo. Main buildings: Villa Poggio a Caiano (1480-1485); Church of the Madonna delle Carceri in Prato (1485-1491); in Florence - the Augustinian monastery (started in 1488), the sacristy of the Church of San Spirito (1488-1492) together with Cronaca, Palazzo Gondi (1490-1494), his own house (now Palazzo Panciatica Jimenez, 1490-1498 .), courtyard and facade of the church of Maddalena de'Pazzi (begun in 1492), Palazzo Strozzi (1489-1505) together with B. da Maiano and Cronaca; dome of the church in Loreto (1490-1500). He participated in the construction of fortifications in Val d'Elsa (1479), Sarzana (1483-1488), Borgo San Sepolcro, Cortona, Arezzo, Pisa and Livorno. (1509-1512). Major architectural designs and models: model of a palace in Naples (1488); model of the Palazzo Strozzi (1489-1490); model of Lodovico Moro's palace in Milan (1492); model of the palace for Charles VIII (1494-1496); model of the gallery of the dome of the cathedral in Florence with Baccio d'Agnolo; Sapienza's project in Siena (1492); design of the Medici Palace in Piazza Navona in Rome (1513); six versions of the design of the facade of the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence (1515-1516); project of the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome (1467-1472).
Luciano da Laurana
Luciano di Martino da Laurana (circa 1425-1479) came from the town of Vrana, near Zadar. His Slavic name is Lucian of Vrana; There is no information about the year of his birth and activities in his homeland. In 1465 he was at the Sforza court in Pesaro and in the same year he moved to Mantua. In documents of 1467 he is referred to as the engineer and architect of the Duke of Urbino Federigo da Montefeltro. In 1468, Laurana was appointed chief architect of the Urbino palace. In 1472, for unknown reasons, he left Urbino and became the chief of artillery of King Ferrante in Naples. In addition to the Urbino Palace, Laurana is considered, without reliable grounds, to be the author of the Palazzo Prefetizzio in Pesaro (Fabrizzi, Willich). Laurana is credited with the so-called vedata - paintings depicting an ideal city; from sculptural works - some fireplaces of the Urbino palace (A. Venturi). Laurana's largest work is the Palazzo Ducale in Urbino. The composition of this complex is complicated by its dual purpose - a ceremonial palace and a fortified ducal residence, as well as the presence of an old medieval palace and fortifications that had to be included in the new ensemble located on a hill.
Francesco di Giorgio Martini
Francesco di Giorgio Martini in his youth worked in his homeland, Siena, mainly as a painter and builder of fortresses. In Urbino he worked as a military engineer and architect for about ten years. Later he built in Gubbio, Iesi and Ancona. He spent his last years in his homeland, traveling to Naples and Milan, where he met Leonardo da Vinci during an examination of the construction of the cathedral. At the end of his life he wrote an architectural treatise. Main architectural works: supervision of the construction of the Urbino palace according to Laurana's design and, probably, independent decoration of some premises (1475-1480), palace in Gubbio (1476-1479), Palazzo degli Ancisni in Ancona (1486), Palazzo del Comune in Iesi (1486), the church of San Bernardino near Urbino (between 1482 and 1491), the church of Santa Maria del Calcinaio near Cortona (1485). Some authors attribute to him, along with Laurana, the construction of the Palazzo Prefettizio in Pesaro. Francesco built on the towers of the main facade of the Urbino palace, completed the hanging garden, extended the eastern facade to the south and began construction of a courtyard called Cortile del Pasquino, with a seven-arched loggia partially laid down later. He should also be credited with the rich frames of windows and portals in different parts of the palace in the form of two fluted pilasters bearing a complete three-part entablature. Under his leadership, the interior of the palace was also more luxuriously decorated in accordance with the changing tastes of the owner.
Architecture of Venice during the Early and High Renaissance (1420-1520)
New trends in the architecture of Venice appeared only in the last quarter of the 15th century. Until this time, it was influenced by the medieval building traditions of the cities of the northern coast of the Adriatic (Padua, etc.), Byzantium and, to a large extent, the East. Therefore, the first three quarters of the 15th century. in Venice received the widespread name of "Venetian Gothic", while the last quarter of this century is usually called the "early Venetian Renaissance". The boundaries between these periods are not always clearly defined (cf. Fig. 4, 6, 7.). Venice was the largest trade intermediary between the West and the East, which contributed to the rapid economic prosperity and political independence of this trade and aristocratic republic and led to the establishment of strong cultural ties with a number of countries in the Near and Middle East. These features of the development of Venice caused the appearance in its architecture in the 11th-14th centuries. various types of religious buildings: five-domed, centric, basilical and others. A significant role in the addition characteristic features Natural conditions played a role in Venetian architecture - construction was possible only on islands or in shallow parts of the lagoon, where structures were erected on stilts. This was expressed not only in the light appearance of buildings, built mainly of brick, but also in the urban plan, characterized by a lack of regularity, narrow streets, the functions of which were mainly transferred to canals, and unusually crowded buildings (Fig. 1, 2). Residential buildings stood close to the sides of the canals, and the open nature of their facades with loggias and frequent windows was determined by the island position of the city, protected by the sea.
Architecture of Rome during the Early Renaissance
Throughout the 15th century. In Rome, there was an ongoing struggle of the papacy against the Roman nobility and the exhausted cities of Italy, which met the head of the church returning from Avignon with a series of anti-papal uprisings. The most powerful patrician families, who owned vast lands in Latium, made Rome the scene of political battles for power; in the 15th century, as before, they repeatedly opposed one or another pope, demagogically leading uprisings of the townspeople (for whom the outdated city commune still retained its former aura of democracy) with the goal of seizing the papal throne or profitable church positions. Individual representatives of the Roman nobility and the pope turned for support to foreign rulers: the Spanish and French royal houses, which were at odds over the Neapolitan inheritance and were always ready to seize Italian cities and regions, as a result of which they were subjected to constant plunder. Moments of calm were again replaced by strife. In this difficult situation, small Italian cities gradually lost their economic power and political independence. By the end of the 15th century. Five largest states were formed around Milan, Florence, Venice, Rome and Naples. But the commercial, industrial and usurious centers - Milan, Florence and Venice - gradually lost foreign markets, while at the same time the Roman church state became increasingly stronger politically. The importance of Rome in social and artistic life grew rapidly. The secularization of ideology has penetrated far, threatening the main sources of income for the curia. Humanism and the revival of positive knowledge were shaking the dilapidated worldview of the church. Therefore, the most far-sighted representatives of the papacy with great determination tried to use those moods of society that they were powerless to overcome (flexibility and opportunism have always been characteristic of Catholicism). Humanists are beginning to be widely attracted to work in the Curia; from the second half of the 15th century. Rome hastily exchanged its medieval clothes for new ones. By the end of the century, enormous funds and all the fullness of political power in Rome and in the vast possessions that depended on it were again concentrated in the hands of the popes.
Architecture of Milan and Lombardy during the Early and High Renaissance (1420-1520)
Along with the tectonicism, monumental constructiveness and strict clarity of thought characteristic of the main, most important and vital movement in Italian Quattrocento architecture, another movement developed in it, distinguished by an insatiable thirst for decorative richness and a love for detail. While the first current, outlined with amazing force by Brunellesco, continued in the works of Alberti, Giuliano and Antonio da Sangallo, Luciano da Laurana and Francesco di Giorgio Martini and gradually covered central Italy, reaching Mantua in the north, the second direction, emanating from Lombardy and by the middle of the century, having penetrated (as shown above) into Venice, was limited to northern Italy. This was reflected in the persistent adherence to traditional methods and forms of Northern Italian Gothic. A new worldview, an intoxication with life and a joyful admiration of the world in all its many colors were clearly expressed here in the indomitable extravagance, abundance of decoration and polychrome, for the sake of which architects often sacrificed the tectonic clarity of their buildings. The free combination of Romanesque, Gothic, Byzantine and early Christian architectural forms gave rise to a unique, heterogeneous, sometimes atectonic, but captivating in its picturesque northern version of Italian Quattrocento architecture, which reached its apogee in the Colleoni Chapel in Bergamo and in the Pavia Certosa. In the last quarter of the 15th century. a sharp change occurred in northern Italian architecture, the history of which is not well understood and its significance is often underestimated. The buildings of this period speak of serious changes in the tastes of society and the builders themselves, who were returning from a passion for decoration to deeper and more meaningful problems. In Lombardy, they began to persistently develop a centric monumental type of composition, previously found only in the work of Tuscan masters.
