The Architecture of the Renaissance

Progress, Volume XII, Issue 6, 1 February 1917, Page 871

The Architecture of the Renaissance

A paper read before the Technological Branch of the Otago Institute, by Leslie D. Coombs, A.R.1.8.A. Before describing Renaissance Architecture it is necessary to give a brief sketch of some of the preceding styles. The prototypes, or rather supposed prototypes, of many Hellenic Greek architectural features and ornaments have been found. Nevertheless Grecian architecture was so different to the styles that preceded it that we are accustomed to acknowledge to the Greeks the honour of having created their style, and not having merely borrowed it. Hellenic Greek architecture may be said to start from the Bth century 8.C., and to extend to B.C. 146 when Greece became a Roman province. Greek architecture for its beauty and refinement was as near perfection as anything man has ever made. This fact has always been acknowledged and it is noticeable that all nations as they have become acquainted with it have adopted it—with, of course, modifications to suit special requirements. The Romans were the first to follow the lead. They altered and adopted much but the similarity of the two styles, is very evident. The chief feature which the Romans added was the arch, which had been much used by the Etruscans, and they so developed it, that their arches, vaults, and domes have never been excelled. The principal examples of Roman architecture were erected between B.C. 100 and A.D. 300. The Early Christian period of architecture is generally taken as lasting from A.D. 300 to 600. As Rome fell so her architecture fell. Early Christian architecture consisted of little more than the erection of basilican churches from the remains of Roman buildings. For about two centuries after the year 600 architecture was at practically a standstill, after which the Roman traditions were to a great extent thrown aside and what we term the Romanesque style was evolved. The Byzantine style is that which was developed at Byzantium (Constantinople) on the removal of the Emperor Constantine to that city. It included not only the buildings in Byzantium but those which were erected under its influence. Examples are St. Mark at Venice and St. Vitale at Ravenna. Many other buildings in various parts of Italy although classified as Early Christian or Romanesque in style, show much Byzantine influence. The Byzantine builders added much to our knowledge of dome construction by the way they developed the use of pendentives, which are the triangular shaped curved supports of a circular dome which is over a square compartment. The Romans, when they erected a dome, placed it over a compartment circular in plan, and so avoided the constructional difficulty. However, a late Roman building known as the Temple of Minerva Medica has a circular dome over a decagonal base and pendentive forms are used to bring the one shape to the other. The Byzantine builders went further, and, as stated before, built circular domes over square compartments. The Romanesque architectural style includes all those phases of Western European art, based more or

less on Roman work, which were carried out, from the departure of the Roman style to the introduction of Gothic architecture in the 13th century. Gothic architecture developed very quickly, and the beauty of many of the buildings erected in this style, especially of those erected in France and England, was near perfection. In Italy, however, the style was never developed properly, and as soon as the Renaissance movement started, Gothic was abandoned. The Renaissance was the re-introduction, or rebirth of Classic work. Various theories have at

different times been brought forward to explain its cause. It has been stated that the enthusiasm of the fourteenth and early fifteenth century Italians to study Roman literature naturally led to an appreciation of Roman sculpture and ornament, and ultimately to the adoption and development of what we term Renaissance architecture. This theory is no doubt true, but somewhat misleading, as undoubtedly other factors, in addition to literature, influenced the movement. Religion was one. The short-comings of the Italian Gothic style was another. Gothic was foreign to Italy. The Italians never entered into the spirit of the style as did the French and the English.

