The Italian Renaissance Urban Architecture - Essay Example

Italian Renaissance Italian Renaissance Architecture How did Antiquity influence the Italian Renaissance Urban Architecture Literature Review: This review will examine the architecture of the urban Italian renaissance with an emphasis on the influential techniques and styles from older work created in ancient Greece and Rome that are still available to see today. As well, the specific writers of antiquity that had influence over the Renaissance minds will be examined in order to support the conclusion that their work was central to the creation of the later works in Italy. The architecture that exists from Renaissance Italian cities is representative of humanism and its concept of the importance of man and the individual. The study of these structures will show a progression of influence in urban cities that is significant to architectural history. Florence and the Renaissance: The Quattrocento, by Alain J. Lemaitre and Erich Lessing is a thorough history of the early renaissance which reviews the intellectual, technological, political, and artistic movements of the era. Quattrocento is the term applied to the time period of the fifteenth century that represents the transition from the middle ages to the renaissance. The political changes that were taking place during the period are balanced with the artistic endeavors that would define the Italian Renaissance. As feudalism was being replaced with a world that was created under the influence of trade and commerce, design elements began to reflect the concept of abundance and decadence. The flattened features and perspective of the art of the middle ages began to show a more refined detail that reflected a three dimensional space. The art that was created had a sense of realism that reflected the burgeoning enlightenment of a world that was embracing technological advancement and mathematical achievement. In this way, the Italian Renaissance, 2 renaissance was a new era of revelation similar to that of the Greek and Roman eras that created the scientific and theoretical basis from which the new learning could be derived. In determining the architectural influences of the Italian renaissance, it is helpful to understand the influences to which the Italian artists of the time were attributing the advancements. In The Handbook of Italian Renaissance Painters by Karl Ludwig Gallwitz, the various artists of the time are noted with their influential schools of thought and predecessors. One example of an artist and architect that can be studied for his influence in the beginning of the renaissance is Giotto di Bondone. His work was done at the end of the thirteenth century and the beginning of the fourteenth century. In this work a transitional view can be seen as the flattened concepts of the artistic aesthetic of the middle ages is beginning to give way to a more rounded, painterly method of creating realism. While the symmetrical aspects of iconic work can still be seen, Giotto began drawing from life, giving his work a sense of depth. In the work of Antonio del Verrocchio, a painter of the mid-fifteenth century, shows the progression away from the structured, flat work of iconic styles, to the fluid, realism that was typical of the renaissance. With the arrival of Leonardo da Vinci, the artistic rendition of the human form was done with an unquestionable reality. Da Vinci would be the ultimate renaissance man, studying an array of topics including anatomy, astronomy, mechanics, and nature. This rounded education was an example of the influences that permeated the artistic world of the time. Art would pay close attention to the anatomy, to the application of mathematics and science in order to properly create perspective, and to the creation of color and light that would give the works the realism Italian Renaissance, 3 that was coveted. According to Power and Imagination: City-States in Renaissance Italy by Lauro Martines, the common factor of change that influenced the nature of the Italian Renaissance was the diplomatic nature of the city-state. Martines believes that the idea of “the dignity of man” is relevant to the elitism that is created by urban life. As in the art of all cultures, the new identity that was formed in the politics of the city-state influenced the nature of artistic and design development. The centuries the proceeded the quattrocentro would see a time of chaos and disorder in Italy. The Roman rule had long since fallen apart and tribes from the north were invading, conquering, and being conquered in a violent time of upheaval and instability. However, a growing population created demands for more resources which would eventually lead to the need for urban growth as the land became more valuable as the abundant population was vying for space. The areas in Northern Italy would soon developed city-states around sovereignty governments that could provide for the people, both with military protection and survival resources. These city-states were reminiscent of the political structures of the city-states of Ancient Greece. This connection would set the stage for influential resources within the Italian renaissance. In thoroughly examining the system of