Donato Bramante (Milan. Lombardy)
Donato Bramante (1444-1514) was born in Monte Asdrualdo (now Fermignano) near Urbino. In 1477, Bramante participated in the painting of the facade of the Palazzo del Podesta in Bergamo. In Milan, he also first engaged in painting. From 1482 to 1486, Bramante reconstructed the church of Santa Maria Presso San Satiro (a project possibly begun in 1478); from 1492 he rebuilt the cross and apses of the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (until 1497), the courtyards of the canons and the monastery of Sant'Ambrogio (work was interrupted in 1499). In addition, he carried out painting and many engineering works on the reconstruction of the ducal castle of Carmagnola (1491) and the fortification of Crevola in the Ossola valley (1498), participated together with Cristofor Rocchi in the examination, redesign of the design and construction of the cathedral in Pavia (1487- 1488 - until about 1492), participated in the discussion of problems related to the dome of the Milan Cathedral. In 1493 Bramante left Milan. After his return, he erected a chapel in the Church of San Francesco, the Palazzo delle Dame and a loggia at the ducal residence in Vigevano; It is believed that the castle tower and the square surrounded by arcades in front of it were also made according to his design. In 1497 Bramante began the façade of the cathedral of Abbiategrasso, which remained unfinished. In 1499, after the capture of Milan by the French and the fall of Sforza, Bramante moved to Rome, where he was initially busy painting, sketching and measuring ancient monuments. The first architectural works were the courtyard of the monastery of Santa Maria della Pace (1500-1504) and the bell tower of the church of Santa Maria del Anima. At the same time, Bramante built the palace of Cardinal Riario (Cancelleria) and the church of San Lorenzo in Damaso. In 1502 he built the Tempietto in the courtyard of the Church of San Pietro in Montorio. Bramante's largest creation is the Cathedral of St. Peter, which he was engaged in, apparently, from 1505 until his death. Of his works, the Belvedere courtyard in the Vatican should be highlighted (project since 1503, construction completed after Bramante’s death), as well as the octagonal courtyard and spiral staircase-ramp at the Villa Innocent VIII. Other works by Bramante in Rome: the choir of the church of Santa Maria del Popolo (1509), the building of the papal tribunal with the church of San Biagio della Pagnotta (not completed), the courtyard of San Damaso in the Vatican (1510, completed by Raphael), his own house (demolished in the 17th century), the church of San Celso e Giuliano (1510-1514). Bramante also advised on the construction of fortifications in Imola, Foligno, etc.
Architecture of Rome during the High Renaissance (first quarter of the 16th century)
By the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries. The once advanced Italian cities, which gave birth to a new urban culture and new architecture, experienced economic stagnation and profound social changes. Italy's domestic markets were limited, and external markets were narrowed due to Turkish conquests and the development of industry in other European countries. Trade, and with it industry, fell, and the leading role in the Italian states passed from bankers and merchants to feudal rulers and the landed nobility. All this, combined with the wars that shook the country since last decade XV century, led to a noticeable limitation in the demand for works of art and to a sharp curtailment of construction activity. Architects, carvers and other masters of construction, as well as artists, flocked from different cities to the courts of the most prosperous rulers. During the first two decades of the 16th century. the center of the architectural process in Italy moved to the capital of the papal state - to Rome. The cardinals and the papal curia were the most stable clients for artists and builders in those years. But the best artists and architects of Italy were drawn to Rome not only in the hope of generous nobles. The wars of conquest that ravaged the scattered states of the country led to a short-lived rise in national self-awareness, which had previously only been visible among a few leading figures of Italian culture. The Papal State, as the center of the international Catholic Church, was seen by many as the core of Italy around which it could unite. Elements of national identity in Italy were manifested both in art and in the tendency towards a unified architectural style. Among the best and most advanced people of that time, the unity of culture was inextricably linked with the idea of political unification. This idea was also more or less consciously present in the sermons of Savonarola (1452-1498), who, relying on the petty bourgeoisie and the poor, ruled Florence for almost ten years and vainly called for church reform and the purification of morals for the sake of saving the fatherland, in the activities and writings of Machiavelli (1469-1527), who sought salvation in the unlimited dictatorship of the ideal “prince,” and, finally, even in the shameless policies of Pope Alexander VI and his son, Caesar Borgia, famous for his atrocities, who dreamed of becoming the head unified Italian empire.
Donato Bramante (Rome)
At the beginning of the 16th century. The papacy allocated huge funds for construction to improve and decorate the city, to build new streets, etc. One after another, architects, artists, sculptors, woodcarvers, and stone masons came here. In addition to the elderly Giuliano da Sangallo and Fra Giocondo who lived in Rome, Donato Bramante, Baldassare Peruzzi, Rafael Santi, Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Michelangelo Buonarotti, Andrea and Jacopo Sansovino, Giovanni da Udine and others came here; The Roman Giulio Romano also worked here. Among these masters, Bramante occupied a special place, who played the same fundamental role in the culminating stage of the development of humanistic architecture as Brunellesco played in the initial one. The earliest Roman building with which the name Bramante is associated is the Palazzo Cancelleria (1483-1526), the first Roman building of general Italian significance and one of the most majestic and austere palaces of the capital (it received its name from the papal office, which was soon placed in it after completion of construction). The highest achievement of the Roman Quattrocento and the first work of the new century, an example of a fully mature “classical” style of the Renaissance, Cancelleria remains a mystery to historians who have not yet come to an agreement regarding its author and the share of Bramante’s possible participation in its creation. Before understanding this issue, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the structure itself.
Rafael Santi
Raphael Santi, the greatest painter who worked in Rome with Bramante during the years 1514-1520, was undoubtedly the most important architect in Italy. Raphael (1483-1520) was born in Urbino, one of the cultural and artistic centers of Italy. From 1500, Raphael worked in the workshop of Perugino, where in 1504 he painted The Betrothal of Mary (Sposalicio, now in the Brera Museum in Milan); in 1505 he moved to Florence, where he completed many paintings. The exact time of Raphael's move to Rome is not known, but in October 1509 he received a permanent position as “apostolic painter” at the court of Pope Julius II, who commissioned him to paint the papal rooms (stanzas) in the Vatican. Stanza called della Segnatura, with frescoes "Disputation", "School of Athens" (Fig. 18), "Parnassus", and "Three Virtues" (1509-1511), and a second stanza, frescoes of which depict "The Expulsion of Heliodorus" , "Mass at Bolsena", "Release of the Apostle Peter from Prison" and "Meeting of Pope Leo I with Attila" (1511-1514), were remarkable achievements of monumental realism in painting and its synthesis with architecture. The frescoes of the third stanza were largely executed by the master's students based on his drawings. The fourth stanza, the so-called “Hall of Constantine,” was completed by the students after the death of Raphael (1517-1525). Raphael's first architectural works include the church of Sant'Eligio degli Orefici (begun in 1509) and the chapel of the Agostino Chigi family in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo (1512-1520). From 1514, after the death of Bramante, Raphael's architectural activity became more intense, he was appointed head of the construction of the Cathedral of St. Peter (from April 1514 - temporarily, from August - in consultation with Fra Giocondo, from July 1515 - chief architect), participated in the competition for the facade of the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence, completed the construction of the courtyard of San Damaso in the Vatican, begun by Bramante, while simultaneously painting together with the students of his Loggia (graduated in 1519). Raphael did a lot of work for Chigi: in addition to participating in the construction of the Villa Farnesina (started in 1509; many researchers attribute it entirely to Raphael) and in its paintings (The Triumph of Galatea, 1515; plafond with the story of Psyche, 1518), he built several more buildings in the same area of Trastevere, of which only the stables on Lungara Street are partially preserved. In the last years of Raphael's life, several palaces were built according to his drawings by various masters: Palazzo Vidoni-Caffarelli; Palazzo da Brescia and Palazzo del L'Aquila in Rome (finished in 1520 ); Palazzo Pandolfini in Florence (1516-1520). Construction of the Villa Madama began near Rome (from 1517). In August 1515, Raphael, who had been interested in studying ancient monuments since his arrival in Rome, was appointed guardian of Roman antiquities in place of the deceased Fra Giocondo.
