Renaisance Architecture

Sunday, September 22, 2002

The renaissance was a time of change and “rebirth.” The renaissance brought into being some of the most significant and admired works ever constructed. The renaissance began in 1400 in Italy, from there the new ideas spread to northern Europe. The renaissance began in Italy because of their great amount of wealth and center of the trade world. The Italian people were more influenced by other cultures and could travel to other parts of the world to see new ideas. There were many reasons for how architecture developed during the renaissance.

Though the renaissance had just begun in Italy, many families had become very wealthy and were interested in arts and architecture. Families such as Medici, Sforza, and da Montefeltro were wealthy through commerce and trade they were able to be patrons of the arts. This was shown in the great palaces wealthy families had built. The architecture and sculpture was magnificent and was very pleasing to the eye. This was a great step in how architecture developed, because now not only the church was interested in art and architecture, more and more people of the time were p

After the sack of Rome Italy fell apart, they were no longer the leading renaissance country in Europe. France had entered the renaissance by 1494 and had a royal policy to attract Italian architects and to encourage native talent. Leonardo da Vinci came to France in 1506. It was also believed that the Italian architect Domenico da Cortona designed the extraordinary Château de Chambord that Francis I built (1519-47) in the Loire Valley. This building retains the outward characteristics of a medieval castle. England was a little slower to develop into the renaissance. The Architect Inigo Jones was the principal architect in England. The same design concepts used in Italy were now being used in altered constructions and methods in northern Europe. This shows how architecture had spread and developed from Italy in the early renaissance.

The architect Andrea Palladio practiced in the environs of Vicenza and Venice. Although he visited Rome, he did not wholly adopt the Mannerist approach. He specialized in villas for gentleman farmers. These villas explore all the variations on the classical norms: governing axis defined in the approach, single major entrance, single major interior space surrounded by smaller rooms, secondary functions extended in symmetrical arms, and careful attention to proportion. They were immortalized by Palladio's p

Some topics in this essay:
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