RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE IN ITALY.
Renaissance architecture--the architecture of the classic revival--had
its origin in Italy, and should be first studied in the land of its
birth. There are more ways than one in which it may be attempted to
classify Italian Renaissance buildings. The names of conspicuous
architects are sometimes adopted for this purpose, for now, for the
first time, we meet with a complete record of the names and
performances of all architects of note: the men who raised the great
works of Gothic art are, with a few exceptions, absolutely unknown to
us. An approximate division into three stages can also be recognised.
There is an early, a developed, and a late Renaissance, but this is
very far indeed from being a completely marked series, and was more
interfered with by local circumstances and by the character and genius
of individual artists than in Gothic. For this reason a local division
will be of most service. The best examples exist in the great cities,
with a few exceptions, and it is almost more useful to group them--as
the paintings of the Renaissance are also often grouped--by locality
than in either of the other methods.
FLORENCE.
Renaissance architecture first sprang into existence in Florence. Here
chiefly the works of the early Renaissance are met with, and the names
of the great Florentine architects are Brunelleschi and Alberti.
Brunelleschi was a citizen of Florence, of very ardent temperament and
great energy, and a true artist. He was born in 1377, was originally
trained as a goldsmith and sculptor, but devoted himself to the study
of architecture, and early set his heart upon being appointed to
complete the dome of the then unfinished cathedral of Florence, of
which some account has already been given.
Florence in the fifteenth century was full of artistic life, and the
revival of learning and arts had then begun to take definite shape.
The first years of the century found Brunelleschi studying antiquities
at Rome, to fit himself for the work he desired to undertake. After
his return to his native city, he ultimately succeeded in the object
of his ambition; the cathedral was entrusted to him, and he erected
the large pointed dome with which it is crowned. He also erected two
large churches in Florence, which, as probably the first important
buildings designed and built in the new style, possess great interest.
Santo Spirito, one of these, shows a fully matured system of
architectural treatment, and though it is quite true that it was a
revived system, yet the application of it to a modern building,
different in its purpose and in its design from anything the Romans
had ever done, is little short of a work of genius.
Santo Spirito has a very simple and beautifully regular plan, and its
interior has a singular charm and grace: over the crossing is raised
a low dome. The columns of the arcade are Corinthian columns, and the
refinement of their detail and proportions strikes the eye at once on
entering the building. The influence of Brunelleschi, who died in
1440, was perpetuated by the works and writings of Alberti (born 1398)
an architect of literary cultivation who wrote a systematic treatise
which became extremely popular, and helped to form the taste and guide
the practice of his contemporaries. He lived till near the close of
the fifteenth century, and erected some buildings of great merit. To
Alberti we owe the design of the Ruccellai Palace in Florence, a
building begun in 1460, and which had been preceded by somewhat bolder
and simpler designs. This is a three storey building, but has
pilasters carried up the piers between the windows and a regular
entablature and cornice[31] at each storey. The building is elegant
and graceful, and though the employment of the orders[32] as its
decoration gives it a distinctive character, it bears a strong general
resemblance to the group of which the Strozzi Palace (Fig. 61) may be
taken as the type.
The earliest Florentine palaces are the Riccardi, which dates from
1430, and the Pitti of almost the same date; Brunelleschi is said to
have been consulted in the design of both, but Michelozzo was the
architect. The distinguishing characteristic of the early palaces in
this city is solidity, which rises from the fact that they were also
fortresses. The Pitti, well known for its picture gallery, is a
building of vast extent, built throughout in very boldly rusticated
masonry, the joints and projections of the stones being greatly
exaggerated. The Riccardi, a square block of building, bears a
considerable resemblance to the Strozzi, but is plainer. It is a most
dignified building in its effect.
The Strozzi Palace (Fig. 61) was the next great palatial pile erected.