Baldassare Peruzzi
Baldassare Peruzzi, a painter, decorator and architect who worked in Rome at the same time as Bramante and Raphael, is usually mentioned in the history of architecture as one of the masters of the High Renaissance. Peruzzi (1481-1536) was born in Siena, where he painted, probably as an assistant to Pinturicchio, the chapel of San Giovanni in the cathedral (1501) and built the courtyard of the oratory of St. Catherine. He began his first period in Rome (1503-1527) with studying and sketching ancient monuments. Peruzzi carried out numerous painting, architectural and decorative works: painting the chapel in the Church of St. Onufria (together with Pietro d'Andrea from Volterra), the construction of the Villa Farnesina (1509-1511) and the painting of the hall on its second floor, the facade of the church of San Pietro in Montorio, the painting of the Ponzetti Chapel in the church of Santa Maria della Pace (1516-1517 gg.), model of the dome of the cathedral and fortifications in Carpi (1515-1520), design of the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini (participation in the competition of 1520), drawings of costumes and scenery for the performance of the comedy “Calandras” (1520), drawings and model of the facade of the Cathedral of San Petronio in Bologna (1522), the construction of a villa for Cardinal Trivulzio near Tivoli (1521-1524), plans for the Caprarola Castle (same years), construction of the Palazzo Spada (1523-1530) and Ossoli (c. 1525) in Rome. Since 1520, Peruzzi was appointed coadjutor of the construction of the Cathedral of St. Petra. During the sack of Rome, Peruzzi was captured and released for ransom, after which he returned to Siena, where he was appointed chief architect of the republic (from July 1527) and worked on the construction of fortifications and the cathedral (from 1529). Since 1534, Peruzzi was appointed chief architect of the Cathedral of St. Peter and began construction of the Palazzo Massimi (1535). In Montepulciano he built the Palazzo Ricci and Contucci. According to Vasari, Peruzzi began a book on Roman antiquities and commented on Vitruvius.
It is no coincidence that many navigators and scientists who gained worldwide fame during the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries - P. Toscanelli, X. Columbus, J. Cabot, A. Vespucci - were Italians. Italy, fragmented politically, was at that time the country with the most developed economy and culture in Europe. In modern times, it entered the midst of a grandiose cultural revolution, called the Renaissance, or in French - Renaissance, because it originally meant the revival of the ancient heritage. However, the Renaissance was a continuation of the Middle Ages no less than a return to antiquity; it was born on the basis of the highly developed, sophisticated and complex culture of the Middle Ages.
The concept of the Renaissance. Humanism
Along with the concept of “Renaissance”, the concept of “humanism”, derived from the Latin humanis - human, is widely used. It is closely related to the concept of “Renaissance”, but is not equivalent to it. The term “Renaissance” denotes the entire complex of cultural phenomena characteristic of a given historical era. “Humanism” is a system of views formed in the Renaissance era, according to which the high dignity of the human person, its right to free development and manifestation of its creative abilities are recognized.
During the Renaissance, the concept of “humanism” also meant a complex of knowledge about man, his place in nature and society. A special issue is the attitude of humanists to religion. Humanism coexisted well with Christianity, the most striking evidence of which was the active participation of clergy in the humanistic movement and, especially, the patronage of the popes. During the Renaissance, religion turned from a subject of blind faith into an object of doubt, reflection, scientific study, and even criticism. But despite this, Italy as a whole remained a religious, predominantly Catholic country. All sorts of superstitions still persisted in Italian society, and astrology and other pseudosciences flourished.
The revival went through several stages. Early Renaissance (XIV and most of the XV centuries) characterized by the emergence of Renaissance literature and related humanities, and the flourishing of humanism in general. During period B High Renaissance (end of the 15th - first third of the 16th century) There was an unprecedented flowering of fine art, but there was already a clear crisis in the humanistic worldview. During these decades, the Renaissance expanded beyond Italy. Late Renaissance (most of the 16th century)- a period when its development continued in parallel with the religious Reformation in Europe.
The capital of the Italian Renaissance was the main city of Tuscany - Florence, where a unique combination of circumstances developed that contributed to the rapid rise of culture. At the height of the High Renaissance, the center of Renaissance art moved to Rome. Popes Julius II (1503-1513) and Leo X (1513-1521) then made great efforts to revive the former glory of the Eternal City, thanks to which it truly turned into a center of world art. The third largest center of the Italian Renaissance was Venice, where Renaissance art acquired a unique coloring due to local characteristics.
Art of the Italian Renaissance
The cultural upsurge that took place in Italy during the Renaissance. manifested itself most clearly in fine arts and architecture. They reflected with particular force and clarity the great turning point of the era, which determined the path for the further development of world art.
One of the most prominent figures of the Italian Renaissance was Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), who combined many talents - painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, original thinker. He lived a stormy and creative life, creating his masterpieces in the service of the Florentine Republic, for the Duke of Milan, the Pan of Rome and the King of France. Fresco by Leonardo " last supper"represents one of the peaks in the development of all European art, and La Gioconda is one of its greatest mysteries.
For Leonardo, painting was a universal means of not only reflecting the world, but also understanding it. By his own definition, this is “an amazing skill, it all consists of the most subtle speculations.” With his experimental observations, this brilliant artist enriched almost all areas of science of his time. And his technical inventions included, for example, a parachute project.
Leonardo competed with genius no less great artist Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), whose star began to rise at the turn of the century. It was difficult to imagine such different people: Leonardo - sociable, not alien to secular manners, always searching, with a wide range of often changing interests; Michelangelo is reserved, stern, immersed in his work, focused on each of his new works. Michelangelo became famous as a sculptor and architect, painter and poet. Among his first masterpieces is the sculptural group “Lamentation of Christ”. In 1504, the people of Florence carried in a triumphal procession the colossal figure of David, which is the masterpiece of this master. It was solemnly installed in front of the city council building. The frescoes of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican brought him even greater fame, where Michelangelo painted 600 square meters in four years. m scenes from the Old Testament. Later, his famous fresco “The Last Judgment” appeared in the same chapel.
Michelangelo achieved no less impressive successes in architecture. From 1547 until the end of his life, he led the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral, intended to become the main Catholic church in the world. Michelangelo radically changed the original design of this grandiose structure. According to his ingenious design, a dome was created, which to this day is unsurpassed in either size or grandeur. This Roman cathedral is one of the greatest creations of world architecture.
How the city planner Michelangelo expressed the full power of his talent in creating architectural ensemble on the Capitol Square. He actually formed a new image of Rome, which has since been inextricably linked with his name. Italian Renaissance painting reached its peak in the work of Raphael Santi (1483-1520). He took part in the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral, and in 1516 he was appointed chief superintendent of all Roman antiquities. However, Raphael showed himself primarily as an artist, in whose work the pictorial canons of the High Renaissance were completed. Among artistic achievements Raphael - painting of the state rooms of the Vatican Palace. He painted portraits of Julius II and Leo X, thanks to which Rome turned into the capital of Renaissance art. The artist’s favorite image has always been the Mother of God, a symbol of maternal love. It is no coincidence that greatest masterpiece The stunning Sistine Madonna is recognized.
An honorable place in the history of Renaissance art is occupied by the Venetian school of painting, the founder of which was Giorgione (1476/77-1510). His masterpieces such as “Judith” and “Sleeping Venus” received worldwide recognition. . The most outstanding artist of Venice was Titian (1470/80s - 1576). Titian brought everything he learned from Giorgione and other masters to perfection, and the free style of painting he created had a great influence on the subsequent development of world painting.
