Renaissance Architechture

It started on August 14,1418. Florence’s new cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, had been under construction for more then a century. The architects did not know how to finish the dome they had wanted. Holding a contest, the builders said that whomever could make a model of the ideal dome would win 200 gold Florins. The battle began, people worked feverishly for six weeks. Soon they began to realize that building a dome was much more difficult then anyone had thought. As the century went on, and they were ready to build the dome two groups of people were asked to make detailed models. The first was a man named Giovanni di Lapo Ghini, and the second was a group of artists led by a mason, Neri di Fioravanti. Their models were great, s

ometimes big enough that the architects could inspect the interior. Each group had their own idea of how the dome should be built. As the time went on the architects could not decide between the two. However, as the days went on the wardens started leaning toward Fioravanti’s design. Giovanni then started to question the support of the dome. Stability was a big issue then, modern buildings have been built so we do not have to fear them collapsing. However, then, that fear was bigger then ever. The wardens adopted Fioravanti’s idea, with the stipulation that his supports be bigger. It was then built, and has been like that since. A dome the size of Fioravanti’s had never been done before, but the advances in architecture in as little as five to ten years made it possible. The advances of architecture had gained with leaps and bounds. (King)

In Germany, about the middle of the 14th century, the medieval love for picturesque forms still dominated, although transferred to classical motifs. Freely interpreted and resembling the Elizabethan work in England, these gave full play to originality and craftsmanship. The style, however, lacking truly great architects, failed to achieve full development as in France and England. Nuremberg and Rothenburg ob der Tauber are rich in works of the early period. Romanesque architecture and art flourished in Germany, and the cathedrals in basilica form at Worms, Mainz, and Speyer typify the characteristic divisive style of the period. Little remains of Romanesque fresco painting, which includes Regensburg and Salzburg, which were major Germanic centers.

As England went about change in their architectural style, from Romanesque to Gothic, they began building cathedrals of huge proportion (Copplestone). Often using local materials, Gothic architecture is generally tall and inspiring and was a significant structural improvement upon the Romanesque buildings that preceded it. As with almost any large undertaking, there were political implications for the people involved in the operation of building a cathedral. The types of cathedrals built in England at a given time were thus representative of the political,

Some topics in this essay:
English Gothic, Lapo Ghini, Romanesque Gothic, England Gothic, , Santa Maria, Ouen Rouen, Swaan Considerable, Martin Chambiges, Trinité Vendôme, rose windows, gothic architecture, advances architecture, weight carried columns, flying buttress, france england, church st, renaissance period, technical advance, architecture gained, style period,