It was designed by Cronaca, and begun in 1498. Like the Riccardi, it
is of three storeys, with a bold projecting cornice. The whole wall is
covered with rusticated masonry; the windows of the lower floor are
small and square; those of the two upper floors are larger and
semicircular headed, and with a shaft acting as a mullion, and
carrying arches which occupy the window head with something like
tracery. The entrance is by a semicircular headed archway. There is a
great height of unpierced wall in the lowest storey and above the
heads of the two upper ranges of windows; and to this and the bold
overhanging cornice, this building, and those like it, owe much of
their dignity and impressiveness. An elevation, such as our
illustration, may convey a fair idea of the good proportion and
ensemble of the front, but it is difficult without actually seeing the
buildings to appreciate the effect produced by such palaces as these,
seen foreshortened in the narrow streets, and with the shadows from
their bold cornices and well-defined openings intensified by the
effect of the Italian sun.
[Illustration: FIG. 61.--STROZZI PALACE AT FLORENCE. (BEGUN 1489.)]
Many excellent palatial buildings belong to the end of the fifteenth
century. One among them is attributed to Bramante (who died 1513), a
Florentine, whom we shall meet with in Rome and elsewhere. The
Guadagni Palace has an upper storey entirely open, forming a sheltered
loggia, but it is mentioned here chiefly on account of the
decorations incised on its walls by the method known as Sgraffito.
Part of the plain wall is covered in this way with decorative designs,
which appear as though drawn with a bold line on their surface. An
example of this decoration will be found in our illustration (Fig.
62), representing a portion of the Loggia del Consiglio at Verona.
The series of great Florentine palaces closes with a charming example,
the Pandolfini, designed by the great Raphael, and commenced in
1520--in other words, in the first quarter of the sixteenth century.
This palace is only one of many instances to be found in Italy of the
skill in more walks of art than one, of some of the greatest artists.
Raphael, though best known as a painter, executed works of sculpture
of great merit, and designed some other buildings besides the one now
under notice. The Pandolfini Palace (Fig. 63) is small, the main
building having only four windows in the front and two storeys in
height, with a low one-storey side building. Its general design has
been very successfully copied in the Travellers' Club House, Pall
Mall. On comparing this with any of the previously named designs, it
will be seen that the semicircular headed windows have disappeared,
the rusticated masonry is only now retained at the angles, and to
emphasise the side entrance; and a small order with a little pediment
(_i.e._ gable) is employed to mark each opening, door or window. In
short this building belongs not only to another century, but to that
advanced school of art to which we have given the name of developed
Italian Renaissance.
[Illustration: FIG. 62.--PART OF THE LOGGIA DEL CONSIGLIO AT VERONA.
(16TH CENTURY.)
Showing the incised decoration known as _Sgraffito_.]
In Florence some of the work of Michelangelo is to be met with. His
own house is here; so is the famous Medici chapel, a work in which we
find him displaying power at once as a sculptor and an architect.
This interior is very fine and very studied both in its proportions
and its details. The church of the Annunziata, remarkable for a fine
dome, carried on a drum resting directly on the ground, is the
foremost Renaissance church in Florence.
The contrast between early and matured Renaissance can indeed be
better recognised in Florence than in almost any other city. The early
work, that of Bramante, Brunelleschi, and the architects who drew
their inspirations from these masters, was delicate and refined. The
detail was always elegant, the ornament always unobtrusive, and often
most graceful. Features comparatively small in scale were employed,
and were set off by the use of plain wall-surface, which was
unhesitatingly displayed. The classic orders were used in a
restricted, unobtrusive way, and with pilasters in preference to
columns; and though probably the architects themselves would have
repudiated the idea that the Gothic art, which they had cast behind
them, influenced their practice of revived classic in the remotest
degree, it is nevertheless true that many of these peculiarities, and
still more the general quality of the designs, were to a large extent
those to which the practice of Gothic architecture had led them.