Among Titian's early masterpieces is the painting “Earthly Love and Heavenly Love,” which was original in concept. The Venetian artist became widely known as an unsurpassed portrait painter. Both Roman high priests and crowned heads considered it an honor to pose for him.
Architecture and sculpture
The founders of the new architectural style were outstanding masters of Florence, primarily Filippo Brunelleschi, who created the monumental dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. But the main type of architectural structure during this period was no longer a church building, but a secular building - a palazzo (palace). The Renaissance style is characterized by monumentality, creating an impression of grandeur, and emphasized simplicity of facades and the convenience of spacious interiors. The complex design of Gothic buildings, which overwhelmed people with their grandeur, was contrasted with new architecture, which created a fundamentally new living environment, more consistent with human needs.
During the Renaissance, sculpture separated from architecture and appeared separately standing monuments As an independent element of the urban landscape, the art of sculptural portraiture rapidly developed. The portrait genre, widespread in painting, sculpture and graphics, responded to the humanistic spirit of Renaissance culture.
Literature, theater, music
Renaissance literature, which was originally created in Latin, step by step gave way to national, Italian literature. By the middle of the 16th century. The Italian language, based on the Tuscan dialect, becomes predominant. It was the first national literary language in Europe, the transition to which contributed to the widespread dissemination of Renaissance education.
Throughout the 16th century. originated in Italy national theater in the modern sense of the word. Italian folk comedies were the first in Europe to be written in prose and had a realistic character, that is, they corresponded to reality.
Passion for music has always been more widespread in Italy than in any other European country. It was widespread and represented an integral element of the everyday life of the widest sections of the population. The Renaissance brought great changes to this area. Orchestras are especially popular. New types of musical instruments are being created, with the violin taking first place among string instruments.
A New Understanding of History and the Birth of Political Science
Renaissance thinkers developed an original view of history and created a fundamentally new periodization historical process, radically different from the mythical scheme borrowed from the Bible. The realization that a new historical era had arrived became the most original feature of the Italian Renaissance. Contrasting themselves to the Middle Ages, the humanists turned to the masters of the ancient world as their direct predecessors, and designated the millennium between their “modern” time and antiquity as the nameless “Middle Ages.” Thus was born a completely new approach to the periodization of history, which is still accepted today.
The largest thinker of the Italian Renaissance, who made an invaluable contribution to the development of both historical and political thought, was Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527). A native of Florence, he held senior positions in the government and carried out important diplomatic assignments during the years when Italy became the scene of bitter international rivalry. It was during this catastrophic era for his country that the Florentine thinker tried to answer the most pressing problems modernity. For him, history represented the political experience of the past, and politics represented modern history.
The main concerns for Machiavelli were the “common good” of the people and the “state interest.” It is their protection, and not private interests, that, in his opinion, should determine the behavior of the ruler. “The evidence of my honesty and fidelity is my poverty,” wrote Machiavelli in support of his conclusions. His political testament was the words: “not to deviate from good, if possible, but to be able to take the path of evil, if necessary.” This call is often perceived as a justification for immoral policies that do not disdain any means to achieve their goals, for which the concept of “Machiavellianism” was even invented.
From the book “The Prince” by N. Machiavelli
“My intention is to write something useful for someone who will understand it, which is why it seemed to me more correct to seek the real rather than the imaginary truth of things.” After all, “the distance from how life actually flows is so great to how one should live.”
“Both well-established states and wise princes tried especially hard not to embitter the nobles and at the same time satisfy the people, to make them happy, because this is one of the most important affairs of the prince.” And “those in whose hands power is given must never think about themselves.”
The sovereign “must seem merciful, faithful, humane, sincere, pious; it should be like this, but you must strengthen your spirit in such a way that, if necessary, you become different... turn into the opposite.” “After all, anyone who would always want to profess faith in goodness will inevitably perish among so many people who are alien to goodness.”
References:
V.V. Noskov, T.P. Andreevskaya / History from the end of the 15th to the end of the 18th century
In the XIII–XIV centuries. began in the cities of Northern Italy important stage development of trade and public relations. The emergence of a new powerful empire, the Venetian Republic, led to the development of maritime trade, glass production and export, which strengthened the economic power of Venice and neighboring Italian states. It was during this period that capitalist relations were formed in Italy and the first banking houses and trading corporations were created. The leading cities in Italy in the development of capitalism during that period were Genoa, Florence, Venice and Siena. It is there that a new style in architecture is born, which is called Renaissance, Renaissance style. A new architectural and artistic style developed under the strong influence of ancient Greek and Roman heritage. However, the Renaissance began to manifest itself in architecture somewhat later than in painting or sculpture. For example, the widespread introduction of transformed classical order systems began to occur only at the turn of the 14th–15th centuries. The difference between Renaissance style architecture is that it acquires a more secular and life-affirming character. It was during the Renaissance that structures appeared that began to relate to man, i.e. the person becomes their scale measure. In contrast to the verticalism of Gothic, the Renaissance and its forms largely develop in width. The architecture of this period is characterized by simplicity and tranquility of volumes, shapes and rhythm. Pointed Gothic vaults and arches gradually begin to give way to cylindrical and cross vaults. Renaissance buildings evoke a feeling of staticity due to the fact that horizontal floors are layered on top of each other. From the era of Antiquity, the Renaissance adopted a logical order system. Columns, pylons, pilasters, archivolts, architraves and vaults are the main elements that the Renaissance uses and creates various combinations of them. Renaissance architecture uses a variety of orders, which can be arranged in a so-called classical order, from the heaviest Doric at the bottom to the Corinthian at the top. Thus, the wall acquires its original tectonic significance.
The basis of the philosophical content of Renaissance architecture and the entire Renaissance was humanism - new system values and views on man and his place in the world. Since the ideals of humanism are based on rationalistic thinking, the architecture of this period can be called the architecture of rationalism.
When studying the architecture of the Renaissance, it is necessary to take into account the fact that for the first time the Renaissance as a direction in architectural and construction thought arose in Italy and Southern France. From there it spread to Spain, Portugal, Dalmatian coast(city-state of Dubrovnik), France, Flanders and the rest of Europe. But the development of Renaissance architecture was uneven. Conventionally, Renaissance style architecture can be divided into three main periods: early renaissance(mid - end of the 15th century), high renaissance(first half of the 16th century), and late renaissance(mid – second half of the 16th century).
The early Renaissance took shape initially in Florence, but there are architectural monuments of this period in many other cities of Italy: Mantua, Padua, Verona, Urbino, Prado. Architectural monuments high renaissance mainly concentrated in Rome and the former Papal States. The late Renaissance mainly manifested itself in the cities of Northern Italy, such as Venice, Vicenza, and on the country estates of the Venetian aristocracy. The early Renaissance period is usually counted from 1420, when the construction of the dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore began in Florence (Fig. 6.1, VI.1) according to the design of the outstanding Italian architect Filippo Brunelleschi (for more details, see below).
Rice. 6.1.
Architects of the early Renaissance professed the ideals of freedom, rationalism and a return to the origins of ancient architecture, so they put decisions on the aesthetic and technical foundations of architectural thought on a scientific basis. It was during this period that the disparaging name of the previous architectural era as barbarian, Gothic (Gothic) appeared. In the middle of the 15th century. A manuscript by an ancient architect of the 1st century was discovered in the library of the Swiss monastery of St. Galen. AD Vitruvius on architecture. This manuscript formed the basis for many treatises on the history and theory of architecture. Among them are “Ten Books on Architecture” (L. B. Alberti, 15th century), “Four Books on Architecture” (A. Palladio, 16th century), “Rule of the Five Orders of Architecture” (D. da Vignola , XVI century). The architects of the Renaissance were characterized by absolutely pure architectural forms, which differed from the mystical complexity of Gothic architecture. Under the influence of ancient architecture, many architects of this period began to study archeology, such as
Andrea Palladio, who carried out architectural measurements of the ancient monuments of Rome and other Italian cities and dedicated one of his “Four Books on Architecture” to the results of his research.
