Week 8- Renaissance

 Italian Renaissance and Neoclassical

    The classic word of Renaissance means rebirth, this time period was developed roughly in the 1400-1600 when artists looked to ancient Rome and Greece. In the architectural development the most important structures were churches and private palaces. In the Renaissance the unitary focus on God was joined by the interest in humanity, meaning that there was an increased attention on the individual. 

   The German Renaissance painter Albrecht Durer, he developed a different side of the renaissance which demonstrated that in areas of life and art there was a great source of medieval traditions. He almost bridged the gap of medieval and renaissance. In the 15th century there was an increased attention to building that were used as public infrastructures. The town hall of Florence, the Palzaao Vecchio, and the Baptistry were the three public structures that had the greatest effect from this, they were the beginning of the Renaissance. One thing I found most captivating was the Tuscan farm homes, these were briefly discussed but I decided to look further into these and what they entailed of. The Palazzo Medici was grand and symmetrical and relied on classical forms and proportions for its development. 

    Michelangelo famously redesigned the dome of St. Peters. Something interesting about Michelangelo is that he never started his projects on a blank slate they always developed from existing projects. The project on the Guild Hall was a new approach on urban space. This was essentially a townhall with a palace for the senators which was at an awkward angle. His solution was to give a new face to the building and move the tower to the center. 

    The Santa Maria della Consolazione was a large part of the development of the Renaissance, when the Latin-cross became a large symbol. The church is not only bilaterally symmetrical but also radially symmetrical around the central point. The forms are simple: a square, a dome, and four half domes. 

    The interior of these Renaissance residential building was divided into horizontal bands and fields. Most walls were plaster and then simply painted or would have frescos. Ceiling was most commonly plaster they as well were defined as part of architecture and sometimes would follow a grid like approach. This makes me think of common ceiling in residential homes, some have textures and extra factors that make them special in some kinds of ways. Furniture was also large in this period, especially large-scale furniture. These pieces attracted one's eye, these would have included wardrobes and large chests. A piece of furniture that caught my eye was the Cassapanca, which is a combined chest and seat, these were versatile designs and gave them a place to store things as well as add seating to a room. As well as the Sgabello Chair, this means stool these were useful at social gathering and in the public spaces. The Savonarola chair is an interesting x-shape form that came from the Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola. The austere lines of the chair reflect the religious attitude of asceticism. 

ONE STEP FURTHER 

Filippo Brunelleschi was one of the most important figures in the Renaissance, he relied on the classical forms in which all details are related to another detail. He focused on proportion and one-point perspective. He worked on putting arches on the columns at the San Lorenzo and the Foundling Hospital, which is something the romans barley did. 

    

EXTRA LINKS 

SPOTLIGHT: Renaissance Architecture | Encyclopaedia Britannica (youtube.com)

Michelangelo - the Greatest Artist of All Time? (youtube.com)

Characteristics of Renaissance Architecture / Renaissance Architectural History (youtube.com)

The Renaissance: Was it a Thing? - Crash Course World History #22 (youtube.com)