1.
Palladian window
–
Palladian architecture is a European style of architecture derived from and inspired by the designs of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio. That which is recognised as Palladian architecture today is an evolution of Palladios original concepts, Palladios work was strongly based on the symmetry, perspective and values of the formal classical temple architecture of the Ancient Greeks and Romans. From the 17th century Palladios interpretation of classical architecture was adapted as the style known as Palladianism. It continued to develop until the end of the 18th century, Palladianism became popular briefly in Britain during the mid-17th century, but its flowering was cut short by the onset of the Civil War and the imposition of austerity which followed. In the early 18th century it returned to fashion, not only in England but also, the style continued to be popular in Europe throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, where it was frequently employed in the design of public and municipal buildings. However, as a style it has continued to be popular and to evolve, its pediments, symmetry. Buildings entirely designed by Palladio are all in Venice and the Veneto, with an especially rich grouping of palazzi in Vicenza and they include villas, and churches such as Redentore in Venice. Palladio always designed his villas with reference to their setting, if on a hill, such as Villa Capra, facades were frequently designed to be of equal value so that occupants could have fine views in all directions. Also, in cases, porticos were built on all sides so that occupants could fully appreciate the countryside while being protected from the sun. Palladio sometimes used a loggia as an alternative to the portico and this can most simply be described as a recessed portico, or an internal single storey room, with pierced walls that are open to the elements. Occasionally a loggia would be placed at floor level over the top of a loggia below. Loggias were sometimes given significance in a facade by being surmounted by a pediment, Villa Godi has as its focal point a loggia rather than a portico, plus loggias terminating each end of the main building. Palladio would often model his villa elevations on Roman temple facades, the temple influence, often in a cruciform design, later became a trademark of his work. Palladian villas are built with three floors, a rusticated basement or ground floor, containing the service and minor rooms. The proportions of each room within the villa were calculated on simple mathematical ratios like 3,4 and 4,5, earlier architects had used these formulas for balancing a single symmetrical facade, however, Palladios designs related to the whole, usually square, villa. Palladio deeply considered the purpose of his villas as both farmhouses and palatial weekend retreats for wealthy merchant owners. These symmetrical temple-like houses often have symmetrical, but low, wings sweeping away from them to accommodate horses, farm animals. The wings, sometimes detached and connected to the villa by colonnades, were designed not only to be functional but also to complement, the Palladian, Serlian, or Venetian window features largely in Palladios work and is almost a trademark of his early career
Palladian window
–
A villa with a superimposed portico, from Book IV of Palladio's
I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura, in an English translation published in London, 1736.
Palladian window
–
Plan for Palladio's
Villa Rotonda. Features of the house were to become incorporated in numerous Palladian style houses throughout Europe over the following centuries.
Palladian window
–
"True Palladianism" in
Villa Godi by Palladio from the
Quattro Libri dell'Architettura. The extending wings are agricultural buildings and are not part of the villa. In the 18th century they became an important part of Palladianism—see photograph of
Woburn Abbey below.
Palladian window
–
Claydon House (begun 1757), here the Palladian window in the central bay is surrounded by a unifying blind arch. This house was intended to be one of two flanking wings to a vast Palladian house; the scheme was never completed.
2.
Triglyph
–
The raised spaces between the channels themselves are called femur in Latin or meros in Greek. The absence of the pair effectively converts a building from being in the Doric order to being in the Tuscan order. The triglyph is largely thought to be a tectonic and skeuomorphic representation in stone of the beam ends of the typical primitive hut, as described by Vitruvius. The wooden beams were notched in three places in order to cast their rough-cut ends mostly in shadow. The channels could also have a function in channeling rainwater, of the two groups of 6th-century metopes from Foce del Sele, now in the museum at Paestum, the earlier uses the first method, the later the second. In the evolution of the Doric order, the placing of the triglyphs evolved somewhat, in post-Renaissance architecture the strict conventions are sometimes abandoned, and guttae and triglyphs, alone or together, may be used somewhat randomly as ornaments. For example, the Baroque Černín Palace in Prague has triglyphs and guttae as ornaments at the top of arches, classical order This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed
Triglyph
–
A metope (L) and triglyph (R) cut from one block from Stratos.
Triglyph
–
Triglyph centered over the last column in the Roman
Doric order of the
Theater of Marcellus
Triglyph
–
Triglyphs (slotted for the insertion of metopes) in the Doric frieze of the
Temple of Aphaia.
Triglyph
–
The entablature of the Hephaisteion (temple of Hephaistos) in Athens, showing Doric frieze with triglyphs and sculpted metopes.
3.
Mantua
–
Mantua is a city and commune in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua became Italian Capital of Culture, as chosen by the Italian Government on 27 October 2015, in 2017, Mantua will also be European Capital of Gastronomy, included in the Eastern Lombardy District. In 2007, Mantuas centro storico and Sabbioneta were declared by UNESCO to be a World Heritage Site. Mantuas historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family has made it one of the artistic, cultural, and especially musical hubs of Northern Italy. Mantua is noted for its significant role in the history of opera, the city is known for its architectural treasures and artifacts, elegant palaces. It is the place where the composer Monteverdi premiered his opera LOrfeo and it is the nearest town to the birthplace of the Roman poet Virgil, who was commemorated by a statue at the lakeside park Piazza Virgiliana. Mantua is surrounded on three sides by artificial lakes, created during the 12th century, as the defence system. These lakes receive water from the Mincio River, a tributary of the Po River which descends from Lake Garda, the three lakes are called Lago Superiore, Lago di Mezzo, and Lago Inferiore. A fourth lake, Lake Pajolo, which served as a defensive water ring around the city. These dated, without interruption, from Neolithic times to the Bronze Age and the Gallic phases, and ended with Roman residential settlements, which could be traced to the 3rd century AD. Mantua was a settlement which was first established about the year 2000 BC on the banks of River Mincio. In the 6th century BC, Mantua was an Etruscan village which, the name may derive from the Etruscan god Mantus. This new Roman territory was populated by soldiers of Augustus. Mantuas most famous ancient citizen is the poet Virgil, or Publius Vergilius Maro, after the fall of the western Roman Empire in 476 AD, Mantua was invaded in turn by Goths, Byzantines, Longobards, and Franks. In the 11th century, Mantua became a possession of Boniface of Canossa, the last ruler of that family was the countess Matilda of Canossa, who, according to legend, ordered the construction of the precious Rotonda di San Lorenzo in 1082. The Rotonda still exists today and was renovated in 2013, free Imperial City of Mantua After the death of Matilda of Canossa, Mantua became a free commune and strenuously defended itself from the Holy Roman Empire during the 12th and 13th centuries. In 1198, Alberto Pitentino altered the course of River Mincio, three of these lakes still remains today and the fourth one, which ran through the centre of town, was reclaimed in the 18th century. Podesteria Rule From 1215, the city was ruled under the podesteria of the Gallic-Guelph Rambertino Buvalelli, during the struggle between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, Pinamonte Bonacolsi took advantage of the chaotic situation to seize power of the podesteria in 1273
Mantua
–
Panorama of Mantua
Mantua
–
Expulsion of the Bonacolsi in 1328, scene of Piazza Sordello, canvas of
Domenico Morone
Mantua
–
Ludovico Gonzaga receiving the news of his son
Francesco being elected cardinal, fresco by
Andrea Mantegna in the Stanza degli Sposi of
Palazzo Ducale.
Mantua
–
Palazzo Te.
4.
Italy
–
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
Italy
–
The
Colosseum in Rome, built c. 70 – 80 AD, is considered one of the greatest works of
architecture and
engineering of ancient history.
Italy
–
Flag
Italy
–
The
Iron Crown of Lombardy, for centuries symbol of the
Kings of Italy.
Italy
–
Castel del Monte, built by German Emperor
Frederick II,
UNESCO World Heritage site
5.