In the 15th century the theory of the so-called ideal temple with a plan in the shape of a circle - monoptera - appears, similar temples began to be called rotunda temples. This theory of the ideal temple was developed by the architect Leon Batista Alberti. The brilliant Renaissance scientist Leonardo da Vinci believed that “a building should be clearly visible from all sides and show everyone its true forms.” He also devoted part of his architectural projects to the search for the form of an ideal centric temple. It is interesting that in addition to temples, there was also a search for the architectural forms of an ideal city. Some ideas were brought to life. For example, the castle city of Duino (now in the possession of the princes of Thurn und Taxis) near the city of Trieste, the fortified city of Palma Nuovo near Venice (Fig. 6.2).
Rice. 6.2.
Certain elements of the ideal city were also implemented beyond the borders of Italy. First of all, we should note the fortified city of La Valletta - the capital of the Knights of Malta. At the core planning structure Such cities are based on the principle of a circle or a nine-pointed star, as in the case of the plans for the city of Palma Nuovo. Along with mystical and ideological utopias, the projects of such cities were also influenced by practical considerations. First of all, this concerned the defense of the city. The invention of artillery was taken into account, so city plans have forms with a minimum perimeter of a new type of fortification. IN ideal city During the Renaissance, there is always a large square for the carnival, the city cathedral and the Palazzo Publico - the palace of public meetings. In addition, the projects provided for the presence of several market areas. For example, in the project of the city of Palma Nuovo (architect V. Scamozzi), four market areas were designed at once - for wholesale trade, for retail, for the stock exchange, for the hay market. This tells us that the main aspect of the life of the townspeople during this historical period was trade. A number of architectural landscapes ideal cities - vedutes (perspectives of ideal, symmetrically built cities with an ideal centric temple in the city center), made in the 15th century. the outstanding artist and architect Luciano di Laurano.
The Renaissance as an architectural style inherited from Gothic the main types of buildings - palace, town hall, basilica. However, new types of structures also emerged, for example, educational institutions, schools, hospitals, orphanages.
The leading architect of the early Renaissance was F. Brunelleschi (1377–1446), who is often called the architect of the new style. The center of this new architectural style was Florence during this period, which reached by the beginning of the 15th century. extraordinary economic and cultural prosperity. Interestingly, the first Renaissance building in Florence was the Orphanage complex (a home for orphans), designed by Brunelleschi in 1421 (Fig. VI.2). However, as early as 1420, construction began on the Church of San Lorenzo (1420–1429) (Fig. VI.3) and the dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The construction of the cathedral itself began in 1296 according to the design of the architect Arnolfo di Cambio; it was erected as a symbol of the victory of the Guelph party over the party of Gibbelin aristocrats. Construction of the cathedral was interrupted, and by 1360 its plan had changed significantly. So, for example, instead of the central apse of the basilica, an extensive octagon with a span of 42 m was added. By 1360, the octagon was erected, but the question of covering it remained open. In 1420 Brunelleschi won a city competition. He won because he proposed to build the dome on the octagon without native forests and thereby reduced the cost and labor costs. When constructing the dome of the cathedral, Brunelleschi studied ancient sources, and above all the dome of the Pantheon. As a result, Brunelleschi managed to create a dome design that had a span that was only 1 m shorter than the Pantheon, but this dome was a new word in engineering.
The dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore had a double-shell design. The design included a supporting frame and thin-walled shells with chain rings in the body of the dome, which absorbed the thrust. Unlike the cathedral, the Orphanage was built as a philanthropic institution for orphans with funds from the guild of silkmakers. Therefore, members of the board of trustees emphasized that the building should be cheap, but at the same time comfortable for living. Brunelleschi proposed a very strict and orderly plan for the complex and then added an elegant portico in the form of nine arched bays to the building from the side of the Holy Trinity Square. The beauty of the architecture of the portico is not so much in its spans and arches, but in the remarkable proportionality of its parts, their harmonious combination with each other. Above the supporting columns are bas-reliefs of swaddled babies, made by the outstanding Florentine sculptor Andrea della Robio.
In 1430–1443 According to Brunelleschi's design, the Pazzi Chapel was built in the courtyard of the monastery of Santa Croce. Brunelleschi uses a dome on “sails” and erects a portico decorated with columns of the Corinthian order. The columns correspond to fluted pilasters. The building is distinguished by harmony and balance throughout. The most important thing in this structure is its proportionality to man.
During the Renaissance, the construction of private palaces - palazzos - continued. One of the first Renaissance-style palazzos was the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, built according to the design of the architect Michelozzo di Bartolommeo. The facades of this palace are built on the principle of dividing them into three tiers. Due to the rough rustication, the lower tier looks heavy and reads like a massive base of the entire building. The upper two tiers are cut through by many double arched windows. The walls of the second tier are made of large stone masonry, and the masonry of the third tier is almost smooth. Michelozzo surrounded the courtyard on all four sides with an arcade similar to Brunelleschi's arcade from the Orphanage. The architect Leon Batista Alberti erected a palace in Florence in 1446 for the banker Giovanni Rucellai (Fig. VI.4). Unlike the Palazzo Medici, the Rucellai Palace has a holistic composition of the facade with the same masonry on all tiers, but Alberti uses a different order system in the framing of the windows and different window bays. The building is completed with a single order cornice. Thus, the architect emphasizes the unity of the image and harmony. However, the aesthetic sophistication of the Rucellai Palace remained one of a kind. Basically, the customers of the palaces wanted to emphasize the greatness of their clan and personal power in the external appearance of the structure. For example, the Strozzi Palace (1489–1504), built according to the design of the architect Giuliano da Sangallo (Fig. VI.5), can be considered a similar palazzo.
At the end of the 15th century. After the conquest of Constantinople, Trebizond and Mangupta (a principality on the Crimean Peninsula) by the Turks, the decline of Mediterranean and Black Sea trade began. The former city-states of Italy, such as Florence, Genoa, Siena, and the Venetian Republic, are gradually giving way to the role of developed trading states to other states of Southern Germany, France, Flanders, and the Papal States. Explicit status cultural center This period is acquired by Rome, which until the first half of the 16th century. becomes a recognized center of the High Renaissance. Rome was the center of the Catholic world, the greatness of Rome was directly associated with the revival of the greatness of the entire Holy Roman Empire of the German nation. Many popes of this period were not alien to humanistic ideals. Especially during the reign of Pope Julius II, the ideals of the High Renaissance began to penetrate Roman architecture. At the court of Pope Julius they worked the most outstanding architects of that time - Antonio da Sangallo, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Donato Bramante. During this period, the Doric and Tuscan orders, which had greater severity and dignity, began to become widespread. The light arcade on columns is replaced by an order arcade. Personal palaces are gradually beginning to acquire elements of public buildings, where important diplomatic negotiations and ceremonial balls are held. Thus, the palazzos of this period become prototypes for future public buildings.
At the end of the 15th century. The concept of a country villa, which is being built as an integral ensemble, is being revived again. The most prominent architect of this period was Donato Bramante (1444–1514). In 1489, in Rome, for Pope Raphael Riario, according to Bramante's design, the construction of the Palazzo Cancelleria (Chancery Palace) began. The palace for the first time combined two various functions, the state chancellery and residential papal residence, which retained all the features of the planning solution of residential palaces of the previous time. The palace had a traditional large courtyard surrounded by arcades, but the courtyard was embedded in a site that was far from rectangular in outline. In its form, the palace of the chancellery is a huge parallelepiped, divided along the facade into three tiers. The divisions of the facade with the help of order systems are made more expressive. The pilasters protrude more actively from the walls, the windows have a variety of shapes and are framed by strongly protruding platbands. The courtyard is surrounded by a two-tiered gallery. It was this work of Bramante as an architect that marked the onset of a new period in the history of architecture - the period of the High Renaissance (Fig. VI.6).
Around 1502, according to Bramante's design, a memorial chapel was erected in Rome on the site of the martyrdom of the Apostle Peter. The chapel is called Tempietto San Pietro in Montorio. It became an example of a new architectural style. Bramante turned to ancient sources and revived the centric type of temple building. The chapel is a small rotunda temple, which stands on a low podium above the crypt. The building is surrounded by a Tuscan order colonnade. The order ends with a powerful entablature with a balustrade. The chapel is topped with a dome with a lantern. The building is surrounded by dense buildings, however, thanks to the precise proportions of the order and the relationships between the parts of the structure, the chapel is so monumental that with its presence it seems to move apart the surrounding walls of the houses and appears in all the grandeur of the architectural concept of the author of the project (Fig. VI.7).