A change which was partly due to a natural desire for progress, was
helped on by the great attention paid by students of architecture to
the remains of ancient Roman buildings; but it was the influence
excited by the powerful genius of Michelangelo, and by the gigantic
scale and vigorous treatment of his masterpiece, St. Peter's, which was
the proximate occasion of a revolution in taste and practice, to which,
the labours, both literary and artistic, of Vignola, and the designs of
Palladio, gave form and consistency. In the fully-developed, or, as it
is sometimes called, pure Renaissance of Italy, great use is made of
the classic orders and pediment, and indeed of all the features which
the Romans had employed. Plain wall space almost disappears under the
various architectural features introduced, and all ornaments, details,
and mouldings become bolder and richer, but often less refined and
correct in design.
[Illustration: FIG. 63.--THE PANDOLFINI PALACE, FLORENCE.
DESIGNED BY RAPHAEL. (BEGUN 1520.)]
ROME.
Rome, the capital of the country, contains, as was fit, the central
building of the fully-developed Renaissance, St. Peter's. Bramante,
the Florentine, was the architect to whom the task of designing a
cathedral to surpass anything existing in Europe was committed by Pope
Julius II. at the opening of the sixteenth century. Some such project
had been entertained, and even begun, fifty years earlier, but the
enterprise was now started afresh, a new design was made, and the
first stone was laid by the Pope in 1506. Bramante died in some six or
seven years, and five or six architects in succession, one of whom was
Raphael, proceeded with the work, without advancing it rapidly, for
nearly half a century, during which time the design was modified again
and again. In 1546 the great Michelangelo was appointed architect, and
the last eighteen years of his life were spent in carrying on this
great work. He completed the magnificent dome in all its essential
parts, and left the church a Greek cross (_i.e._ one which has all its
four arms equal) on plan, with the dome at the crossing. The boast is
attributed to him that he would take the dome of the Pantheon and hang
it in the air; and this he has virtually accomplished in the dome of
St. Peter's--a work of the greatest beauty of design and boldness of
construction.
Unfortunately, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, Maderno
was employed to lengthen the nave. This transformed the plan of the
cathedral into a Latin cross. The existing portico was built at the
same time; and in 1661 Bernini added the vast forecourt, lined by
colonnades, which now forms the approach.
This cathedral, of which the history has been briefly sketched, is the
largest in the world. As we now see it, it consists of a vast
vestibule; a nave of four bays with side aisles; a vast square central
space over which hangs the great dome; transepts and a choir, each of
one bay and an apse. Outside the great central space, an aisle, not
quite like the ordinary aisle of a church, exists, and there are two
side chapels. It can be well understood that if the largest church in
Christendom is divided into so few parts, these must be themselves of
colossal dimensions, and the truth is that the piers are masses of
masonry which can be called nothing else than vast, while the spaces
spanned by the arches and vaults are prodigious. There is little sense
of mystery about the interior of the building (Fig. 64), the eye soon
grasps it as a whole, and hours must be spent in it before an idea of
its gigantic size is at all taken in. The beauty of the colouring adds
wonderfully to the effect of St. Peter's upon the spectator, for the
walls are rich with mosaics and coloured marbles; and the interior,
the dome especially, with the drum upon which it rests, are decorated
in colour throughout, with fine effect and in excellent taste. The
interior is amply lighted, and, though very rich, not over decorated;
its design is simple and noble in the extreme, and all its parts are
wonderful in their harmony. The connection between the dome and the
rest of the building is admirable, and there is a sense of vast space
when the spectator stands under that soaring vault which belongs to
no other building in the world.
The exterior is disappointing as long as the building is seen in
front, for the facade is so lofty and advances so far forward as to
cut off the view of the lower part of the dome. To have an idea of the
building as Michelangelo designed it, it is necessary to go round to
the back; and then, with the height of the drum fully seen and the
contour of the dome, with all its massy lines of living force,
carrying the eye with them right up to the elegant lantern that crowns
the summit, some conception of the hugeness and the symmetry of this
mountain of art seems to dawn on the mind. But even here it is with
the utmost difficulty that one can apply any scale to the mass, so
that the idea which the mind forms of its bulk is continually
fluctuating.