Mannerism
–
Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, lasting until about 1580 in Italy, when the Baroque style began to replace it. Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century, stylistically, Mannerism encompasses a variety of approaches influenced by, and reacting to, the harmonious ideals associated with artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and early Michelangelo. Where High Renaissance art emphasizes proportion, balance, and ideal beauty, Mannerism exaggerates such qualities, Mannerism is notable for its intellectual sophistication as well as its artificial qualities. Mannerism favors compositional tension and instability rather than the balance and clarity of earlier Renaissance painting, Mannerism in literature and music is notable for its highly florid style and intellectual sophistication. The definition of Mannerism and the phases within it continue to be a subject of debate among art historians, for example, some scholars have applied the label to certain early modern forms of literature and music of the 16th and 17th centuries. The term is used to refer to some late Gothic painters working in northern Europe from about 1500 to 1530. Mannerism also has been applied by analogy to the Silver Age of Latin literature, the word mannerism derives from the Italian maniera, meaning style or manner. Like the English word style, maniera can either indicate a type of style or indicate an absolute that needs no qualification. Vasari was also a Mannerist artist, and he described the period in which he worked as la maniera moderna, james V. Mirollo describes how bella maniera poets attempted to surpass in virtuosity the sonnets of Petrarch. This notion of bella maniera suggests that artists thus inspired looked to copying and bettering their predecessors, in essence, bella maniera utilized the best from a number of source materials, synthesizing it into something new. As a stylistic label, Mannerism is not easily defined, “High Renaissance” connoted a period distinguished by harmony, grandeur and the revival of classical antiquity. The term Mannerist was redefined in 1967 by John Shearman following the exhibition of Mannerist paintings organised by Fritz Grossmann at Manchester City Art Gallery in 1965. The label “Mannerism” was used during the 16th century to comment on social behaviour, however, for later writers, such as the 17th-century Gian Pietro Bellori, la maniera was a derogatory term for the perceived decline of art after Raphael, especially in the 1530s and 1540s. From the late 19th century on, art historians have used the term to describe art that follows Renaissance classicism. By the end of the High Renaissance, young artists experienced a crisis, no more difficulties, technical or otherwise, remained to be solved. The young artists needed to find a new goal, and they sought new approaches, at this point Mannerism started to emerge. The new style developed between 1510 and 1520 either in Florence, or in Rome, or in both cities simultaneously and this period has been described as a natural extension of the art of Andrea del Sarto, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Michelangelo from an early age had developed a style of his own, one of the qualities most admired by his contemporaries was his terribilità, a sense of awe-inspiring grandeur, and subsequent artists attempted to imitate it
Mannerism
–
In
Parmigianino 's
Madonna with the Long Neck (1534-40), Mannerism makes itself known by elongated proportions, highly stylized poses, and lack of clear perspective.
Mannerism
–
Mannerism role-model:
Laocoön and His Sons, an ancient sculpture, rediscovered in 1506; now in the
Vatican. The artists of Mannerism greatly admired this piece of sculpture.
Mannerism
–
Ignudi from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Mannerism
–
The Libyan Sibyl from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling.
6.
Architecture
–
Architecture is both the process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings and other physical structures. Architectural works, in the form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols. Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements, Architecture can mean, A general term to describe buildings and other physical structures. The art and science of designing buildings and nonbuilding structures, the style of design and method of construction of buildings and other physical structures. A unifying or coherent form or structure Knowledge of art, science, technology, the design activity of the architect, from the macro-level to the micro-level. The practice of the architect, where architecture means offering or rendering services in connection with the design and construction of buildings. The earliest surviving work on the subject of architecture is De architectura. According to Vitruvius, a building should satisfy the three principles of firmitas, utilitas, venustas, commonly known by the original translation – firmness, commodity. An equivalent in modern English would be, Durability – a building should stand up robustly, utility – it should be suitable for the purposes for which it is used. Beauty – it should be aesthetically pleasing, according to Vitruvius, the architect should strive to fulfill each of these three attributes as well as possible. Leon Battista Alberti, who elaborates on the ideas of Vitruvius in his treatise, De Re Aedificatoria, saw beauty primarily as a matter of proportion, for Alberti, the rules of proportion were those that governed the idealised human figure, the Golden mean. The most important aspect of beauty was, therefore, an inherent part of an object, rather than something applied superficially, Gothic architecture, Pugin believed, was the only true Christian form of architecture. The 19th-century English art critic, John Ruskin, in his Seven Lamps of Architecture, Architecture was the art which so disposes and adorns the edifices raised by men. That the sight of them contributes to his health, power. For Ruskin, the aesthetic was of overriding significance and his work goes on to state that a building is not truly a work of architecture unless it is in some way adorned. For Ruskin, a well-constructed, well-proportioned, functional building needed string courses or rustication, but suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good. I am happy and I say, This is beautiful, le Corbusiers contemporary Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. The notable 19th-century architect of skyscrapers, Louis Sullivan, promoted an overriding precept to architectural design, function came to be seen as encompassing all criteria of the use, perception and enjoyment of a building, not only practical but also aesthetic, psychological and cultural
Architecture
–
Brunelleschi, in the building of the dome of
Florence Cathedral in the early 15th-century, not only transformed the building and the city, but also the role and status of the architect.
Architecture
–
Section of
Brunelleschi 's dome drawn by the architect
Cigoli (c. 1600)
Architecture
–
The
Parthenon,
Athens,
Greece, "the supreme example among architectural sites."
(Fletcher).
Architecture
–
The
Houses of Parliament, Westminster, master-planned by
Charles Barry, with interiors and details by A.W.N. Pugin
7.
Giulio Romano
–
Giulio Romano, also known as Giulio Pippi, was an Italian painter and architect. A pupil of Raphael, his stylistic deviations from high Renaissance classicism help define the 16th-century style known as Mannerism, Giulio Romano was born in Rome, the Romano refers to this. He also collaborated on the decoration of the ceiling of the Villa Farnesina, increasingly he became the masters right-hand man, despite his relative youth. After the death of Raphael in 1520, he helped complete the Vatican frescoes of the life of Constantine as well as Raphaels Coronation of the Virgin, in Rome, Giulio decorated the Villa Madama for Cardinal Giuliano de Medici, afterwards Clement VII. The crowded Giulio Romano frescoes lack the stately and serene simplicity of his master, from 1522 he was courted by Federico Gonzaga, ruler of Mantua, who wanted him as court artist, apparently especially attracted by his skill as an architect. In late 1524 Giulio agreed to move to Mantua, where he remained for the rest of his life and he thus avoided the disaster of the Sack of Rome in 1527, which hugely disrupted artistic patronage in Rome and dispersed the remains of Raphaels workshop. Vasari tells how Baldassare Castiglione was delegated by Federico Gonzaga to procure Giulio to execute paintings and architectural and his masterpiece of architecture and fresco painting in that city is the suburban Palazzo Te, with its famous illusionistic frescos. He also helped rebuild the palace in Mantua, reconstructed the cathedral. Sections of Mantua that had been flood-prone were refurbished under Giulios direction, and his studio became a popular school of art. In Renaissance tradition, many works of Giulios were only temporary and he traveled to France in the first half of the 16th century and brought concepts of the Italian style to the French court of Francis I. It is rumored that he contributed to the drawings upon which the album I Modi was engraved by Marcantonio Raimondi and he died in Mantua in 1546. According to Giorgio Vasari, his best pupils were Giovanni dal Lione, Raffaellino dal Colle, Benedetto Pagni, Figurino da Faenza, Giovanni Battista Bertani and his brother Rinaldo, Giulio Romano has the distinction of being the only Renaissance artist to be mentioned by William Shakespeare. In Act V, Scene II of The Winters Tale Queen Hermiones statue is by that rare Italian master, Julio Romano, Giulio was on the whole more influential as an architect than as a painter, and his works had an enormous impact on Italian Mannerist architecture. Planned on a scale, it was incomplete by the Sack of Rome. The Villa Lante al Gianicolo was a suburban villa in Rome. Romano made the building suggest lightness and elegance to exploit the ridge-top position. The orders are delicate, with Tuscan or Doric columns and pilasters in pairs on the main floor, alternate loggia openings are heightened by arches above the entablature. Romanos willingness to play with the conventions of the orders is already in evidence
Giulio Romano
–
Titian's Portrait of Giulio Romano (ca. 1536), oil on canvas, 101 x 86 cm
Giulio Romano
–
The fall of the Giants, fresco in Sala dei Giganti,
Palazzo del Te,
Mantua
Giulio Romano
–
In the
Palazzo Te, Mantua.
Giulio Romano
–
Giulio Romano, selfportrait
8.