Bramante's second important project was the large-scale reconstruction of the Vatican and the reconstruction of the old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Pope Julius II ordered Bramante to build the cathedral in the form of a centric composition, which was later transformed into a composition in the form of a Latin cross. However, Bramante was unable to complete the construction of the cathedral during his lifetime. The construction of the cathedral was continued by the architect and artist Rafael Santi. Raphael reworked the layout of the cathedral in the form of an elongated Latin cross and completed the elongated nave with a portico with columns of a giant order. The new Pope Leo X of the Medici family was drawn to the development of the arts and was able to appreciate the work of Raphael. Soon, in addition to Raphael, other architects were included in the process of reconstruction of the Vatican - Antonio da Sangallo and Fra Giacondo. As a result, the cathedral project underwent changes. Thus, a vaulted ceiling appears over the entire nave. The project included the construction of two domes. In 1513 Rome was to be declared a free city. For the celebrations dedicated to this event, according to the design of the architect Giuliano da Sangallo, the Roman architect Rosselli erected a wooden theater. Pope Leo X commissioned Raphael to design a palace for his brother Giuliano de' Medici. In 1494, Michelangelo received an order to build the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence. However, the temple was not built; only sketches and drawings were preserved. However, after the death of the ruler of Florence, Lorenzio de' Medici, in 1519, Michelangelo was able to build a small chapel - a sacristy (tomb) for Lorenzio. In this chapel, trends in architectural style began to appear for the first time. mannerism (late Renaissance) (Fig. VI.8).
For the first time in this work, Michelangelo used the simultaneous combination of sculptural plasticity and architecture in the interior of the chapel. This is called mannerism. Michelangelo also changes the traditional idea of Italian palazzos. Thus, when rebuilding the Farnese Dukes' Palace by order of the new Pope Paul III (Farnese), Michelangelo completely changed the main façade of the building. A pronounced entrance appears on the facade with a front window above it, the cornice receives a very powerful projection compared to the other option presented by Antonio da Sangallo. The facade of the palace is decorated with bright decorative elements of a heraldic nature (lilies of the Farnese family coat of arms). In 1546, after the death of the architect Giulio Romano, 72-year-old Michelangelo became the chief architect for the construction of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican (Fig. VI.9). Michelangelo returned to Bramante's very clear plan, reduced the dimensions of the cathedral, and gave it a centric composition. From 1546, for 18 years, construction proceeded at a rapid pace thanks to Spain, which invested huge amounts of money in its construction. The design of the dome of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, according to Michelangelo, was close to the design of the dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. True, outwardly Michelangelo gave the dome a different expressiveness. The dome is very flat, but it is topped by a huge lantern, which visually balances the huge mass of the dome. Michelangelo died before the construction of the cathedral was completed, and the work was completed by the architect Giacomo della Porta, who extended the dome upward and increased the height of the lantern. In connection with the construction of the cathedral, Michelangelo often began to be called the father of Baroque, since his ideas regarding the external and internal decoration of the temple, decorative platbands, deep window niches, sculptures, cornices, and belts formed the basis of a new architectural style - baroque. In addition to St. Peter's Cathedral, the genius of Michelangelo was responsible for the completed projects of the Capitol Square with palaces. After the sack of Rome in 1527–1528. The troops of Emperor Charles V proposed to Michelangelo to rebuild the Capitol Square. The architect created a project for the reconstruction of the square and turned it into a stage for ceremonies and masquerades. A marble staircase, decorated with statues of Castor and Polydeuces, leads to the square. In the center of the square rises equestrian statue Emperor Marcus Aurelius (lifetime image of the Roman emperor). The central building of the square is the Palace of the Senate, designed by Michelangelo and completed by Giralomo Rainaldi. The theoretical legacy of this period of architectural development is reflected in the treatise of the architect Giacomo Barozzi Vignola “The Rule of Five Orders”, which is still a reference book for new generations of young architects and architectural engineers.
The largest and leading architects of the late Renaissance period were the architects A. Palladio (1518–1580) and D. Vignola (1507–1573). In 1570, Palladio’s treatise “Four Books on Architecture” was published in Venice, which contains an analysis of classical works on the architecture of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. D. Vignola's treatise “The Rule of Five Orders” systematized the laws of proportionation of ancient structures. These works describe the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite orders. All order sizes are determined using the module. Under the influence of these treatises, the idea of creating stronger orders arose in the architecture of this time, and the ancient orders lost many of their original forms. For example, Palladio united the two upper floors with one order, and later began to create multi-story palazzos decorated with colossal orders that rose from the base of the building to the cornice.
Andrea Palladio worked mainly in the north of Italy - in Venice and Vicenza. Palladio creatively studied architectural monuments of past centuries and continued the traditions of the High Renaissance. In 1540, Palladio's design won a competition in Vicenza, and the ancient Gothic building of the Palazzo Publico was rebuilt according to it. The 15th century building, covered with a closed vault, is surrounded by Palladio with two-tiered galleries, which give it an open civil character. The most outstanding architectural monument of Palladio's era is the famous Villa Rotunda near Vicenza (a suburb of Venice). Palladio began building the villa in 1553. The shape of the villa resembles a cube, surrounded on all sides by six-column porticoes of the Ionic order, placed above wide staircases (Fig. VI. 10). The villa harmonizes very well with the surrounding nature. There are loggias on all four sides of the façade. Under the loggias and the hall there are rooms for the household needs of the family. The circular hall is located in the center of the villa and has an overhead skylight under the dome. In addition to the Villa Rotunda, Palladio rebuilt the basilica building in Vicenza (Fig. VI. 11).
In Venice, according to Palladio's design, the complexes of the Armenian monastery of San Lazario on the island of St. Lazarus, the monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore (1580) and the building of the monastery and temple of Il Redentore were built. In Soviet times, Palladio's work was developed in the works of Soviet architects of the Stalin period (I. Zholtovsky and his followers).
In 1559, another great architect of the late Renaissance, D. Vignola, received an order to rebuild the palace of the Farnese Dukes in Caprarola (Fig. VI. 12). According to his project, the pentagonal feudal castle, built according to the design of the architect A. Sangallo Jr., was rebuilt into an elegant country palace, around which an entire landscape garden ensemble was created. All work on the reconstruction of this palace was completed after Vignola’s death in 1625. Finally, in 1568, Vignola received an order to build a temple in Rome in honor of Jesus Christ. The Temple of Il Gesu (Fig. VI. 13) is a classic example of the revival of the concept of compositions in architecture. The main thing in these compositions is the facade plane, and the structure of the entire space is revealed from the inside. This is where the legacy of Gothic architectural techniques and considerations of economy are manifested in Renaissance architecture (you don’t have to worry about what the side facades hidden from the viewer look like). The architectural design of the Temple of Il Gesu created a new type of temple building, which later became the basis for church architecture of the Baroque era.
Architectural ideas and forms of the Renaissance spread throughout Europe and received special development in France, where the Renaissance became a court style. A striking example of castle construction in the Renaissance style is the royal castle of Chambord (1519–1559) (Fig. VI.14).
From the middle of the 16th century. Paris becomes the center of the European Renaissance. The most striking representative of the Renaissance style in Paris can be considered the Hotel de Bille (Paris City Hall), but the most significant, of course, is the Louvre - a royal palace built according to the design of P. Lescaut in 1518–1578. In England, the Renaissance manifests itself only in the decoration of buildings. This is how the estates of aristocrats and the buildings of the royal universities of Oxford and Cambridge were built. And only at the beginning of the 17th century. The classical Renaissance form of building architecture appears in the English school of architecture. In Germany and Austria, the Renaissance began to develop in the 16th century. Country estates lose their defensive character and are given a regular layout. An outstanding monument from this period is the Paderborn town hall. In Flanders and the Spanish Netherlands, forms of the Renaissance appear in the palaces of the Spanish nobility. A striking example of the Flemish Renaissance is the town hall of Antwerp (XVI century) (Fig. VI. 15).