patronage, revelations about the creative oppression of the renaissance can be seen in the mathematical restraint of the architecture, balanced with the unbridled joy of the decorative influences. Patronage was a system that held a creative member of a guild in an indebted service to a wealthy family or to the Catholic church which would provide support in exchange for artistic endeavors Italian Renaissance, 4 commissioned by the patron. In this system, the politicizing and governing of art creates a flourishing culture while also developing conflicted artists who must give over their own creative impulses to the desires of those who do not necessarily share their vision. Paula Findlen, in her work The Italian Renaissance, recounts the experience of Francesco Petrarca, the son of a merchant, as he entered Rome for the first time. She says he, “lamented the sorry conditions of “the remains of a broken city.” Already in his writings he anticipated a moment when future generations would emerge from “this slumber of forgetfulness into the pure radiance of the past.” (pg. 4) As one of the first humanist writers, Petrarch would “re-examine the ancient past in the study of law and literature” and “use the lessons he learned from antiquity to examine the spiritual malaise of the mid-fourteenth century.”(pg 4) As the humanist point of view is examined, it is revealed that those who would associate with these views would look to ancient Greece and Rome for guidance and examples of good culture and politics. The theorists of the past that had been over-shadowed by the intellectually darker time of the middle ages, would find their ideas brought back and new-born as the renaissance developed an enlightened view on advancement. One of the ways in which the spread of these ideas would be brought to a larger audience was by the invention of the printing press and the new availability of texts from the past that were not easily attained before this invention. With the printing press came a broader reach of education which could produce more thought and study. As more people are reached with literature and writings on politics, science, and religion, more thought is provoked and the advancement of technologies and theories increase at a Italian Renaissance, 5 widening rate. Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was an architect and engineer in Rome during the edge of the Common Era under the rule of Augustus Caesar. The book written by Vitruvius, entitled de Architecture, which is now know as The Ten Books of Architecture, is reviewed for its influence on Italian Renaissance architecture by Kristina Milnor, in her work, Gender, Domesticity, and the Age of Augustus: Inventing Private Life. According to Milnor, “it’s rediscovery in the Renaissance paved the way for whole set of new, more ‘classical’ architectural forms.” (pg 94) The work by Vitruvius is a representation of the architectural building that was taking place under Augustus in Rome. The work reveals the ideological theories that would lead the world to consider him the ’first architect’. Further study on Vitruvius reveals that his work would be a strong influence on the architecture of the renaissance period. Hanno-Walter Kruft, in is book A History of Architectural Theory: From Vitruvius to the Present, takes a comprehensive look at the work of Vitruvius and how his book was used by the Renaissance humanists and by the architects of the period. “A Vitruvius of the fourteenth century in Oxford bears marginal notes by Petrarch, and it has been assumed that Vitruvius,(his writing), was consulted by Petrarch in connection with the rebuilding of the Pope’s palace in Avignon.” (pg. 39). The work of Vitruvius was considered influential at the onset of the Renaissance period. The writing of Vitruvius was not only consulted for purposes of edification, but as a guide to specific building issues. Since this work was the only source still available from ancient Rome on building, it became the source that would fuel the desire to infuse Italian Renaissance, 6 classic aesthetics into new architecture. This influence crossed the boundaries between disciplines and created an aesthetic of ideas for many creative endeavors. One of the main ideas that Vitruvius proposed was that three qualities were needed to create a good structure. Firmitas, Uilitas, and Venustas described those three ideas. The first was that a structure must be strong. The second quality was that a structure must have a function and be useful. The third idea was that it must also be beautiful. As well, Vitruvius introduced the concept that architecture has a relationship with nature and must imitate it in some way. These concepts would typify the ideology of the Renaissance period. The influence of Vitruvius, as it crossed into other disciplines, would influence one of Da Vinci’s most famous drawings. Vitruvius proposed that the ideal human form could be related to geometric form. Da Vinci used this concept to draw his man in a square and a circle, indicating a sense of proportion and increasing the awareness of anatomical theory. According to Ludwig H. Heydenreich, in his book Architecture in Italy: 1400-1500, the work that would go on in Rome of the Renaissance was