Vasari
–
Vasari was born in Arezzo, Tuscany. Recommended at an age by his cousin Luca Signorelli, he became a pupil of Guglielmo da Marsiglia. He was befriended by Michelangelo whose painting style would influence his own, in 1529, he visited Rome where he studied the works of Raphael and other artists of the Roman High Renaissance. Vasaris own Mannerist paintings were admired in his lifetime than afterwards. In 1547 he completed the hall of the chancery in Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome with frescoes that received the name Sala dei Cento Giorni and he was consistently employed by members of the Medici family in Florence and Rome, and worked in Naples, Arezzo and other places. He also helped to organize the decoration of the Studiolo, now reassembled in the Palazzo Vecchio, aside from his career as a painter, Vasari was also successful as an architect. In Florence, Vasari also built the long passage, now called Vasari Corridor, the enclosed corridor passes alongside the River Arno on an arcade, crosses the Ponte Vecchio and winds around the exterior of several buildings. He also renovated the medieval churches of Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce, at both he removed the original rood screen and loft, and remodelled the retro-choirs in the Mannerist taste of his time. In Santa Croce, he was responsible for the painting of The Adoration of the Magi which was commissioned by Pope Pius V in 1566 and it was recently restored, before being put on exhibition in 2011 in Rome and in Naples. Eventually it is planned to return it to the church of Santa Croce in Bosco Marengo, in 1562 Vasari built the octagonal dome on the Basilica of Our Lady of Humility in Pistoia, an important example of high Renaissance architecture. In Rome, Vasari worked with Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and Bartolomeo Ammanati at Pope Julius IIIs Villa Giulia, the Lives also included a novel treatise on the technical methods employed in the arts. The book was rewritten and enlarged in 1568, with the addition of woodcut portraits of artists. The work has a consistent and notorious bias in favour of Florentines, and tends to attribute to them all the developments in Renaissance art – for example, Venetian art in particular, is systematically ignored in the first edition. Between the first and second editions, Vasari visited Venice and while the edition gave more attention to Venetian art. Vasaris biographies are interspersed with amusing gossip, with a few exceptions, however, Vasaris aesthetic judgement was acute and unbiased. He did not research archives for exact dates, as art historians do, and naturally his biographies are most dependable for the painters of his own generation. Modern criticism – with new materials opened up by research – has corrected many of his traditional dates and attributions. Vasari includes a sketch of his own biography at the end of the Lives, according to the historian Richard Goldthwaite, Vasari was one of the earliest authors to use the term competition in its economic sense
Vasari
–
Vasari's self-portrait
Vasari
–
Giorgio Vasari, Italian humanists, Tuscan Poets: Dante, Petrarch, Guido Cavalcanti, Boccaccio, Cino da Pistoia and Guittone d'Arezzo
Vasari
–
Giorgio Vasari, The Garden of Gethsemane
Vasari
–
The Uffizi Loggia.
9.
Federico II Gonzaga
–
Not to be confused with his son Cardinal Federico Gonzaga. Federico II of Gonzaga was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua from 1519 until his death and he was also Marquis of Montferrat from 1536. He was a son of his predecessor Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua, Federico Gonzaga was crowned Marquis Mantua on 3 April 1519, initially under the regency of his mother and his uncles Sigismondo and Giovanni Gonzaga. He received the imperial investiture from emperor Charles V on April 7,1521, frederick therefore did not intervene when the Imperial troops passed through his lands in 1527, indirectly causing the subsequent Sack of Rome. But when Boniface seemed to recover, he set up a plot on the part of Maria against Fredericks mistress, Isabella Boschetti. Frederick then signed another contract with Charles Vs third cousin. In lieu of this move, in 1530 he was granted the ducal title, when Maria also died, he was able to marry her sister Margaret on November 16,1531. At the death of the last legitimate heir of the Palaiologos family, Giovanni Giorgio, the marquisate of Montferrat passed to the Gonzaga. Frederick commissioned the Palazzo Te, designed and decorated by Giulio Romano, having suffered long from syphilis, which he had inherited from his father, he died in 1540 at his villa at Marmirolo. His son Francesco briefly held the title of 2nd Duke of Mantua before dying in his teens, frederick and Margaret were parents to seven children, Eleonora Gonzaga. Francesco III Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, married Archduchess Eleanor of Austria Louis Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers. Father of Charles I, Duke of Mantua, Sack of Rome Italian Wars Coniglio, Giuseppe. La Zecca di Mantova e Casale
Federico II Gonzaga
–
Portrait of Federico II Gonzaga by
Titian
Federico II Gonzaga
–
Federico II soon after becoming a hostage, by
Francesco Francia
10.
Palace
–
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which housed the Imperial residences, in many parts of Europe, the term is also applied to ambitious private mansions of the aristocracy. Many historic palaces are now put to uses such as parliaments, museums, hotels. The word is sometimes used to describe a lavishly ornate building used for public entertainment or exhibitions. The word palace comes from Old French palais, from Latin Palātium, the original palaces on the Palatine Hill were the seat of the imperial power while the capitol on the Capitoline Hill was the religious nucleus of Rome. Long after the city grew to the seven hills the Palatine remained a residential area. Emperor Caesar Augustus lived there in a purposely modest house only set apart from his neighbours by the two trees planted to flank the front door as a sign of triumph granted by the Senate. His descendants, especially Nero, with his Golden House, enlarged the house, the word Palātium came to mean the residence of the emperor rather than the neighbourhood on top of the hill. Palace meaning government can be recognized in a remark of Paul the Deacon, AD790 and describing events of the 660s, When Grimuald set out for Beneventum, he entrusted his palace to Lupus. At the same time, Charlemagne was consciously reviving the Roman expression in his palace at Aachen, in the 9th century, the palace indicated the housing of the government too, and the constantly travelling Charlemagne built fourteen. In the Holy Roman Empire the powerful independent Electors came to be housed in palaces and this has been used as evidence that power was widely distributed in the Empire, as in more centralized monarchies, only the monarchs residence would be a palace. In modern times, the term has been applied by archaeologists and historians to large structures that housed combined ruler, court, in informal usage, a palace can be extended to a grand residence of any kind. The earliest known palaces were the residences of the Egyptian Pharaohs at Thebes, featuring an outer wall enclosing labyrinthine buildings. Other ancient palaces include the Assyrian palaces at Nimrud and Nineveh, the Minoan palace at Knossos, the Brazilian new capital, Brasília, hosts modern palaces, most designed by the citys architect Oscar Niemeyer. The Alvorada Palace is the residence of the Brazils president. The Planalto Palace is the official workplace, the Jaburu Palace is the official residence of Brazils vice-president. In Canada, Government House is a given to the official residences of the Canadian monarchy. The use of the term Government House is a custom from the British Empire
Palace
–
Schwerin Palace in
Germany, historical
ducal residence of
Mecklenburg since 1348.
Palace
–
Palace of Versailles, the center of
French absolutism from 1682 on.
Palace
–
Ambavilas Palace, famous as
Mysore Palace, the official residence of
Maharajas of Mysore since 1400.
Palace
–
The
Planalto Palace, in
Brasília,
Brazil
11.
Marsh
–
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species. Marshes can often be found at the edges of lakes and streams and they are often dominated by grasses, rushes or reeds. If woody plants are present they tend to be low-growing shrubs, Marshes provide a habitat for many species of plants, animals, and insects that have adapted to living in flooded conditions. The plants must be able to survive in wet mud with low oxygen levels, many of these plants therefore have aerenchyma, channels within the stem that allow air to move from the leaves into the rooting zone. Marsh plants also tend to have rhizomes for underground storage and reproduction, familiar examples include cattails, sedges, papyrus and sawgrass. Aquatic animals, from fish to salamanders, are able to live with a low amount of oxygen in the water. Some can obtain oxygen from the air instead, while others can live indefinitely in conditions of low oxygen, Marshes provide habitats for many kinds of invertebrates, fish, amphibians, waterfowl and aquatic mammals. Marshes have extremely high levels of production, some of the highest in the world. Marshes also improve water quality by acting as a sink to filter pollutants, Marshes are able to absorb water during periods of heavy rainfall and slowly release it into waterways and therefore reduce the magnitude of flooding. The pH in marshes tends to be neutral to alkaline, as opposed to bogs, Marshes differ depending mainly on their location and salinity. Both of these factors influence the range and scope of animal and plant life that can survive. The three main types of marsh are salt marshes, freshwater marshes, and freshwater marshes. These three can be found worldwide and each contains a different set of organisms, saltwater marshes are found around the world in mid to high latitudes, wherever there are sections of protected coastline. They are located close enough to the shoreline that the motion of the tides affects them and they flourish where the rate of sediment buildup is greater than the rate at which the land level is sinking. Salt marshes are dominated by specially adapted rooted vegetation, primarily salt-tolerant grasses, salt marshes are most commonly found in lagoons, estuaries, and on the sheltered side of shingle or sandspit. The currents there carry the fine particles around to the side of the spit. These locations allow the marshes to absorb the nutrients from the water running through them before they reach the oceans. Coastal development and urban sprawl has caused significant loss of these essential habitats, although considered a freshwater marsh, this form of marsh is affected by the ocean tides
Marsh
–
A marsh along the edge of a small river
Marsh
–
Marsh in shallow water on a lakeshore
Marsh
–
White water lilies are a typical marsh plant in European areas of deeper water.
Marsh
–
Many kinds of birds nest in marshes; this one is a
yellow-headed blackbird.
12.