Bourgeois revolution in the Netherlands in the middle of the 16th century. led to the fact that in the Southern Netherlands and Flanders, which remained under Spanish rule, the Renaissance developed into Baroque architecture, and late Gothic returned to the Northern Netherlands (Holland) as a symbol of urban independence and national freedom.
Returning to the architecture of Italy of this period, it should be noted that in the last 25th anniversary of the 16th century. The late Renaissance mainly developed in the territory of the Venetian Republic. This was due to the fact that in 1527–1528, after the sack of Rome by the troops of Emperor Charles V, many outstanding architects and engineers fled from Rome. Among them were Sebastiano Serlio, Michele Sanmichele and Jacobo Sansovino. Venice, where 125 thousand people lived, opened up wide opportunities for them. The Venetian government used these architects as specialists capable of completing some government projects that were under construction at that time. For example, Jacobo Sansovino (1486–1570) was entrusted with the reconstruction and completion of the building of the old Procuration. The architect was obliged to take into account local traditions, so the building of the Procuration was built in the traditional Venetian-Byzantine style. Sansovino used the facade of the building and created a three-story arcaded structure open to light and air. Among other things, the arcades hid the purpose of parts of the building. The uniformity of the arcades also carried a certain political meaning, symbolizing equality and unanimity, solidarity between the authorities and the highest city leadership. Only after Sansovino completed the creation of the integral architectural ensemble of Piazza San Marco in 1537 would a radical change occur in Venetian architecture. According to Sansovino's design, a mint, a library and a logetta are being built. Particularly interesting is the Venetian mint, which was erected as a symbol of the stability of the state and the monetary unit - the sequin, which was then minted in Venice, but was the then world currency (analogous to the euro and dollar) (Fig. VI. 16).
The Mint is a stern and imposing building, decorated with Doric columns and very similar to a fortification. The library next door is the exact opposite of the mint. The library was built with the express purpose of becoming a repository for the collection of ancient manuscripts and printed books of the private library of Cardinal Vissarion, who bequeathed his collection to the state. In addition, the state archive was to be located in the library building. Since Venice has been a major center of book printing since 1490, then, without a doubt, the building of the state library was no less important for the republic than the building of the mint. It is no coincidence that Sansovino placed both buildings next to each other in the central square of Venice - Piazza San Marco. The Sansovino Library is distinguished by the richness of its external decoration, but it traces the traditions of Venetian architecture of the 15th century. First of all, this refers to the two-tier arcade with 21 arcade openings, which echoes the facade of the Venetian Doge's Palace. The arcade had double columns on the sides of the openings, which protruded strongly from the plane of the wall, which created a bizarre play of light and shadow.
The Renaissance radically overturned medieval scholastic views on the nature of things and began to develop new, humanistic ideals. The Renaissance masters created huge, long-span buildings that still amaze us with their level of engineering. Stylistic trends in architecture have revived ancient traditions with their desire for harmony and internal expressiveness.
One of the first buildings of the Renaissance is the Dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence (1420-1436). Architect Brunelleschi Phillipi (1377-1446)
15th-16th centuries thanks to geographical discoveries became a turning point in the history of European civilization. World trade grew, crafts developed, the urban population increased, and construction volumes increased. Science, literature, and art developed. Italian Renaissance architecture was also driven by economic growth, as well as the weakening influence of the church. The name of the style was given by the artist, a researcher of Italian art, who wrote the book “Lives of the Most Famous Painters, Sculptors and Architects” (1568) by Giordano Vasari. From his point of view, which was supported by the majority of architects of that time, the Middle Ages were a period of decline, characterized by the barbarism of the tribes that destroyed The Roman Empire, and with it ancient art. It was he who wrote about the revival of the art of Italy, considering the Middle Ages as a period of ignorance that came after the collapse of ancient art. Later, this term began to be used to designate the era of the emergence of a new style in art that arose. in Italy in the 16th century, and then became fashionable in other European countries. The aesthetics of the Renaissance turned man's gaze to nature. The art of Ancient Rome formed the basis of the artistic culture of that period. It should be noted that certain elements of ancient architecture were also used in the Middle Ages. For example, individual fragments of antiquity are found in buildings from the Carolingian Renaissance period; They also exist in the so-called “Ottonian period” at the end of the 10th century. (this was a time of cultural upsurge in Germany under the Ottonian emperors of the Saxon dynasty). Elements of antiquity can also be seen in the Gothic architecture of Germany. Unlike medieval architects, the masters of architecture of the Italian Renaissance tried to reflect in their architecture the very ancient philosophy characteristic of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome: admiration for the beauty of nature and man, a realistic worldview. Renaissance architecture in Italy is characterized by symmetry, proportionality, and strict order systems. Not only churches, but also public buildings are built in this style: educational institutions, town halls, houses of merchant guilds, markets. In the 16th century, new types of urban and country palaces appeared in Italy - palazzo and villa. The composition of customers also changed: in the Middle Ages, the main customers were the church and feudal lords; now orders come from guild associations, guilds, city authorities, and the nobility.
Founder of Italian Renaissance architecture
The architect and sculptor Filippo Brunelleschi is considered the founding father of Renaissance architecture.
The first building of Italian Renaissance architecture was the dome of the Florence Cathedral (1420-1436). In the design of this dome, Brunelleschi embodied new construction ideas that would have been difficult to implement without specially developed mechanisms. During the same period, in 1419-1444, Brunelleschi was engaged in the construction of an educational home for orphans - the “Shelter for the Innocents”.
Orphanage (1419-1444) Architect Brunelleschi
The law of linear perspective means the peculiarity of human perception of distant objects, their proportions and shapes.
It was one of the first buildings in Italy whose design resembled the buildings of antiquity. It is Brunelleschi who is credited with the discovery of the law of linear perspective, the revival of ancient orders in the architecture of the Italian Renaissance. Thanks to his creativity the basis new architecture proportions became again, he is responsible for the revival of the use of the “golden ratio” in architecture, which made it possible to achieve harmony in architectural structures. Thus, Brunelleschi revived ancient traditions in Renaissance architecture in Italy, taking them as a basis when creating a new type of architecture. Brunelleschi's ideas coincided with new directions in the philosophy of society: in this period, medieval prohibitions and contempt for everything earthly were replaced by an interest in reality and man.
The golden ratio is a mathematical concept, in architecture it means the relationship between two quantities (one larger in size, the other smaller) contained in a common value. In this case, the ratio of the larger quantity to the smaller corresponds to the ratio of the general quantity to the larger of the two related quantities. Such a ratio was first discovered by Euclid (300 BC). During the Renaissance, the ratio was called the “divine proportion”; the modern name appeared in 1835. The ratio between quantities in the golden ratio is a constant number 1.6180339887.
Periods in Italian Renaissance architecture
There are several stages in the development of the Renaissance in Italian architecture: early - 15th century, mature - 16th century and late. In the early period, Gothic elements were still present in architecture, combined with ancient forms, and in the mature period, elements gothic style are no longer found, preference is given to architectural orders and proportional forms, in late period The influence of the new Baroque style is already felt during the Renaissance. Early period. The main principle of the Italian Renaissance was the symmetry of the structure in plan, the uniform distribution of architectural elements: portals, columns, doors, windows, sculptural compositions and decor along the perimeter of the facade. Renaissance architecture in Italy in the early period of its development is mainly associated with Florence. It was here that palaces for the nobility, temple buildings, and public buildings were built in the 15th century. In Florence, in 1420, the architect Filippo Brunelleschi began erecting the dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore; in 1421, he rebuilt San Lorenzo and worked on the construction of a chapel - the Old Sacristy. In 1444 Brunelleschi completed the construction of the Orphanage. The Pazzi Chapel in Florence, also the work of Brunelleschi, is considered one of the most elegant buildings of the early Renaissance. The chapel is crowned with a dome on a drum; the building is decorated with a Corinthian portico with a wide arch.
