Renaissance architecture (redirected from Renaissance architectural style)

Renaissance architecture

Style of architecture, reflecting the rebirth of Classical culture, that originated in Florence in the early 15th century and spread throughout Europe, replacing the medieval Gothic style. There was a revival of ancient Roman forms, including the column and round arch, the tunnel vault, and the dome. The basic design element was the order. Knowledge of Classical architecture came from the ruins of ancient buildings and the writings of Vitruvius. As in the Classical period, proportion was the most important factor of beauty; Renaissance architects found a harmony between human proportions and buildings. This concern for proportion resulted in clear, easily comprehended space and mass, which distinguishes the Renaissance style from the more complex Gothic. Filippo Brunelleschi is considered the first Renaissance architect. Leon Battista Alberti's Ten Books on Architecture, inspired by Vitruvius, became a bible of Renaissance architecture. From Florence the early Renaissance style spread through Italy. Donato Bramante's move to Rome ushered in the High Renaissance (c. 1500–20). Mannerism, the style of the Late Renaissance (1520–1600), was characterized by sophistication, complexity, and novelty rather than the harmony, clarity, and repose of the High Renaissance. The Late Renaissance also saw much architectural theorizing, with Sebastiano Serlio (1475–1554), Giacomo da Vignola (1507–1573), and Andrea Palladio publishing influential books.

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Renaissance architecture, Renaissance Classical architecture

The architectural style developed in early 15th cent. Italy during the rebirth (rinascimento) of classical art and learning. It succeeded the Gothic as the style dominant in all of Europe after the mid-16th cent., and evolved through the Mannerist phase into Baroque and in the early 17th cent. into classicism. Initially characterized by the use of the classical orders, round arches, and symmetrical composition.