Raphael
–
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Raphael was enormously productive, running a large workshop and, despite his death at 37. Many of his works are found in the Vatican Palace, where the frescoed Raphael Rooms were the central, the best known work is The School of Athens in the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura. After his early years in Rome much of his work was executed by his workshop from his drawings and he was extremely influential in his lifetime, though outside Rome his work was mostly known from his collaborative printmaking. Raphael was born in the small but artistically significant central Italian city of Urbino in the Marche region and his poem to Federico shows him as keen to show awareness of the most advanced North Italian painters, and Early Netherlandish artists as well. In the very court of Urbino he was probably more integrated into the central circle of the ruling family than most court painters. Under them, the court continued as a centre for literary culture, growing up in the circle of this small court gave Raphael the excellent manners and social skills stressed by Vasari. Castiglione moved to Urbino in 1504, when Raphael was no longer based there but frequently visited, Raphael mixed easily in the highest circles throughout his life, one of the factors that tended to give a misleading impression of effortlessness to his career. He did not receive a humanistic education however, it is unclear how easily he read Latin. His mother Màgia died in 1491 when Raphael was eight, followed on August 1,1494 by his father, Raphael was thus orphaned at eleven, his formal guardian became his only paternal uncle Bartolomeo, a priest, who subsequently engaged in litigation with his stepmother. He probably continued to live with his stepmother when not staying as an apprentice with a master and he had already shown talent, according to Vasari, who says that Raphael had been a great help to his father. A self-portrait drawing from his teenage years shows his precocity and his fathers workshop continued and, probably together with his stepmother, Raphael evidently played a part in managing it from a very early age. In Urbino, he came into contact with the works of Paolo Uccello, previously the court painter, and Luca Signorelli, according to Vasari, his father placed him in the workshop of the Umbrian master Pietro Perugino as an apprentice despite the tears of his mother. The evidence of an apprenticeship comes only from Vasari and another source, an alternative theory is that he received at least some training from Timoteo Viti, who acted as court painter in Urbino from 1495. An excess of resin in the varnish often causes cracking of areas of paint in the works of both masters, the Perugino workshop was active in both Perugia and Florence, perhaps maintaining two permanent branches. Raphael is described as a master, that is to say fully trained and his first documented work was the Baronci altarpiece for the church of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino in Città di Castello, a town halfway between Perugia and Urbino. Evangelista da Pian di Meleto, who had worked for his father, was named in the commission
Raphael
–
Presumed Portrait of Raphael
Raphael
–
Self-portrait with a friend (1518 circa),
Louvre,
Paris
Raphael
–
Giovanni Santi, Raphael's father; Christ supported by two angels, c.1490
Raphael
–
The
Mond Crucifixion, 1502–3, very much in the style of
Perugino
13.
Exedra
–
In architecture, an exedra is a semicircular recess or plinth, often crowned by a semi-dome, which is sometimes set into a buildings façade or is free-standing. The original Greek sense was applied to a room that opened onto a stoa, ringed with curved high-backed stone benches, an exedra may also be expressed by a curved break in a colonnade, perhaps with a semicircular seat. The exedra would typically have a podium that supported the stone running bench. Monument architects have used this free-standing style in modern times. The exedra achieved particular popularity in Roman architecture during the Roman Empire, an exedra was normally a public feature, when rhetoricians and philosophers disputed in a Roman gymnasium it was in an exedra opening into the peristyle that they gathered. A basilica featured a large exedra at the far end from its entrance and this was called a tribuna in Latin, and tribune is used for an area of raised floor backing onto a wall, often in an exedra. Following precedents from Rome, exedrae continued to be in widespread use architecturally after the fall of Rome, in Byzantine architecture and Romanesque architecture, this familiar feature developed into the apse and is fully treated there. A famous use of the exedra is in Donato Bramantes Cortile del Belvedere extension of the Vatican Palace, in Muslim architecture, the exedra becomes a mihrab and invariably retains religious associations, wherever it is seen, even on the smallest scale, as a prayer niche. Both Baroque and Neoclassical architecture used exedrae, Baroque architects, used them to enrich the play of light and shade and give rein to expressive volumes, Neoclassical architects, to articulate the rhythmic pacing of a wall elevation. The interior exedra was richly exploited by Scottish neoclassical architect Robert Adam, a classic example of a Baroque exedra on a reduced scale within its context, is the central niche of the Trevi Fountain in Rome, sheltering a statue of Neptune. Many classicizing bandshells in public parks are exedrae, for the shape, with its half-dome heading, the Hollywood Bowls shell takes the form of the head of a gargantuan exedra, stripped of classicizing details. During the 18th century, a became an popular garden feature or folly. Examples can be found at Belton House and West Wycombe Park, an exedra can be used in landscape design to visually terminate a garden axis. They can incorporate seating, a fountain, tile-work, and landscape lighting, in traditional or contemporary styles
Exedra
–
Ruins of the floor of a late Roman villa. The floored part is the exedra. The rest of the room disappeared and shows the columns of the
hypocaust.
Exedra
–
Exedra tombstone
Exedra
–
An exedra adopted by
Leo von Klenze for a
neoclassical interior space, at the
Hermitage in
Saint Petersburg,
Russia
Exedra
–
Monument exedra
14.
Villa Farnesina
–
The Villa Farnesina is a Renaissance suburban villa in the Via della Lungara, in the district of Trastevere in Rome, central Italy. The villa was built for Agostino Chigi, a rich Sienese banker, between 1506–1510, the Sienese artist and pupil of Bramante, Baldassarre Peruzzi, aided perhaps by Giuliano da Sangallo, designed and erected the villa. The novelty of this suburban villa design can be discerned from its differences from that of a typical urban palazzo, Renaissance palaces typically faced onto a street and were decorated versions of defensive castles, rectangular blocks with rusticated ground floors and enclosing a courtyard. This villa, intended to be a summer pavilion, presented a side towards the street and was given a U shaped plan with a five bay loggia between the arms. In the original arrangement, the entrance was through the north facing loggia which was open. Today, visitors enter on the side and the loggia is glazed. Chigi also commissioned the decoration of the villa by artists such as Raphael, Sebastiano del Piombo, Giulio Romano. The themes were inspired by the Stanze of the poet Angelo Poliziano, best known are Raphaels frescoes on the ground floor, in the loggia depicting the classical and secular myths of Cupid and Psyche, and The Triumph of Galatea. This, one of his few purely secular paintings, shows the near-naked nymph on a shell-shaped chariot amid frolicking attendants and is reminiscent of Botticellis The Birth of Venus. This same Galatea loggia has a vault that displays the positions of the planets around the zodiac on the patrons birth date,29 November 1466. The two main ceiling panels of the give his precise time of birth,9,30 pm on that date. At first floor level, Peruzzi painted the main salone with trompe-lœil frescoes of a grand open loggia with city. The perspective view only works from a point in the room otherwise the illusion is broken. In the adjoining bedroom, Sodoma painted scenes from the life of Alexander the Great, the marriage of Alexander and Roxana, the villa became the property of the Farnese family in 1577. Also in the 16th century, Michelangelo proposed linking the Palazzo Farnese on the side of the River Tiber. This was initiated, remnants of a few arches are in still visible in the back of Palazzo Farnese towards via Giulia on the other side of the Tiber. Later the villa belonged to the Bourbons of Naples and in 1861 to the Spanish Ambassador in Rome, Bermudez de Castro, today, owned by the Italian State, it accommodates the Accademia dei Lincei, a long-standing and renowned Roman academy of sciences. Until 2007 it also housed the Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe of the Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica, the main rooms of the villa, including the Loggia, are open to visitors
Villa Farnesina
–
Villa Farnesina in
Trastevere
Villa Farnesina
–
Detail of frescoes in the "Perspectives' Hall" by
Baldassarre Peruzzi.
15.
Rome
–
Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
16.