The history of this building extends over all the period of developed
Renaissance in Rome, and its list of architects includes all the best
known names. By the side of it every other church, even St. John
Lateran, appears insignificant; so that the secular buildings in Rome,
which are numerous, and some of them excellent, are more worth
attention than the churches, though not a few of the three hundred
churches and basilicas of the metropolis of Italy are good examples of
Renaissance.
[Illustration: FIG. 64.--ST. PETER'S AT ROME. INTERIOR. (1506-1661.)]
The altars, tombs, and other architectural or semi-architectural works
which occur in many of the churches of Rome, are, however, finer works
of art as a rule than the buildings which they adorn. Such gems are
not confined to Rome, but are to be found throughout Italy: many of
them belong to the best period of art. Marble is generally the
material, and the light as a rule falls on these works in one
direction only. Under these circumstances the most subtle moulding
gives a play of light and shade, and the most delicate carving
produces a richness of effect which cannot be attained in exterior
architecture, executed for the most part in stone, exposed to the
weather, and seen by diffused and reflected light. Nothing of this
sort is finer than the monuments by Sansovino, erected in Sta. Maria
del Popolo at Rome, one of which we illustrate on a small scale (Fig.
65). The magnificent altar-piece in Sta. Coronale at Vicenza, in which
is framed Bellini's picture of the baptism of Christ, is another
example, on an unusually large scale--fine in style, and covered with
beautiful ornament.
No secular building exists in Rome so early or so simple as the severe
Florentine palaces; but Bramante, who belongs to the early period,
erected there the fine Cancelleria palace; and the Palazzo Giraud
(Fig. 66). These buildings resemble one another very closely; each
bears the impress of refined taste, but delicacy has been carried
almost to timidity. The pilasters and cornices which are employed have
the very slightest projection, but the large mass of the wall as
compared with the openings, secures an appearance of solidity, and
hence of dignity. The interior of the Cancelleria contains an arcaded
quadrangle (_cortile_) of great beauty. Smaller palaces belonging to
the same period and of the same refined, but somewhat weak, character
exist in Rome.
[Illustration: FIG. 65.--MONUMENT, BY SANSOVINO, IN STA. MARIA DEL
POPOLO, ROME. (15TH CENTURY.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 66.--PALAZZO GIRAUD (NOW TORLONIA), ROME. BY
BRAMANTE. (1506.)]
The Vatican Palace is so vast that, like St. Peter's, it took more
than one generation to complete. To Bramante's time belongs the great
Belvedere, since much altered, but in its original state an admirable
work. This palace also can show some remarkable additions by Bernini,
a much later architect, with much that is not admirable or remarkable
by other hands. The finest Roman palace is the Farnese, begun by San
Gallo in 1530, continued by Michelangelo, and completed by Giacomo
della Porta, each architect having altered the design. This building,
notwithstanding its chequered history, is a dignified, impressive
mass. It has only three storeys and a scarcely marked basement, and is
nearly square, with a large quadrangle in its heart. It is very lofty,
and has a great height of unpierced wall over each storey of windows,
and is crowned by a bold and highly-enriched cornice--an unusual thing
for Rome. In this, and in many palaces built about the same time, the
windows are ornamented in the same manner as those of the Pandolfini
Palace at Florence; the use of pilasters instead of columns is
general; the openings are usually square-headed, circular heads being
usually confined to arcades and loggie; the angles are marked by
rustication, and the only cornice is the one that crowns the whole.
This general character will apply to most of the works of Baldassare
Peruzzi, Vignola, Sangallo, and Raphael, who were, with Michelangelo,
the foremost architects in Rome in the sixteenth century. But "the
works executed by Michelangelo are in a bolder and more pictorial
style, as are also many productions grafted on the earlier Italian
manner by a numerous class of succeeding architects. In these is to be
remarked a greater use of columns, engaged and isolated; stronger but
less studied details; and a greater use of colonnades, in which
however the combination with the semicircular arch is still unusual,
the antique in this respect being followed to a great disadvantage.