The Italians always had examples of Roman work in front of them, and it would have been extraordinary if the influence of such examples had not been felt. When we talk of Italianised naturalistic Gothic we explain the result of this influence. The Gothic of France was full of conventional methods of representing life. Italian sculpture was more natural. When Ave look at examples such as Ghiberti’s first door to the Baptistry at Florence, or the ornament over the Porta Della Carta at the Doge’s Palace, Venice, we find the treatment such that we at once admit the coming of the Renaissance, or at any rate the necessity of it, for the figures and ornament could not be called Gothic. 1 have said that religion was a factor. It was in this way. Religious enthusiasm created the desire for ideal sculpture. Educated Italians, who had no two opinions as to their being the most cultured people of the times, and who were familiar with the wonderful sculpture of ancient Rome, could not be expected to form their Madonnas and angels after the manner of the barbarous French, German and English. Figures carved in the Gothic style were to the Italians crude and not by any means ideal. It is customary to speak of Brunelleschi as the founder or inventor of Renaissance architecture, and the history of this architect is the history of the beginning of the style. Brunelleschi was born in 1377. When a young man he started his career as a sculptor, and became so proficient at his art that few were considered his equals in Florence. The story is told that his disappointment was so great when Ghiberti defeated him in the competition for the bronze door at the Baptistery at Florence, that he decided to study another art in the hopes that he might perhaps attain the undisputed supremacy his ambitions desired. His foresight in then doing what was an unheard of thing in those days was remarkable. He went to Rome, apparently for no other reason than to study Roman architecture. For about four years Brunelleschi remained in Rome. Nothing very much is known of him till about 1420, when he was 43 years of age, and when he was entrusted to carry out the erection of the dome of Florence Cathedral. This was an enormous work, and the cupola as not entirely completed till, 1434, while the lantern was not finished till 1461, after the designer’s death. The diameter of the dome is 138 ft. 6 in., and the top of the lantern is about 430 feet above ground level. Although this was Brunelleschi’s greatest and most famous work, he really laid the foundation of the Renaissance broader and deeper in other works which he erected at the same time that the dome was being built. One of his earliest buildings erected about 1420 was the Pazzi Chapel. The design of this building is quite original, and although the mouldings and other details may be described as “late Roman” they are treated and applied in quite new ways. Of other important buildings designed by Brunelleschi, may be mentioned the well-known Pitti Palace, The Spedale degli Innocenti or Foundlings’ Hospital, the churches of S. Lorenzo and S. Spirito, and the Badia de Fisole. The Pitti palace is a remarkable building. Except for buildings like the Vatican and the palaces of the Roman Emperors it was the largest residence ever erected in Italy. Its length was 475 feet, and

its height, although of three floors only, 114 feet. The walls are erected of huge rusticated blocks of stone, and the whole effect is that of Cyclopaean grandeur. Buskin, who was evidently impressed by the bold and strong effect obtained wrote in his book The Seven Lamps of Architecture,” “his eye must be delicate indeed who would desire to see the Pitti Palace polished.” The design of the loggia of the Spedale degli Innocenti is considered very fine. It is remarkably simple and yet so appropriate. Compare the appearance of the building with the design of most of our modern hospitals. In the spandrels of the arches are medallions of infants in swaddling clothes. These should be noted as they were designed by Andrea della Robbia, one of a famous family of artists who worked in enamelled vitrified earthenware in sculptural form, and who carried on the manufacture of such statues and reliefs for nearly a hundred years. The two churches by Brunelleschi which I have mentioned, S. Lorenzo and S. Spirito, are important and they are equal in dimensions to many English cathedrals. The reason why Brunelleschi has always been looked upon as such a genius is that although he made use of Roman architectural features and ornament he never exactly copied Roman architecture; he applied and treated such features and ornament in original ways. No buildings similar to any that he designed existed in ancient Rome.

As Brunelleschi started the movement, other architects were quick to follow his lead and even to rival him. The Palazzo Medici was erected by Michelozzo Michelozzi in 1430. A magnificent design had been prepared by Brunelleschi for this building, but Cosmo de Medici, who was at that time the greatest citizen of Florence, rejected it for a cheaper design by Michelozzo. Cosmo is reported to have said “Envy is a plant one should never water.” This remark attracts the attention to the quiet outward appearance of many Italian Palazzi. A modern author has written “A gentleman’s private house, like his manners and conversation, should be somewhat reserved and modest, reticent towards strangers,” I think Cosmo’s remark and this modern author’s ideas are both well worth remembering.

The town of Verona has lately come into prominence in the cables as it is possibly the chief fortress of Northern Italy. It was so in the 16th century and for that reason were constructed to the designs of San Micheli the strong yet remarkably beautiful gate ways to that city. Never before nor since have fortifications been made so beautiful by the application of architectural features. This same architect, San Micheli, designed a number of palazzi, chief among

which is the Palazzo Grimani at Venice. The Libraria Vecchia at Venice is a well-known building designed by Sansovino. Its position opposite the

Doges’ Palace makes it conspicuous. The great building of the Italian Renaissance is

S. Peter’s at Rome. Bramante, Sangallo, Raphello, Peruzzi Michael Angelo, and many other architects

were employed on its design, and each on his appointment seems to have rejected as much as he could of his predecessors’ work, and to have tried to make the design as far as possible his own. Bramante was the first whose plans were seriously considered, and under