Villa
–
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably, after the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity, sometimes transferred to the Church for reuse as a monastery. Then they gradually re-evolved through the Middle Ages into elegant upper-class country homes, in modern parlance, villa can refer to various types and sizes of residences, ranging from the suburban semi-detached double villa to residences in the wildland–urban interface. In ancient Roman architecture a villa was originally a house built for the élite. The Roman villae rusticae at the heart of latifundia were the earliest versions of what later, not included as villae were the domus, a city house for the élite and privileged classes, and insulae, blocks of apartment buildings for the rest of the population. In Satyricon, Petronius described the range of Roman dwellings. Another type of villae is the villa marittima, a seaside villa, a concentration of Imperial villas existed on the Gulf of Naples, on the Isle of Capri, at Monte Circeo and at Antium. Examples include the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum, and the Villa of the Mysteries, wealthy Romans also escaped the summer heat in the hills round Rome, especially around Tibur (Tivoand Frascati, such as at Hadrians Villa. Cicero allegedly possessed no fewer than seven villas, the oldest of which was near Arpinum, pliny the Younger had three or four, of which the example near Laurentium is the best known from his descriptions. Roman writers refer with satisfaction to the self-sufficiency of their latifundium villas, archeologists have meticulously examined numerous Roman villas in England. The grand villa at Woodchester preserved its mosaic floors when the Anglo-Saxon parish church was built upon its site, grave-diggers preparing for burials in the churchyard as late as the 18th century had to punch through the intact mosaic floors. The even more palatial villa rustica at Fishbourne near Winchester was built as an open rectangle. Villae rusticae are essential in the Empires economy, two kinds of villa-plan in Roman Britain may be characteristic of Roman villas in general. The more usual plan extended wings of all opening onto a linking portico. The other kind featured a central hall like a basilica. The villa buildings were often independent structures linked by their enclosed courtyards, timber-framed construction, carefully fitted with mortises and tenons and dowelled together, set on stone footings, were the rule, replaced by stone buildings for the important ceremonial rooms. Traces of window glass have been found, as well as ironwork window grilles, with the decline and collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries, the villas were more and more isolated and came to be protected by walls. In England the villas were abandoned, looted, and burned by Anglo-Saxon invaders in the fifth century, in regions on the Continent, aristocrats and territorial magnates donated large working villas and overgrown abandoned ones to individual monks, these might become the nuclei of monasteries
Villa
–
The
Villa Medici in Fiesole with early terraced hillside
landscape: by
Leon Battista Alberti
Villa
–
The
Getty Villa, an adaptation of the
Villa of the Papyri, in
Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles
Villa
–
Model of
Fishbourne Roman Palace, a governor's villa on the grandest scale
Villa
–
The Villa di Medici by
Giuliano da Sangallo -1470:
Poggio a Caiano,
Tuscany
17.
Rustication (architecture)
–
The visible face of each individual block is cut back around the edges to make its size and placing very clear. In addition the central part of the face of each block may be given a rough or patterned surface. Rusticated masonry is usually dressed, or squared off neatly, on all sides of the stones except the face that will be visible when the stone is put in place. This is given wide joints that emphasize the edges of block, by angling the edges. The main part of the face may worked flat and smooth or left or worked with a more or less rough or patterned surface. Rustication is often used to give weight to the ground floor in contrast to smooth ashlar above. Though intended to convey a rustic simplicity, the finish is highly artificial, and it remains in use in some modern architecture. Rough finishes on stone are very common in architecture outside the European tradition. For example, the bases of Japanese castles and other fortifications usually use rough stone, probably the earliest and most influential example is the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence, built between 1444 and 1484, with two contrasting rusticated finishes. The ground floor has an irregular and genuinely rugged appearance, with a variation in the degree to which parts of the faces of blocks project from the wall that is rarely equalled later. Above, the rustication is merely to emphasize the blocks. Also in Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, begun 1489, with large oblong rounded cushions, and these facades only used the classical orders in mullions and aedicules, with arched forms in rustication the main relief from the massive flat walls. The Palazzo Rucellai, probably of the 1460s, begins to classicize such facades, using smooth-faced rustication throughout, in Rome, Donato Bramantes Palazzo Caprini provided a standard model for the integration of rustication with the orders. The first major Renaissance building in Spain, the Palace of Charles V in Granada, had a deeply rusticated ground floor facade with regular rounded cushions, the technique was enthusiatically taken up by the next generation of Mannerist architects, with Giulio Romano in the lead. Most early examples of rustic style are therefore built for sophisticated patrons in the leading centres of taste. The Mannerist architectural writer Sebastiano Serlio and others of his generation enjoyed the play between rusticated and finished architectural elements, the Italians brought in to expand the Palace of Fontainebleau introduced the technique to France. Its spread to Germany and England took longer, but by about the end of the 16th century it had reached all parts of Europe. In his Banqueting House in London, Inigo Jones gave a lightly rusticated surface texture to emphasize the blocks on both storeys, and to them behind his orders of pilasters and columns
Rustication (architecture)
–
Two different styles of rustication in the
Palazzo Medici-Riccardi in
Florence.
Rustication (architecture)
–
Sicilian Baroque style rusticated
pilasters against a smooth background at the
University of Catania.
Rustication (architecture)
–
Serlio, rusticated doorway, 1537
18.
Piano nobile
–
The piano nobile is the principal floor of a large house, usually built in one of the styles of Classical Renaissance architecture. This floor contains the reception and bedrooms of the house. The piano nobile is often the first or sometimes the second storey, located above a ground floor containing minor rooms, the reasons for this were so the rooms would have finer views, and more practically to avoid the dampness and odors of the street level. This is especially true in Venice where the piano nobile of the many palazzi is especially obvious from the exterior by virtue of its windows and balconies. Examples of this are Ca Foscari, Ca dOro, Ca Vendramin Calergi, larger windows than those on other floors are usually the most obvious feature of the piano nobile. Often in England and Italy the piano nobile is reached by an outer staircase. Kedleston Hall is an example of this in England, as is Villa Capra in Italy, most houses contained a secondary floor above the piano nobile which contained more intimate withdrawing and bedrooms for private use by the family of the house when no honoured guests were present. Above this floor would often be an attic floor containing staff bedrooms, in these instances, occasionally in museums etc. the principal piano nobile is described as the primo piano nobile to differentiate it. Though often found, this usage is potentially misleading, rooms in the piano nobile are always the grandest, the term is not used in Britain. This arrangement of floors continued throughout Europe for as long as large houses continued to be built in the classical styles and this arrangement was designed at Buckingham Palace as recently as the mid-19th century. Holkham Hall, Osterley Park and Chiswick House are among the innumerable 18th-century English houses which employed this design, Life in the English Country House. Harris, John, de Bellaigue, Geoffrey, & Miller, Oliver, English Country Houses, Early Georgian 1715–1760 London, Country Life. Pavilion Books Ltd. Kaminski Marion, Art and Architecture of Venice,1999, Könemann, ISBN 3-8290-2657-9 Masson, Georgina
Piano nobile
–
An early-15th-century piano nobile at the
Palazzo dei Diamanti,
Ferrara. Its larger windows indicate its superior status compared to the rooms on the floor below
Piano nobile
–
At the
Palazzo Barbarigo,
Venice, the floor above the piano nobile is of almost equal status so is referred to as the secondo piano nobile.
Piano nobile
–
Palais Gise in Munich: A rich decor of the facade underlines the meaning of the piano nobile on the 2nd floor.
Piano nobile
–
At 18th-century
Kedleston Hall the piano nobile is placed above a
rusticated ground floor, and reached by an external staircase. The uppermost windows indicate that the upper floor is of far lower status.
19.
Palladian
–
Palladian architecture is a European style of architecture derived from and inspired by the designs of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio. That which is recognised as Palladian architecture today is an evolution of Palladios original concepts, Palladios work was strongly based on the symmetry, perspective and values of the formal classical temple architecture of the Ancient Greeks and Romans. From the 17th century Palladios interpretation of classical architecture was adapted as the style known as Palladianism. It continued to develop until the end of the 18th century, Palladianism became popular briefly in Britain during the mid-17th century, but its flowering was cut short by the onset of the Civil War and the imposition of austerity which followed. In the early 18th century it returned to fashion, not only in England but also, the style continued to be popular in Europe throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, where it was frequently employed in the design of public and municipal buildings. However, as a style it has continued to be popular and to evolve, its pediments, symmetry. Buildings entirely designed by Palladio are all in Venice and the Veneto, with an especially rich grouping of palazzi in Vicenza and they include villas, and churches such as Redentore in Venice. Palladio always designed his villas with reference to their setting, if on a hill, such as Villa Capra, facades were frequently designed to be of equal value so that occupants could have fine views in all directions. Also, in cases, porticos were built on all sides so that occupants could fully appreciate the countryside while being protected from the sun. Palladio sometimes used a loggia as an alternative to the portico and this can most simply be described as a recessed portico, or an internal single storey room, with pierced walls that are open to the elements. Occasionally a loggia would be placed at floor level over the top of a loggia below. Loggias were sometimes given significance in a facade by being surmounted by a pediment, Villa Godi has as its focal point a loggia rather than a portico, plus loggias terminating each end of the main building. Palladio would often model his villa elevations on Roman temple facades, the temple influence, often in a cruciform design, later became a trademark of his work. Palladian villas are built with three floors, a rusticated basement or ground floor, containing the service and minor rooms. The proportions of each room within the villa were calculated on simple mathematical ratios like 3,4 and 4,5, earlier architects had used these formulas for balancing a single symmetrical facade, however, Palladios designs related to the whole, usually square, villa. Palladio deeply considered the purpose of his villas as both farmhouses and palatial weekend retreats for wealthy merchant owners. These symmetrical temple-like houses often have symmetrical, but low, wings sweeping away from them to accommodate horses, farm animals. The wings, sometimes detached and connected to the villa by colonnades, were designed not only to be functional but also to complement, the Palladian, Serlian, or Venetian window features largely in Palladios work and is almost a trademark of his early career
Palladian
–
A villa with a superimposed portico, from Book IV of Palladio's
I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura, in an English translation published in London, 1736.