Still there is a nobility, a palatial look about these large mansions
which is very admirable, and is to be remarked in all the palaces,
even up to the time of Borromini, _circa_ 1640, by whom all the
principles and parts of Roman architecture were literally turned
topsy-turvey. Michelangelo's peculiar style was more thoroughly
carried out on ecclesiastical buildings, and as practised by his
successors, exhibits much that is fine, in large masses, boldly
projecting cornices, three-quarter columns, and noble domes; but it is
otherwise debased by great misconceptions as to the reasonable
application of architecture."--M. D. W.
In the seventeenth century a decline set in. The late Renaissance has
neither the severity of the early, nor the dignified richness of the
mature time, but is extravagant; though at Rome examples of its
extreme phase are not common. Maderno, who erected the west front of
St. Peter's, and Bernini, who added the outer forecourt and also built
the curiously designed state staircase (the _scala regia_) in the
Vatican, are the foremost architects. To these must be added
Borromini. The great Barberini Palace belongs to this century; but
perhaps its most characteristic works are the fountains, some of them
with elaborate architectural backgrounds, which ornament many of the
open places in Rome. Few of the buildings of the eighteenth century in
Rome, or indeed in Italy generally, claim attention as architectural
works of a high order of merit.
Before leaving central Italy for the north, it is necessary to mention
the masterpiece of Vignola--the great Farnese Palace at Caprarola; and
to add that in every city of importance examples more or less
admirable of the art of the time were erected.
VENICE, VICENZA, AND VERONA.
The next great group of Renaissance buildings is to be found at
Venice, where the style was adopted with some reluctance, and not
till far on in the sixteenth century. At first we meet with some
admixture of Gothic elements; as, for example, in the rebuilding of
the internal quadrangle of the Ducal Palace. Pointed arches are
partly employed in this work, which was completed about the middle of
the sixteenth century. In the earlier palaces--which, it will be
remembered, are comparatively narrow buildings standing side by side
on the banks of the canals--the storeys are well marked; the windows
are round headed with smaller arches within the main ones; the orders
when introduced are kept subordinate; the windows are grouped
together in the central portion of the front, as was the case with
those of the Gothic palaces, and very little use is made of
rusticated masonry. The Vendramini, Cornaro, and Trevisano Palaces
conform to this type. To the same period belong one or two fine
churches, the most famous being San Zacaria, a building with a very
delicately panelled front, and a semicircular pediment in lieu of a
gable; here, too, semicircular-headed openings are made use of. In
many of these churches and other buildings, a beautiful ornament,
which may be regarded as typical of early Venetian Renaissance, is to
be found. It is the shell ornament, so called from its resemblance to
a flat semicircular shell, ribbed from the centre to the
circumference (Fig. 67).
[Illustration: FIG. 67.--ITALIAN SHELL ORNAMENT.]
As time went on the style was matured into one of great richness, not
to say ostentation, with which the names of Sansovino, Sanmichele,
Palladio, and Scamozzi are identified as the prominent architects of
the latter part of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In this
city of palaces Sansovino, also a very fine sculptor, built the
celebrated Library of St. Mark, facing the Ducal Palace, which has
been followed very closely in the design of the Carlton Club, Pall
Mall. Here, as in the splendid Cornaro Palace, the architect relied
chiefly upon the columns and entablatures of the orders, combined with
grand arcades enriched by sculpture, so arranged as to occupy the
spaces between the columns; almost the whole of the wall-space was so
taken up, and the basement only was covered with rustication, often
rough worked, as at the beautiful Palazzo Pompeii, Verona, and the
Grimani Palace, Venice.
"Sanmichele's works are characterised chiefly by their excellent
proportions, their carefully studied detail, their strength, and their
beauty (qualities so difficult to combine). We believe that the
buildings of this great architect and engineer at Verona are
pre-eminent in their peculiar style over those of any other artist of
the sixteenth century. In a different, but no less meritorious, manner
are the buildings designed by Sansovino; they are characterised by a
more sculptural and ornamental character; order over order with large
arched voids in the interspaces of the columns producing a pictorial
effect which might have led his less gifted followers into a false
style, but for the example of the celebrated Palladio."--M. D. W.