The Church of San Lorenzo (Basilica di San Lorenzo) was consecrated by St. Ambrosius in 393. In 1060 it was rebuilt in the Romanesque style. In 1423 it was rebuilt by Brunelleschi in the early Renaissance style.
In 1452, the architect Michelozzi completed the construction of the Medici Palace (Palazzo Medici Riccardi) in Florence. Alberti designs the Rucellai Palace (Palazzo Rucellai, designed in 1446 and 1451), Benedetto de Maiano and Simon Polayola complete the Strozzi Palace (Palazzo Strozzi, 1489-1539).
Michelozzi - (Michelozzo, Michelozzi, 1391 (1396) - 1472) - Florentine architect and sculptor, student of Brunelleschi.
Alberti Leon Battista - (Alberti, 1404-1472), Italian scientist, architect, writer, musician. In his creations he made extensive use of the ancient heritage, using volutes and the order system.
Benedetto da Maiano - real name: Benedetto da Leonardo d'Antonio (Benedetto da Maiano), 1442 - 1497) - Italian sculptor. Simone del Pollaiolo (1457 - 1508) - Florentine architect. High Renaissance.
Medici Palace. Architect Michelozzi. Built for Cosimo de' Medici il Vecchio between 1444 and 1464.
Rucellai Palace - commissioned by philanthropist Giovanni Rucellai. Project by Leon Baptiste Alberti 1446-1451. Erected by Bernardo Rossellino
Strozzi Palace. The building was built by Benedetto de Maiano commissioned by Filippo Strozzi in 1489-1539. The model was the Medici Palace (Palazzo Medici-Riccardi) Michelozzi
These buildings have a general spatial solution scheme. Each of them has three floors and a courtyard with arched galleries. The walls have floor divisions, are rusticated or decorated with an order. The façade is lined with brickwork.
Michelozzi - (Michelozzo, Michelozzi, 1391 (1396) - 1472) - Florentine architect and sculptor, student of Brunelleschi. Alberti Leon Battista - (Alberti, 1404-1472), Italian scientist, architect, writer, musician. In his creations he made extensive use of the ancient heritage, using volutes and the order system. Benedetto da Maiano - real name: Benedetto da Leonardo d'Antonio (Benedetto da Maiano), 1442 - 1497) - Italian sculptor. Simone del Pollaiolo (1457 - 1508) - Florentine architect. High Renaissance.
Italy's trade with the East was interrupted at the end of the 15th century due to the Turkish conquest of Constantinople. As trade died out, the country's economy declined. And it was precisely this period that the architecture of the High Renaissance began to develop. This style reaches particular heights in Rome, where great architects formed a general approach to the construction of buildings based on the use of architectural orders. High Renaissance architecture is characterized by cubic shapes of houses and an internal closed courtyard. On the facades, relief window frames were made, decorated with half-columns and having triangular and onion pediments. Donato de Angelo Bramante (Bramante, 1444-1514) is one of the most famous masters of Italian High Renaissance architecture. His work was developed in Milan, which was considered a conservative city, where the traditions of brick construction and terracotta decoration were preserved. During the same period, Leonardo da Vinci worked in Milan, and his work undoubtedly influenced the works of Bramante. The architect managed to connect national traditions with Renaissance elements. Bramante's first work was in 1479 the restoration of the church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro in Milan.
Church of Santa Maria presso San Satino in Milan (1479-1483) Architect Donato de' Angelo Bramante
He also rebuilt the chapel of San Satino: the architect made a round building from a cruciform structure, decorated with decorative elements. After moving to Rome, Bramante built the Temple of Tempietto (monastery of San Pietro in Mantorio) in 1502, and designed the courtyard of the church of Santa Maria della Paci.
Temple of Tempietto. Architect Bramante
In 1505, Bramante, who held the position of chief architect, began working on the papal palace complex Belvedere, a residence next to the Vatican. His works include the Palazzo Caprini - the House of Raphael - designed around 1510, in 1517 it was purchased by Raphael. The house has not survived to this day.
Palazzo Caprini in an engraving by Antoine Lafrerie. Architect Bramante
Rafael Santi (Raffaello Santi, Raffaello Sanzio, Rafael, Raffael da Urbino, Rafaelo, 1483 -1520) - Italian painter and architect.
In the last years of his life, the architect was designing St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The architectural elements and techniques used by the architect were used by the masters of the Italian Renaissance in the construction of villas and city buildings. After Bramante, Raphael enjoyed enormous fame during the development of High Renaissance architecture.
Raphael's first project was the Church of Sant'Eligio degli Orefici (Chiesa di S. Eligio degli Orefici, early 16th century. Subsequently, the church was rebuilt. The dome was created by B. Peruzzi, the current facade is by F. Ponzio (17th century)).
Church of Sant'Eligio degli Orifici
By order of the papal banker Chigi, he added a chapel to the church of Santa Maria Del Popolo. In the Palazzo del Aquila, he created a new type of facade: at the bottom there was an order arcade, the mezzanine was framed by windows, niches with sculptures, and stucco.
In the Palazzo Landolfini in Florence, the architect came up with another type of facade design: widely spaced, richly decorated windows, combined with smoothly plastered walls, complemented by a cornice with a wide frieze, rusticated corners and a portal. Raphael designed the Villa Madama for Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, who later became Pope Clement VII. The villa was built on the slope of Monte Mario on the west bank of the Tiber River north of the Vatican. Work began in 1518, and Raphael died in 1520. The villa remained unfinished: by this time only one U-shaped wing had been completed. The villa was left unfinished and only the completed part was used. The building received its current name in honor of Margatha of Parma, the wife of Pope Clement the Seventh’s nephew, Alexander de’ Medici, the first Duke of Tuscany.
Villa Madama - country villa of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici (Pope Clement the Seventh)
Since 1514, Raphael led the project for the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral. Then the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral, the construction of which resumed in 1534, was led by Antonio da Sagallo the Younger, after whom the leadership passed to Michelangelo, whose arrival served as an impetus for the development of the later stage in the architecture of the Italian Renaissance. This stage was marked by various architectural experiments with shapes, the frequency of columns and other architectural elements on the facade, the complication of details, and the appearance of complex lines. Since 1530, after the sack of Rome, the process of development of Italian Renaissance architecture took other directions. Some architects tried to restore the lost grandeur of the Eternal City: for example, Peruzzi, Antonio da Sangallo Jr. - representatives of the older generation of Renaissance architects, returned to Rome after its fall and tried to find a compromise between ancient principles and new trends.
Peruzzi - Peruzzi Baldassare (1481-1536) Italian artist and architect. Worked with Donato Bramante and Raphael. Peruzzi in his work combined the traditions of the High Renaissance with the ideas of mannerism. Antonio da Sangallo Jr. - (Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane; 1484 -1546 real name Antonio Cordini (Italian Antonio Cordini)) - Florentine architect of the Renaissance. Researchers also attribute him to the founders of the Baroque style due to the creation of unusual structures: for example, the façade with a forward slope in the Zecca Vecchia (Banco di Spirito), the arched plinth of the Palazzo Farnese.
Other masters began to look for other ways in their work. In the mid-16th century, a group appeared in Tuscany, uniting masters whose work belongs to the movement of mannerism. Many representatives of this group were students of Michelangelo, however, having borrowed some artistic techniques from him, they exaggerated and exaggerated them, while the violation of some canons of the ancient style, which was an expression of the plans of the great master, became an end in itself for them. Italian architects of the Renaissance borrowed in their projects characteristic techniques and elements of Roman classical architecture, applying them not only in churches, but also in city and country houses of wealthy citizens, and public buildings. The plan of the buildings was determined by rectangular shapes, symmetry, proportionality, the facade was symmetrical about the vertical axis, decorated with pilasters, cornice, arches, and topped with a pediment. The development of Italian Renaissance architecture was characterized by the emergence of building materials and technologies, and architects developed a personal, recognizable style that made them famous. Renaissance architecture in Italy went through a full stage of development - from early to late, which created the preconditions for the emergence of a new style - Baroque. Thanks to the art of Italian architects, Renaissance architecture conquered all of Europe.