Palladian
–
Plan for Palladio's
Villa Rotonda. Features of the house were to become incorporated in numerous Palladian style houses throughout Europe over the following centuries.
Palladian
–
"True Palladianism" in
Villa Godi by Palladio from the
Quattro Libri dell'Architettura. The extending wings are agricultural buildings and are not part of the villa. In the 18th century they became an important part of Palladianism—see photograph of
Woburn Abbey below.
Palladian
–
Claydon House (begun 1757), here the Palladian window in the central bay is surrounded by a unifying blind arch. This house was intended to be one of two flanking wings to a vast Palladian house; the scheme was never completed.
20.
Loggia
–
A loggia is an architectural feature which is a covered exterior gallery or corridor usually on an upper level, or sometimes ground level. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns or arches, Loggias can be located either on the front or side of a building and are not meant for entrance but as an out-of-door sitting room. From the early Middle Ages, nearly every Italian comune had an arched loggia in its main square which served as a symbol of communal justice and government. The main difference between a loggia and a portico is the role within the layout of the building. The portico allows entrance to the inside from the exterior and can be found on vernacular, the loggia is accessed only from inside and intended as a place for leisure. Thus, it is mainly on noble residences and public buildings. A classic use of both is that represented in the Mosaics of Basilica of Sant Apollinare Nuovo of the Royal Palace, a double loggia occurs when a loggia is located on an upper floor level above a loggia on the floor beneath. In Italian architecture, a loggia often takes the form of a small, often ornate, summer house built on the roof of a residence to enjoy cooling winds and they were especially popular in the 17th century and are prominent in Rome and Bologna, Italy. Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, contains three sets of dorms connected by loggias. In the town center of Chester in the United Kingdom, a number of timber-framed buildings dating from the Tudor to Victorian periods have first-floor loggias called the Chester Rows, in Russia, a loggia can be a recessed balcony on a residential apartment building. A loggia was added to the Sydney Opera House in 2006, at the archeological site of Hagia Triada on the Greek island of Crete, several loggias constructed around 1400 BC have been located and whose column bases still remain. Peristyle Portico Veranda Curl, James Stevens, a Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. The dictionary definition of loggia at Wiktionary Media related to Loggias at Wikimedia Commons
Loggia
–
The
Renaissance three-storey
arcade loggia of the
City Hall in
Poznań served representative and communication purposes.
Loggia
–
Villa Godi by
Palladio. The portico is the focal point in the center with loggias used at each side of the structure as a corridor.
Loggia
–
International Gothic Loggia of the
Buonconsiglio Castle Trento Italy.
Loggia
–
The loggia of the Edificio La Inmobiliaria in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
21.
Rinaldo Mantovano
–
Rinaldo Mantovano, also called Domenico Rinaldo, was an Italian painter from Mantua who was active between 1527 and 1539. According to Giorgio Vasari he was the most talented assistant of Giulio Romano during his stay in the service of the Gonzaga Marquis of Mantua, rinaldos birth and death dates are unknown. We know that he was born in Mantua, and he was among those charged with decorating the Palazzo del Te in Mantua, in this work he assisted with the Sala dei Venti, the Camera delle Aquile and the Loggia di David. During part of 1531 he is documented as collaborating with Giulio Romano in decoration of the Castello di San Giorgio of Mantua. From 1532 to 1536 he participated in executing the frescoes in the Sala dei Giganti, from 1536 to 1539 he was part of the group of artists who decorated the Ducal Palace of Mantua. There he worked on the Appartamento di Troia and Camerino dei Falconi, working alone, but following his master designs, he painted the frescoes in the Boschetti chapel of San Andrea de Mantua. In this work there is again a tendency to flatten and compress the figures and he is also attributed, though with doubts, to the decoration of the Chapel of St. Sebastian in the same church in Mantua. His works show great promise, but his career was cut short by a premature death
Rinaldo Mantovano
–
Céfiro y Psyché, Sala de Psiche,
Palazzo del Te,
Mantua
22.
Twelve Olympians
–
Hades and Persephone were sometimes included as part of the twelve Olympians, although in general Hades was excluded, because he resided permanently in the underworld and never visited Olympus. The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon, were the deities of the Greek pantheon. The Olympians gained their supremacy in a war of gods in which Zeus led his siblings to victory over their predecessor gods. The concept of the Twelve Gods is older than any extant Greek or Roman source, the gods meet in council in the Homeric epics, but the first ancient reference to religious ceremonies for the Olympians collectively is found in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes. The Greek cult of the Twelve Olympians can be traced to 6th-century BC Athens, the Altar of the Twelve Gods at Athens is usually dated to the archonship of the younger Pesistratos, in 522/521 BC. In ancient Greek religion, the Olympian Gods and the Cults of Twelve Gods were often relatively distinct concepts, while the number was fixed at twelve, there was considerable variation as to which deities were included. However, the twelve as most commonly portrayed in art and poetry were Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes and either Hestia, or Dionysus. Hades, known in the Eleusinian tradition as Pluto, was not usually included among the Olympians because his realm was the underworld. Plato connected the Twelve Olympians with the months, and implies that he considered Pluto one of the twelve in proposing that the final month be devoted to him. In Phaedrus, Plato seems to exclude Hestia from the rank of the great gods. At Olympia there were six altars dedicated to six pairs of gods, Zeus and Poseidon, Hera and Athena, Hermes and Apollo, the Charites and Dionysus, Artemis and Alpheus, the historian Herodotus states that Heracles was included as one of the Twelve by some. At Kos, Heracles and Dionysus are added to the Twelve, for Pindar, the Bibliotheca, and Herodorus of Heraclea, Heracles is not one of the Twelve Gods, but the one who established their cult. Lucian includes Heracles and Asclepius as members of the Twelve, without explaining which two had to give way for them, hebe, Helios, Selene, Eos, Eros and Persephone are other important gods and goddesses who are sometimes included in a group of twelve. Eros is often depicted alongside the twelve, especially his mother Aphrodite. Notes ^ Romans also associated Phoebus with Helios and the sun itself, however, ^ According to an alternate version of her birth, Aphrodite was born of Uranus, Zeus grandfather, after Cronus threw his castrated genitals into the sea. This supports the etymology of her name, foam-born, as such, Aphrodite would belong to the same generation as Cronus, Zeus father, and would be Zeus aunt. See the birth of Aphrodite The following gods and goddess are sometimes included as one of the twelve Olympians, the following gods and goddesses were not usually counted as Olympians, although they had close ties to them. Aeolus – King of the winds, keeper of the Anemoi, Alpheus – God of the River Alpheus
Twelve Olympians
Twelve Olympians
–
Zeus
Twelve Olympians
–
Hera
Twelve Olympians
–
Poseidon
23.
Banquet
–
A banquet is a large meal or feast, complete with main courses and desserts, always served with ad libitum alcoholic beverages, such as wine or beer. A banquet usually serves a purpose such as a gathering, a ceremony, or a celebration. In the majority of banquets, the gathering is seated at tables with around 8-10 people per table. Overall, there is a debate of when feasting began. During these feasts, luxury foods were offered to their guest, what these luxury goods were are still up to debate. However, Hayden argues that meat and rice are some of these luxury goods because they were domesticated despite their difficulty in doing so. The term banquet, however, termed from a different time period, the idea of banqueting is ancient. In the 16th century, a banquet was very different from our modern perception, after dinner, the guests would stand and drink sweet wine and spices while the table was cleared, or ‘voided’. During the 16th century, guests would no longer stand in the chamber whilst the table was cleared and the room prepared for entertainment. As the idea of banqueting developed, it could place at any time during the day and have much more in common with the later practice of taking tea. Banqueting rooms varied greatly from house to house, but were generally on an intimate scale, today, banquets serve many purposes from training sessions, to formal business dinners. Business banquets are a way to strengthen bonds between businessmen and their partners. It is common that a banquet is organized at the end of an academic conference, a luau is one variety of banquet originally used in Hawaii. The Nei Mongol provincial government in China levies a tax on banquets, banquet hall Beefsteak Feast Albala, Ken. The banquet, Dining in the Great Courts of late Renaissance Europe, board of Trustees, University of Illinois
Banquet
–
A banquet for Babur
Banquet
–
Chinese banquet for a birthday celebration
Banquet
–
An English menu card for the household of
Col. Bisse-Challoner, c. 1838-1860.
24.