To the latest time of the Renaissance in Venice belongs the
picturesque domed church of St. Maria della Salute, conspicuous in
many views of the Grand Canal, a building which is a work of real
genius in spite of what is considered its false taste. It dates from
1632. The architect is Longhena.
[Illustration: FIG. 68.--THE CHURCH OF THE REDENTORE, VENICE.
(1576.)]
An almost endless series of palaces and houses can be found in Venice,
all of them rich, but few of great extent, for every foot of space had
to be won from the sea by laborious engineering. There are some
features which never fail to present themselves, and which are
consequences of the conditions under which the structures were
designed. All rise from the water, and require to admit of gondolas
coming under the walls; hence there is always a principal central
entrance with steps in front, but this entrance never has any sort of
projecting portico or porch, and is never very much larger than the
other openings in the front. As a straight frontage to the water had
to be preserved, we hardly ever meet with such a thing as a break or
projection of any sort; but the Venetian architects have found other
means of giving interest to their elevations, and it is to the very
restrictions imposed by circumstances that we owe the great
originality displayed in their earlier buildings. The churches do not
usually front directly on to the water; and though they are almost all
good of their kind, they are far more commonplace than the palaces.
The system of giving variety to the facade of the secular buildings by
massing openings near the centre, has been already referred to. Both
shadow and richness were also aimed at in the employment of projecting
balconies; in fact the two usually go together, for the great central
window or group of windows mostly has a large and rich balcony
belonging to it.
Not far from Venice is Vicenza, and here Palladio, whose best
buildings in Venice are churches, such, for example, as the Redentore
(Fig. 68), enjoyed an opportunity of erecting a whole group of
palaces, the fronts of which are extremely remarkable as designs;
though, being executed in brick and plastered, they are now falling to
ruin. There is much variety in them, and while some of them rely upon
his device of lofty pilasters to include two storeys of the building
under one storey of architectural treatment, others are handled
differently. In all a singularly fine feeling for proportion and for
the appropriate omission as well as introduction of ornament is to be
detected. The worst defect of these fronts is, however, that they
appear more like masks than the exteriors of buildings, for there is
little obvious connection between the features of the exterior and
anything which we may suppose to exist inside the building. The
finest architectural work left behind by Palladio in this city are,
however, the great arcades with which he surrounded the Basilica, a
vast building of the middle ages already alluded to. These arcades are
two storeys high, and are rich, yet vigorous; they ornament the great
structure, the roof of which may be seen rising behind, without
overpowering it.
MILAN AND PAVIA.
In Milan two buildings at least belong to the early Renaissance. These
are the sacristy of Sta. Maria presso San Satiro, and the eastern
portion of the church of Sta. Maria delle Grazie; Bramante was the
architect of both. The last-named work is an addition to an existing
Gothic church; it is executed in the terra-cotta and brick of
Lombardy, materials which the Renaissance architects seemed to shun in
later times, and is full of the most profuse and elegant ornaments.
The design consists of a dome, treated externally a little like some
of the Lombard domes of earlier date; and three apses forming choir
and transepts. It is divided into several stages, and abundantly
varied in its panelling and arcading, and is full of vigour. By
Bramante is also the very beautiful arcaded quadrangle of the great
hospital at Milan, the Gothic front of which has been already noticed.
There are many Renaissance buildings of later date in Milan, but none
very remarkable.
[Illustration: FIG. 69.--THE CERTOSA NEAR PAVIA. PART OF THE WEST
FRONT. (BEGUN BY BORGOGNONE 1473.)]
To the early period belongs the design of the facade of the Certosa
near Pavia, part of which is shown (Fig. 69). This was begun as early
as 1473, by Ambrogio Borgognone, and was long in hand. It proceeded on
the lines settled thus early, and is probably the richest facade
belonging to any church in Christendom; it is executed entirely in
marble. Sculpture is employed to adorn every part that is near the
eye, and especially the portal, which is flanked by pilasters with
their faces panelled and occupied by splendid _alti relievi_. The
upper part is enriched by inlays of costly marbles, but the two
systems of decoration do not thoroughly harmonise; for the upper half
looks coarse, which it in reality is not, in contrast with the
delicate richness of the carving near the eye. The great features,
such as the entrance, the windows, and the angle pinnacles are
thoroughly good, and an arcade of small arches is twice
introduced,--once running completely across the front at about half
its height, and again near the top of the central portion,--with
excellent effect (see Frontispiece).