unique in that the city was in need of rebuilding. The pope would return to his seat in Rome during the fifteenth century, and the greatest humanists of the age would take up the cause of rebuilding. The restoration would be done by an intellectual group of people who looked at the prospects with a great hope. In The Building of Renaissance Florence, Richard A. Goldthwaite discusses the extraordinary amount of wealth that was available in Florence during the fifteenth century. The plague, known as the Black Death, during the fourteenth century had Italian Renaissance, 7 decimated the population to about one half of its former numbers. With a shrunken population and concentrations of wealth, an increase in building would take place changing the landscape of the city. One of the architects of the fifteenth century in Florence was Leone Battista Alberti. Among his skills were, architect, poet, and linguist. As with many of men of his time, he was educated in a more than one discipline. This concept of the Renaissance humanist polymath grew from the availability of the ancient texts and the new interest in studies of art and science. Alberti supported the connection between art and science through mathematics and in his treatise on painting entitled, Della Pittura, he wrote of the geometric composition of perspective in painting and in architecture. Alberti worked on a great number of architectural projects. Among his work are, the façade of Santa Maria Novella in Florence completed between 1448 and 1470, San Sebastiano in Mantua, Satissima Annunziata in Florence, and Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini. Considered the ‘father of the modern architectural treatise‘, Alberti was influenced by the writing of Vitruvius, as were most architectural minds of the time. In discussing the work of Alberti in Architectural Theory from the Renaissance to the Present, the authors write about the prevailing theory of humanism and how it was influenced by the ancient texts of Greece and Rome. During the fifteenth century, two styles of architecture were used in new building. Gothic, which was left over from the end of the Middle Ages, and Renaissance, which was based on ideas from Classical Antiquity. One of the biggest differences between Gothic and Renaissance, other than in Italian Renaissance, 8 style elements, is that the skills of Gothic architecture were passed down by word of mouth from one craftsman of a generation to the next. Renaissance thought was entrenched in classical theory and study. Studying the ancient texts and using paper and pen to draw the construction plans was the backbone of architectural Renaissance development. As quoted form Architectural Theory from the Renaissance to the Present, “it was an idea which did not arise from actual everyday construction practices but rather in spite of them.” (pg. 10) Intellectualistic approach was prevailing over physical craftsman skill in the design phase of an architectural development. Giovanni Battista Piranesi is considered one of the most important artists of architectural views. With over 700 works, his drawings still influence artists from a variety of different skills. His Invenzione carpici di carceri, (Fantastic Designs for Dungeons) has been, as late as the twentieth century, been used as a starting point for new concepts. Piranesi began his study as an architect in Venice, concentrating on the Venetian neo-Palladianism style. He would find inspiration form the Etruscans and the ancient Romans and would pursue styles from that point of view. In John R. Short’s The Urban Order: An Introduction to Cities, Culture, and Power, the importance of the human body in the design of architecture is revealed in the new perspective in which structures are built. Vitruvius speaks about the geometry of proportion of the human form and how that structures should have “the proportion of a man”. Architecture should ‘reflect the human form’, and this would lead work in the Renaissance to be smaller and more intimate building types that are built to a human scale. Italian Renaissance, 9 Parallels between the human body and the body of the city can be made from multiple concepts. Tall structures can be compared to phallic symbolism as domes, such as Michelangelo’s dome of St Peters in Rome can be compared to a female breast. The terminology of a city rests in the vernacular of the human body. “For example, heart of the city, transport arteries, traffic circulation, healthy urban economies, sick buildings” (pg 392), all are metaphors of the body. This relates back to this sense of proportion and is the perspective from which cities are developed. A city becomes an organism with a flow of life. Pope Julius II was known as ’II Papa Terribile’ which is translated as the Terrible Pope. He was known for aggressive foreign policy, as a great patron to the arts and for a prolific amount of building during his time. In Architecture in Italy, 1500-1600, a discussion is made on the building under Pope Julius II for the new St. Peter’s in Rome. Donato Bramante submitted a plan that was selected by the Pope as the design that would become the new St Peter’s. However, neither would live to see the completion of the project. Pope Julius