his direction the foundation stone was laid. Later, San Gallo, Raphello, and Fra Gioeondo were his associates, and after Bramante died in 1514 they carried on the work till 1520 when Peruzzi was appointed architect. In 1536 Sangallo succeeded him. In 1546 Michel Angelo was appointed. Most of the building, as we know it, is his design. In 1564 Vignola was architect, and he added the cupolas on either side of the great dome. Prom 1585 to 1590 Giocomo della Porta and Fontana erected the dome from Michael Angelo wooden model. Prom 1605 • to 16.12 Moderna lengthened the nave to form a Latin cross and erected the existing facade. From 1629 to , 1667 Bernini erected the colonnade enclosing the? , piazzo. Of all the Italian architects of the Renaissance we English owe more to Palladio of Vicenza (1518-1580) than to any other. He is considered the cleverest architect of the late Renaissance, and it was under him that our greatest English architect, Inigo Jones, studied. His best known work is the facades of the basilica at Vicenza, but scarcely less famous are his Villa del Capra, the Teatro Olimpico, the Church of the Redentore at Venice, and many of his palazzi. The Teatro Olimpico, as its name implies, was intended as an imitation of an ancient Greek theatre, but the idea of constructing the permanent scenic background of three streets in perspective was entirely a sixteenth century Italian one. This idea of constructing buildings or portions of buildings in perspective, in order that apparent dimensions may be increased, was used in other Renaissance buildings, and I remember when visiting Bramante’s church of S. Satiro at Milan, noticing that the chancel was not a .chancel but was merely constructed in low relief with the usual form and'decoration in perspective. Viewed from a particular position the deception was wonderful, but from other positions the result could hardly be considered as satisfactory. St. Maria della Salute at Venice is a late example of the Italian Renaissance. It is most beautiful, and possibly has been drawn, painted, and photographed more than any other building in the world. In Italy, as has been explained, the Renaissance came very suddenly, there being practically no transition period. This was not so in other countries. In France)* Germany and England the transition lasted a considerable time. The builders of these countries had practically no examples of Roman work to guide them. Hence we find that for a long period they adhered to their traditional forms of Gothic construction at the same time that they introduced very crude imitations of Italian Renaissance ornament. In France this transitional or early Renaissance period lasted from about the latter part of the fifteenth to near the end of the sixteenth centuries. A great number of chateaux were erected during this period. Practically all had picturesque high pitched roofs, a feature which was retained in later work, and which, in the form of the so-called ‘ ‘ Mansard roof ’ ’ is characteristic of French architecture to the present day. The Classical period of French Renaissance lasted from the end of the sixteenth to the beginning of the eighteenth centuries. The most remarkable and beautiful building erected during this period is the

Dome of the Invalides designed by Mansard. The Rococo period lasted during the eighteenth century during the reigns of Louis XV. and Louis XVI. The Pantheon at Paris is a building erected during this period, from the designs of Soufflot. Its dome and that of the Invalides are the two well known domes of Paris. The Madeleine at Paris, erected in 1804 is externally a copy of a Roman Temple. For public buildings the modern French Renaissance work is recognised as the most beautiful and best in the world. The early Renaissance in Germany is remarkable for picturesqueness of gables and other features, and grotesqueness of ornament. A great number of German workmen of the period were employed in England during the time of Elizabeth, and their influence on

of detail. It was undoubtedly influenced by the exuberant fancy of Moorish work. The ornament was generally grafted on to Gothic forms and the result has been described as being rich and poetic. The great building of the Renaissance in Spain is the Palace of the Eseurial near Madrid. It was designed by Herrera, who had been a pupil of Michael Angelo. In England, the first signs of the Renaissance are to be seen at Hampton Court. Cardinal Wolsey leased this palace in 1515 and at once commenced additions to it. Much of the ornamental work was carried out by Italians and we know that Giovanni de Majano made the terracotta busts of Emperors that are placed over the entrance. Many other Italians were employed in England about the same time. They

English work was very great as will be described later. During the last century many important buildings were erected at Munich, Berlin, Dresden, and elsewhere in what has been called the “Classic Revival style. These buildings like most other German architecture, are considered vulgar in taste. A modern author, writing about 1897, in describing the architecture of the new German Houses of Parliament sums up his description as follows: In short, the building is a highly characteristic production of a nation strong in arms, exceedingly self-assertive, and exceedingly deficient in artistic taste; it is a national building which at once stamps itself-as German to the core, ” '/ ; The early Renaissance in Spain is known as the “Silversmiths’ ” style on account of the minuteness

do not seem to have been architects, but carvers and decorators only. No instance of a complete building designed by one of them is known. During the reign of Elizabeth (1558-1603) the Italians disappeared from England and their place was taken by German workmen. These Germans did a great amount of crude ungainly carving. The results were always picturesque and not without character, but for refinement could not be compared with the work of the Italians. Nearly every Elizabethian building of importance has examples of German carving, very often in the form of chimney pieces, with male and female figures growing out of tapering shafts or columns, placed at either side. The first English architect to introduce in England pure Renaissance architecture was Inigo Jones.