GENOA, TURIN, AND NAPLES.
Turning now to Genoa we find, as we may in several great cities of
Italy, that very great success has been achieved by an artist whose
works are to be seen in no other city, and whose fame is
proportionally restricted. Just as the power of Luini as a painter can
only be fully understood at Milan, or that of Giulio Romano at Mantua,
so the genius of Alessio (1500 to 1572) as an architect can only be
understood at Genoa. From the designs of this architect were built a
series of well planned and imposing palaces. These buildings have most
of them the advantage of fine and roomy sites. The fronts are varied,
but as a rule consist of a very bold basement, with admirably-treated
vigorous mouldings, supporting a lighter superstructure, and in one or
two instances flanked by an open arcade at the wings. The entrance
gives access, through a vaulted hall, to the cortile, which is usually
planned and designed in the most effective manner; and in several
instances the state staircase is so combined with this feature that on
ascending the first flight the visitor comes to a point of sight for
which the whole may be said to have been designed, and from which a
splendid composition of columns and arches is seen. The rooms and
galleries in these palaces are very fine, and in several instances
have been beautifully decorated in fresco by Perino del Vaga.
Alessio was also the architect of a large domical church (il
Carignano) in the same city; but it is far inferior in merit to his
series of palaces. Genoa also possesses a famous church (the
Annunziata) of late Renaissance, attributed to Puget (1622-1694). It
is vaulted, and enriched with marbles, mosaics, and colour to such an
extent that it may fairly claim to be the most gaudy church in Italy,
which is unfortunate, as its original undecorated design is fine and
simple.
Turin in the north, and Naples in the south, are chiefly remarkable
for examples of the latest and more or less debased Renaissance, and
we therefore do not propose to illustrate or describe any of the
buildings in either city.
COUNTRY VILLAS.
[Illustration: FIG. 70.--VILLA MEDICI--ON THE PINCIAN HILL NEAR
ROME. BY ANNIBALE LIPPI (NOW THE _Academie Francaise_).
(A.D. 1540.)]
As the ancient Roman patrician had his villa, which was his country
resort, the Italian of the revival followed his example, and, if he
was wealthy enough, built himself a pleasure house, which he called a
villa, either in the immediate suburbs of his city, or at some little
distance away in the country. These buildings occur throughout
Italy. Many of them are excellent examples of Renaissance
architecture of a more modest type than that of the palaces. The Villa
Papa Giulio, built from the designs of Vignola, and the Villa Medici,
designed by Annibale Lippi, but attributed, for some unknown reason,
to Michelangelo, may be mentioned as among the most thoroughly
architectural out of some twenty or more splendid villas in the
suburbs of Rome alone. Many of these buildings were erected late in
the Renaissance period, and are better worth attention for their fine
decorations and the many works of art collected within their walls
than as architectural studies--but this is not always the case; and as
they were mostly designed to serve the purpose of elegant museums
rather than that of country houses as we understand the term, they
usually possess noble interiors, and exhibit throughout elaborate
finish, choice materials, and lavish outlay.
[Illustration: {EARLY RENAISSANCE CORBEL. FROM A DOOR IN SANTA MARIA,
VENICE.}]
FOOTNOTES:
[31] An entablature is the superstructure which ordinarily is carried
by a column, and which it is usual to divide into architrave (or
beam), frieze, and cornice.
[32] An order consists of a column (or pilaster) with its distinctive
base and capital, its entablature, and the appropriate decorations.
There are five orders, differing in proportions, in the degree of
enrichment required, and in the design of the base and capital of the
column or pilaster, and of the entablature.
[Illustration: {ORNAMENT BY GIULIO ROMANO.}]