II died in 1513 and Bramante passed in 1514, although St Peter’s would not be completed until 1626. Bramante was an enormous influence on architecture in Italy. During his lifetime, the leading work was being done in Florence, but it passed to Rome, primarily because of his work. His style would incorporate an ‘assimilation of antiquity’ which would provide the determination for the new classical style. Pope Julius II was not the only pope to take on great building as part of his legacy. Pope Pius II would take on the city of Pienza, in the mid-fifteenth century and turn it into a “personal and family memorial”(pg. 50). In Urban Life in the Renaissance, Susan Italian Renaissance, 10 Zimmerman and Robert F. E. Weissman relate that the village of Pienza, which was renamed such after its patron from its original name Corsignana, is designed with a central piazza with the rest of the buildings radiating outward from this place. Designed by Bernardo Rossellini and inspired by “the ancient example of Septimius Severus at Leptus Magna”, this village is considered “one of the masterpieces of Renaissance urban planning”. Zimmerman and Weissman declare that “Pienza is interpreted most frequently as a great work of humanistic scholarship.” (pg 50). The three strongest influential elements for the city are the work of Vitruvius, the inspiration the Pius II took from Germany, and an infusion of nature. Heydenreich, from Architecture in Italy: 1400-1500, is quoted in Urban Life in the Renaissance for saying, “Pienza was the first real city of the Renaissance to take on physical form.”(pg 50). However, the price of this achievement was steep for the people of the village. The village was in existence long before Pius II would take on this project so it functioned under its own set of traditions and systems. In order to accomplish his goal, Pius II would have to take over control of the functioning powers and exert his own will in the political, economical and cultural avenues that could impede his vision. The agriculturally based village with the essence of refeudalization, familiar to much of Italy in the early Renaissance, would have to adapt to its new identity as a reflection of Pope Pius II. Research has revealed a strong influential presence of ancient ideals present in the architecture of Renaissance Italy. As well, the connection between the artistic aesthetics of the time and the architectural aspirations are welded by the theories on beauty and form Italian Renaissance, 11 that were laid out by Vitruvius. Central to the development of Renaissance art was the emergence of the artist as a creator, sought after and respected for his erudition and imagination. Art, too, became valued--not merely as a vehicle for religious and social didacticism, but even more as a mode of personal, aesthetic expression. (Pioch) The importance of man and the individual became a central focus as the ideas of ‘humanism’ became entangled in theory and design. The influence of antiquity on the Renaissance culture of Italy is undeniable. The revered work of Vitruvius was the basis for all important architectural development of the period. As well, philosophical treatise from ancient Greece and Rome, as well as scientific discovery, mathematical concepts, and anatomical theories, along with the aesthetic of the natural environment all influenced by ancient documents that were more readily available with the invention of the printing press, infused the Renaissance theories and practices of the intellectual disciplines. Italian Renaissance, 12 Bibliography Bruker, Gene. (1983). Renaissance Florence. Berkeley: University of California Press. Evers, Bernd and Theones, Christof. (2003). Architectural Theory from the Renaissance to the Present. Italy: Tashen. Findlen, Paula. (2002). The Italian Renaissance. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, Ltd. Gallwitz, Karl Ludwig. (1999). The Handbook of Italian Renaissance Painters. Munich: Prestel. Goldthwaite, Richard A. (1980). The Building of Renaissance Florence. Maryland: The John Hopkins University Press. Heydenreich, Ludwig H. (1974). Architecture in Italy: 1400-1500. New Haven: Yale University Press. Kruft, Hanno-Walter. (1994). A History of Architectural Theory: From Vitruvius to the Present. London: Zwemmer. Lemaitre, Alain J. and Lessing, Erich. (1997). Florence and the Renaissance: The Quattrocento. New York: Stewart, Tabori, & Chang. Lotz, Wolfgang, and Howard, Debra. (1995). Architecture in Italy, 1500-1600. China: World Print Ltd. Martines, Lauro. (1979). Power and Imagination: City-States in Renaissance Italy. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Milnor, Kristina. (2005). Gender, Domesticity, and the Age of Augustus: Inventing Private Life. Oxford: The Oxford University Press. Pioch, Nicolas. (14 October 2002). “Le Renaissance: Italy.” WebMuseum, Paris. 27 Italian Renaissance, 13 September 2008 < http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/glo/renaissance/it.html> Short, John R. (1996). The Urban Order: An Introduction to Cities, Culture, and Power. Oxford, Blackwell Publishing, Ltd. Zimmerman, Susan and Weissman, Ronald F.E. (1989). Urban Life in the Renaissance. Cranbury: Associated University Presses. Read More