Horse
–
H. O. R. S. E. is a form of poker commonly played at the high-stakes tables of casinos. It consists of rounds of cycling among, Texas Hold em, Omaha hi-low split-eight or better, Razz, Seven card Stud. H. O. R. S. E. is a limit game, however, in some tournament situations, the final table is no-limit hold em. C. H. O. R. S. E adds Chowaha or Crazy Pineapple to the mix and this is convenient at such team events as BARGE, when it helps to have as many flop games as stud games. T. H. O. R. S. E. H. A. is another 8-Game Mix which includes more games than most other mixed poker games, pokerStars started offering this game in 2008. It consists of limit 2-7 Triple Draw, limit Texas hold em, limit Omaha Hi-Lo, limit Razz, limit Seven-card Stud, limit Seven card Stud Hi-Lo, no limit Texas hold em and pot limit Omaha. 10-Game, the latest variation on the poker games, overtook T. H. O. R. S. E. H. A. in the extent of its game inclusion. Full Tilt Poker also offers the 9-Game, which includes all poker variants from the 10-Game with the exception of Badugi, a 12 Game Mix has also been proposed as a variation and as an extension to the 10-Game mix. A13 Game Mix can also be constructed by adding No Limit Holdem to the games of the 12 Game Mix, made its debut at the World Series of Poker in 2002 with a $2,000 buy-in. John Hennigan won the event, earning $117,320, tournament made its debut at the 2006 World Series of Poker. Chip Reese won the event, earning $1,716,000 for first place, after Reese died at the end of 2007, the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy was created in his honor. The trophy is awarded to the winner of the $50,000 championship event since the 2008 World Series of Poker. The $50,000 buy-in tournament returned for the 2007 WSOP, the $50,000 event, which awarded $2,276,832 to first place, was won by professional player Freddy Deeb. Events with $2,500 and $5,000 buy-ins were also on the 2007 WSOP program, the 2008 $50,000 H. O. R. S. E event was won by Scotty Nguyen, who received $1,989,120 for his victory. This was also the first time that the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy had been awarded to the winner of the competition, event was won by David Bach, for $1,276,802. World Championship event was replaced by The Poker Players Championship, with an identical buy-in, event, the final table was no-limit hold em. Michael Mizrachi won the first Players Championship and with it the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy, the 2010 WSOP also featured a new $10,000 H. O. R. S. E. Championship, joining already-existing events with $1,500 and $3,000 buy-ins
Horse
25.
Giant (mythology)
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Giants are the monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength common in the mythology and legends of many different cultures. The word giant, coined in 1297, was derived from the Gigantes of Greek mythology, Giants also often play similar roles in the mythologies and folklore of other, non Indo-European peoples, such as in the Nartian traditions. There are also accounts of giants in the Old Testament, most famously Goliath, Og King of Bashan, the Nephilim, the Anakim, attributed to them are extraordinary strength and physical proportions. Fairy tales such as Jack the Giant Killer have formed the modern perception of giants as stupid and violent monsters, sometimes said to eat humans, the ogre in Jack and the Beanstalk is often described as a giant. In some more recent portrayals, like those of Jonathan Swift and Roald Dahl, genesis 6, 4-5 tells of the Nephilim before and after the Flood. The 1st-century historian Flavius Josephus, and the 1st-2nd-century BC Dead Sea Scrolls give Goliaths height as four cubits and a span, approximately 2.00 m or about six feet seven inches. There were till then left the race of giants, who had bodies so large, and countenances so entirely different from men, that they were surprising to the sight. The bones of men are still shown to this very day. In Islam, giants known as jababirat or jabbirun such as Jalut are mentioned, the Book of Enoch describes giants as the offspring of fallen angels and mortal women in 7,2. According to Jains, there was a time when giants walked upon this earth, Jain cosmology divides worldly cycle of time into two parts or half-cycles, avasarpani and ascending. According to Jain texts, the height of Rishabha, first tirthankara of present half cycle of time was 500 dhanusa, in avasarpani, as the cycle moves ahead, height of all humans and animals decreases. The following table depicts the six aras of avasarpini- In Hinduism, the Daityas were the children of Diti and the sage Kashyapa who fought against the gods or Devas because they were jealous of their Deva half-brothers. Since Daityas were a race, they sometimes allied with other races having similar ideology namely Danavas and Asuras. Daityas along with Danavas and Asuras are sometimes called Rakshasas, the term for a demon in Hindu mythology. Some known Daityas include Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha, the main antagonist of the Hindu epic Ramayana, Ravana, was a Brahmin from his fathers side and a Daitya from his mothers side. His younger brother Kumbhakarna was said to be as tall as a mountain and was good natured. Furthermore, the Paiute creation story tells of beautiful giants who lived between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. After giving birth to a child, the giants treated the child so poorly that the Great Spirit responded by making the land hot and desolate
Giant (mythology)
–
The giants
Fafner and Fasolt seize
Freyja in
Arthur Rackham 's illustration of
Richard Wagner 's
Der Ring des Nibelungen.
Giant (mythology)
–
David faces
Goliath in this 1888 lithograph by Osmar Schindler.
Giant (mythology)
–
Hercules faces the giant
Antaios in this illustration on a calix
krater, c. 515–510 BC.
Giant (mythology)
–
King Arthur faces a giant in this engraving by
Walter Crane.
26.
Grotesque
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In art, performance, and literature, however, grotesque may also refer to something that simultaneously invokes in an audience a feeling of uncomfortable bizarreness as well as sympathetic pity. More specifically, the forms on Gothic buildings, when not used as drain-spouts, should not be called gargoyles. The word first was used of paintings found on the walls of basements of Roman ruins that were called at that time Le Grotte due to their appearance. Spreading from Italian to the other European languages, the term was used largely interchangeably with arabesque and moresque for types of decorative patterns using curving foliage elements. Rémi Astruc has argued that there is an immense variety of motifs and figures. Beyond the current understanding of the grotesque as an aesthetic category, moreover, Astruc identifies the grotesque as a crucial, and potentially universal, anthropological device that societies have used to conceptualize alterity and change. Such designs were fashionable in ancient Rome, as fresco wall decoration, floor mosaics, the Roman wall decorations in fresco and delicate stucco were a revelation. The first appearance of the word appears in a contract of 1502 for the Piccolomini Library attached to the duomo of Siena. Light scrolling grotesques could be ordered by confining them within the framing of a pilaster to give them more structure, giovanni da Udine took up the theme of grotesques in decorating the Villa Madama, the most influential of the new Roman villas. In the 16th century, such artistic license and irrationality was controversial matter, more familiar material for grotesques could be drawn from Ovids Metamorphoses. This large array provided a repertoire of elements that were the basis for later artists across Europe, counter Reformation writers on the arts, notably Cardinal Gabriele Paleotti, bishop of Bologna, turned upon grottesche with a righteous vengeance. Vasari, echoing Vitruvius, described the style as follows, Grotesques are a type of extremely licentious, other 16th-century writers on grottesche included Daniele Barbaro, Pirro Ligorio and Gian Paolo Lomazzo. In the meantime, through the medium of engravings the grotesque mode of surface ornament passed into the European artistic repertory of the 16th century, from Spain to Poland. Later Mannerist versions, especially in engraving, tended to lose that initial lightness and be more densely filled than the airy well-spaced style used by the Romans. Soon grottesche appeared in marquetry, in maiolica produced above all at Urbino from the late 1520s, then in book illustration, in the 17th and 18th centuries the grotesque encompasses a wide field of teratology and artistic experimentation. The monstrous, for instance, often occurs as the notion of play, the sportiveness of the grotesque category can be seen in the notion of the preternatural category of the lusus naturae, in natural history writings and in cabinets of curiosities. The last vestiges of romance, such as the marvellous also provide opportunities for the presentation of the grotesque in, for instance, the mixed form of the novel was commonly described as grotesque - see for instance Fieldings comic epic poem in prose. Grotesque ornament received an impetus from new discoveries of original Roman frescoes and stucchi at Pompeii
Grotesque
–
Mother Nature is surrounded by grottesche in this fresco detail from
Villa d'Este.
Grotesque
–
Renaissance grotesque motifs in assorted formats.
Grotesque
–
Roman frescos in Nero's
Domus Aurea
Grotesque
–
Ceiling of the
Piccolomini Library
27.