He was horn in 1573 in the parish of St.Bartholomew’s, Smithfield. When a youth he was apprenticed to a joiner in St. Paul’s Churchyard. Towards the end of the sixteenth century he paid his first visit to Italy. On returning to England his chief employment was the designing of scenery for Court masques. He introduced movable scenery into England. In 1613 he again visited Italy, and did not return till the Autumn of 1614. While in Italy he spent most of his time at Rome and Vicenza, and while at the latter place studied under Palladio. His first architectural design is dated 1616. In 1617 he prepared designs for a new Star Chamber, and began the Queen’s House at Greenwich. In 1619 he was ordered to design the new buildings for Whitehall. He prepared two designs for these buildings; the first for James I. was to cover an area of 630 feet x 460 feet; the second, for Charles 1., was to have a similar plan, hut the area was approximately doubled —1280 feet x 950 feet. Only one portion of this scheme,the Banqueting House, was ever erected. This building, the first pure Renaissance building erected in England was completed in 1622, 200 years after Brunelleschi designed the Pazzi chapel at Florence. Of other buildings designed by Inigo Jones, may be mentioned the water gate of old York House, St. Paul’s Covent Garden, the west end of St. Paul’s, London, the chapel of Old Somerset House, Barber Surgeon’s Hall, and a number of residences including Wilton, Lindsay House, Shaftsbury House and others. The work at Greenwich was completed by Wren, but to Inigo Jones belongs the credit of the original designs. Professor Blorafield says “The double cube room at Wilton 60 feet x 60 feet, x 30 feet with its panelling, designed by Jones to receive Vandyke’s portraits, is probably the most beautiful room in any house in England, as the Banqueting Hall at Whitehall, also a double cube, 110 feet x 55 feet is unquestionably the finest state room, Inigo Jones died in 1652. His architecture has never been bettered in England. Christopher Wren was born in 1632. He was in many ways remarkable. He was a mathematician, an inventor, an astronomer, and not till about 1663 did he become an architect. His first work was Pembroke College Chapel at Cambridge, built in 1663-64. About the same time he began the Sheldonian Theatre at Oxford. In 1665 he visited Paris and studied there for six months. The Louvre, or rather a portion of it, was then being built from the designs of Bernini, and Wren had introductions to the architects employed on the work. Wren’s great opportunity as an architect AAas after the Great Fire of London in 1666. He prepared a design, well-known to town-planners for the rebuilding of London. This design was never carried out. St. Paul's Cathedral, London, was Wren’s masterpiece. It ranks among the finest Renaissance cathedrals in the world. The dome is 109 feet in diameter. The top of the lantern is about 365 feet above the ground. Besides St. Paul’s, Wren designed fifty-three city churches in London. Other "works include the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, The London Monument, The Garden Facade of Hampton Court, two blocks of Greenwich Hospital, the Orangery at Kensington Palace Gardens, Temple Bar, London etc. Wren died in 1723. Of Wren ’s contem-

poraries may be mentioned Vanbrugh, who designed Blenheim Palace, Castle Howard, and other buildings remarkable for their size and bold architectural treatment; and Hawksmoor, who was Wren’s assistant, and who also assisted Vanbrugh with his designs. Of the 18th century architects mention may be made of William Kent, who designed the Horse Guards, James Gibbs who designed the churchs of St. Martins-in-the-fields, St. Mary-le-Strand, the Radcliffe library at Oxford, and the Senate House at Cambridge the Earl of Burlington who was one of a regular school of amateur architects of the time, and who erected at Chiswick an imitation of Palladio’s Villa Capra; George Dance who designed the Mansion House, London; Dance’s son who designed Newgate Prison; the Brothers Adam who were the authors of a distinct style of interior decoration that is known by their name, Sir William Chambers who designed Somerset House; and Sir John Sloane who designed the Bank of England. During the 19th century lasted what may be termed the Battle of the Styles when Gothic and Classic revivals were carried on one after another and simultaneously. The beginning of this century sees the Classic ideals on top and at the present day practically ninety nine out of every hundred buildings erected are in what Ave term the “Modern Renaissance” style. In concluding this paper I Avish to make an appeal —that architecture be studied more than it is by the general public. It is not an art for architects alone. We all have to do Avith buildings, and avc all should know something of its forms and features. As LongfelloAv wrote: — ‘‘ To build! to build! That is the noblest of all the arts. Painting and sculpture are but images, Are merely shadoAvs cast by outAvard things On stone or canvas, having in themselves No separate existence.- Architecture Existing in itself, and not in seeming A something it is not, surpasses them As substance shadow.”