Florence, Rome and Venice were each vital to the progress of architecture during the Renaissance. Yet the particular styles of architecture which emerged within each city during the Renaissance, differed in crucial respects. Florence witnessed the earliest flowering of the ideals of the Renaissance, and this was reflected in a style of classical architecture which was controlled, sober and coolly restrained. Rome witnessed the full flowering of the architectural power of the papacy. Its architecture was ornate, massive in scale, and increasingly vigorous and exuberant. While Venice gave rise to a hybrid architectural style which straddled the boundaries between the Gothic and the Classical and between Europe and the Byzantine world.
This online course will enable students to explore these divergent facets of the architecture of the Renaissance in depth. We will begin by studying the structural and stylistic fundamentals of the classical style which defines Renaissance architecture as such. We will then will go on to explore the key Renaissance buildings within each of the three cities. Our overall aim will be to appreciate how the architecture of the Renaissance period differed between each respective urban site and to understand the ways in which the architecture of Florence, Rome and Venice was influenced by, and expressed, the particular hisory and culture of each city.
Architects whose work will be featured include: Brunelleschi, Alberti, Sangallo, Michelangelo, Borromini, Bernini and Palladio. Buildings will include Florence Cathedral, the Pazzi Chapel, S. Lorenzo & S. Spirito, the Palazzo Medici, S. Peters Basilica, S. Andrea al Quirinale, Basilica San Marco, and Villa Rotonda.