House of Gonzaga
–
Their family includes a saint, twelve cardinals and fourteen bishops. Two Gonzaga descendants became empresses of the Holy Roman Empire, the first members of the family of historical importance are known to have collaborated with the Guelph faction alongside the monks of the Polirone Abbey. Starting from the 12th century they became a dominant family in Mantua, growing in wealth when their allies, the Bonacolsi, defeated the traditional familiar enemy, the Casalodi. Ludovico was succeeded by Guido and Ludovico II, while Feltrino, lord of Reggio until 1371, formed the cadet branch of the Gonzaga of Novellara, whose state existed until 1728. Francesco I abandoned the alliance with the Visconti of Milan. In 1530 Federico II received the title of Duke of Mantua, in 1531, the family acquired the Marquisate of Montferrat through marriage. Through maternal ancestors, the Gonzagas inherited also the Imperial Byzantine ancestry of the Paleologus, the Gonzaga-Nevers later came to rule Mantua again when Louiss son Charles inherited Mantua and Montferrat, triggering the War of the Mantuan Succession. Another cadet branch were first sovereign counts, later dukes of Guastalla and they descended from Ferrante, a younger son of Duke Francesco II of Mantua. Ferrantes grandson, Ferrante II, also played a role in the War of the Mantuan Succession, a further cadet branch was that of Sabbioneta, founded by Gianfrancesco, son of Ludovico III. Marie Louise Gonzaga, daughter of Prince Charles Gonzaga-Nevers, was a Polish queen consort from 1645 to her death in 1667. Two daughters of the house, both named Eleanor Gonzaga, became Holy Roman Empresses, by marrying emperors Ferdinand II of Germany and Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, from the latter Empress Eleanor, the current heirs of the Gonzaga descend. St. Aloysius Gonzaga was a member of a branch of this family. The House of Gonzaga is the inspiration for the play-within-the-play in Shakespeares Hamlet, in Act 3 scene 2, they act out a play called The Murder of Gonzago. Gonzaga rule continued in Mantua until 1708 and in Guastalla until 1746, both ruling lines became extinct, and the headship of the House of Gonzaga passed to the Vescovato line, descended from Giovanni, a son of Federico I Gonzaga. That branch, shorn of sovereign domains, is extant and its head is Don Maurizio Ferrante Gonzaga, Principe del Sacro Romano Impero, Marchese Gonzaga, Conte di Villanova, Conte di Cassolnovo, Marchese del Vodice, Signore di Vescovato, Patrizio Veneto. The branches of the Gonzaga family, showing marquises and dukes of Mantua in bold, dukes of Nevers and Rethel in italics and the Guastalla line to the right
House of Gonzaga
–
The
coat of arms of the
Duchy of Mantua.
House of Gonzaga
–
Motto: "Conduct us to the Mount" (
Latin: Ad montem duc nos)
28.
Emperor Charles V
–
Charles V was ruler of both the Spanish Empire from 1516 and the Holy Roman Empire from 1519, as well as of the Habsburg Netherlands from 1506. He voluntarily stepped down from these and other positions by a series of abdications between 1554 and 1556, through inheritance, he brought together under his rule extensive territories in western, central, and southern Europe, and the Spanish colonies in the Americas and Asia. As a result, his domains spanned nearly four square kilometers and were the first to be described as the empire on which the sun never sets. Charles was the heir of three of Europes leading dynasties, the Houses of Valois-Burgundy, Habsburg, and Trastámara and he inherited the Burgundian Netherlands and the Franche-Comté as heir of the House of Valois-Burgundy. From his own dynasty, the Habsburgs, he inherited Austria and he was also elected to succeed his Habsburg grandfather, Maximilian I, as Holy Roman Emperor, a title held by the Habsburgs since 1440. Charles was the first king to rule Castile and Aragon simultaneously in his own right, the personal union, under Charles, of the Holy Roman Empire with the Spanish Empire resulted in the closest Europe would come to a universal monarchy since the death of Louis the Pious. France recovered and the wars continued for the remainder of Charless reign, enormously expensive, they led to the development of the first modern professional army in Europe, the Tercios. The struggle with the Ottoman Empire was fought in Hungary and the Mediterranean, after seizing most of eastern and central Hungary in 1526, the Ottomans’ advance was halted at their failed Siege of Vienna in 1529. A lengthy war of attrition, conducted on his behalf by his younger brother Ferdinand, in the Mediterranean, although there were some successes, Charles was unable to prevent the Ottomans’ increasing naval dominance and the piratical activity of the Barbary Corsairs. Charles opposed the Reformation and in Germany he was in conflict with the Protestant Princes of the Schmalkaldic League who were motivated by religious and political opposition to him. Once the rebellions were quelled the essential Castilian and Burgundian territories remained mostly loyal to Charles throughout his rule, Charles’s Spanish dominions were the chief source of his power and wealth, and they became increasingly important as his reign progressed. In the Americas, Charles sanctioned the conquest by Castillian conquistadors of the Aztec, Castillian control was extended across much of South and Central America. The resulting vast expansion of territory and the flows of South American silver to Castile had profound long term effects on Spain. Charles was only 56 when he abdicated, but after 34 years of rule he was physically exhausted and sought the peace of a monastery. Upon Charles’s abdications, the Holy Roman Empire was inherited by his younger brother Ferdinand, the Spanish Empire, including the possessions in the Netherlands and Italy, was inherited by Charles’s son Philip II. The two empires would remain allies until the 18th century, Charles was born in 1500 as the eldest son of Philip the Handsome and Joanna of Castile in the Flemish city of Ghent, which was part of the Habsburg Netherlands. The culture and courtly life of the Burgundian Low Countries were an important influence in his early life and he was tutored by William de Croÿ, and also by Adrian of Utrecht. He also gained a decent command of German, though he never spoke it as well as French, a witticism sometimes attributed to Charles is, I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men and German to my horse
Emperor Charles V
–
Charrles V by
Titian, 1548.
Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany
Emperor Charles V
–
Copper coin "korte" with portrait of Charles V, struck in Antwerp, 1548
Emperor Charles V
–
A young Charles V, by
Bernard van Orley,
Louvre Museum, Paris, France
Emperor Charles V
–
Charles V, 1533, by
Titian.
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain
29.
Grotto
–
A grotto is a natural or artificial cave used by humans in both modern times and antiquity, and historically or prehistorically. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or liable to flood at high tide, sometimes, artificial grottoes are used as garden features. The Grotta Azzurra at Capri and the grotto at the villa of Tiberius in the Bay of Naples are examples of popular natural seashore grottoes, the word grotto comes from Italian grotta, Vulgar Latin grupta, and Latin crypta. It is also related by an accident to the word grotesque. The rooms had sunk underground over time, the Romans who discovered this historical monument found it very strange, a sentiment enhanced by the fact that it was uncovered from an underworld source. This led the Romans to give it the name grottesche, or grotesque, grottoes were very popular in Greek and Roman culture. Spring-fed grottoes were a feature of Apollos oracles at Delphi, Corinth, the Hellenistic city of Rhodes was designed with rock-cut artificial grottoes incorporated into the city, made to look natural. According to tradition, Praenestes sacred spring had a native nymph, Tiberius, the Roman emperor, filled his grotto with sculptures to create a sense of mythology, perhaps channeling Polyphemus cave in the Odyssey. The numinous quality of the grotto is still more ancient, in a grotto near Knossos in Crete, Eileithyia was venerated, even farther back in time, the immanence of the divine in a grotto is seen in the sacred caves of Lascaux. The popularity of artificial grottoes introduced Mannerist style to Italian and French gardens of the mid-16th century, two famous grottoes in the Boboli Gardens of Palazzo Pitti were begun by Vasari and completed by Ammanati and Buontalenti between 1583 and 1593. One of these grottoes originally housed the Prisoners of Michelangelo, before Boboli grotto, a garden was laid out by Niccolò Tribolo at the Medici Villa Castello, near Florence. At Pratolino, in spite of the dryness of the site, there was a Grotto of Cupid, with water tricks for the unsuspecting visitor. The Fonte di Fata Morgana at Grassina, not far from Florence, is a garden building. It is decorated with sculptures in the Giambolognan manner, the outside of garden grottoes are often designed to look like an enormous rock, a rustic porch or a rocky overhang. Damp grottoes were cool places to retreat from the Italian sun, in Kuskovo at the Sheremetev estate there is a Summer Grotto, built in 1775. Grottoes could also serve as baths, an example of this is at the Palazzo del Te, in the Casino della Grotta, courtiers once bathed in the small cascade that splashed over the pebbles and shells encrusted in the floor and walls. Grottoes have also served as chapels, or at Villa Farnese at Caprarola and they were often combined with cascading fountains in Renaissance gardens. The grotto designed by Bernard Palissy for Catherine de Medicis château in Paris, there are also grottoes in the gardens designed by André Le Nôtre for Versailles
Grotto
–
A Marian grotto in Bischofferode (Germany)
Grotto
–
Marian grotto with a lily pond in
San Thome Basilica, Chennai
Grotto
–
Grotto in an
iceberg with the
Terra Nova ship in the background (1911) during the 'British Antarctic Expedition' by
Herbert G. Ponting
Grotto
–
Grotto of the
Buttes-Chaumont in Paris.
