1.
Palazzo Medici-Riccardi
–
The Palazzo Medici, also called the Palazzo Medici Riccardi after the later family that acquired and expanded it, is a Renaissance palace located in Florence, Italy. It is the seat of the Metropolitan City of Florence, the palace was designed by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo for Cosimo de Medici, head of the Medici banking family, and was built between 1444 and 1484. It was well known for its masonry, which includes architectural elements of rustication. The tripartite elevation used here expresses the Renaissance spirit of rationality, order and this tripartite division is emphasized by horizontal stringcourses that divide the building into stories of decreasing height. Michelozzo di Bartolomeo was influenced in his building of this palace by both classical Roman and Brunelleschian principles, during the Renaissance revival of classical culture, ancient Roman elements were often replicated in architecture, both built and imagined in paintings. In the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, the masonry and the cornice had precedents in Roman practice, yet in totality it looks distinctly Florentine. Similarly, the early Renaissance architect Brunelleschi used Roman techniques and influenced Michelozzo, the open colonnaded court that is the center of the palazzo plan has roots in the cloisters that developed from Roman peristyles. The once open corner loggia and shop facing the street were walled in during the 16th century. The new windows are set into what appears to be an infill of the original arched opening. The building reflects the wealth of the Medici family. Then a garden done in the finest of polished marbles, with diverse plants, Cosimo received the young Sforza in the chapel not less ornate and handsome than the rest of the house. Other decorations included two lunettes by Filippo Lippi, depicting Seven Saints and the Annunciation, now at the National Gallery, when the Medici family returned to Florence after their short exile in the early 16th century, they kept a low profile and exercised their power behind the scenes. This is reflected in the exterior of this building, and is said to be the reason why Cosimo de Medici rejected Brunelleschis earlier proposal. The palace was the site of the wedding reception between Ferdinando de Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany and Violante Beatrice of Bavaria in 1689
Palazzo Medici-Riccardi
–
The "kneeling windows" a feature later copied by the Medici at their
Palazzo Pitti, also in Florence.
Palazzo Medici-Riccardi
–
Rusticated stone walls of the
Renaissance Palazzo Medici Riccardi
Palazzo Medici-Riccardi
–
Inner courtyard.
2.
Florence
–
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the Metropolitan City of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants, Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, from 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy. The Historic Centre of Florence attracts 13 million tourists each year and it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture, the city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florences artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in 2008, the city had the 17th highest average income in Italy. Florence originated as a Roman city, and later, after a period as a flourishing trading and banking medieval commune. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, it was politically, economically, and culturally one of the most important cities in Europe, the language spoken in the city during the 14th century was, and still is, accepted as the Italian language. Starting from the late Middle Ages, Florentine money—in the form of the gold florin—financed the development of all over Europe, from Britain to Bruges, to Lyon. Florentine bankers financed the English kings during the Hundred Years War and they similarly financed the papacy, including the construction of their provisional capital of Avignon and, after their return to Rome, the reconstruction and Renaissance embellishment of Rome. Florence was home to the Medici, one of European historys most important noble families, Lorenzo de Medici was considered a political and cultural mastermind of Italy in the late 15th century. Two members of the family were popes in the early 16th century, Leo X, catherine de Medici married king Henry II of France and, after his death in 1559, reigned as regent in France. Marie de Medici married Henry IV of France and gave birth to the future king Louis XIII, the Medici reigned as Grand Dukes of Tuscany, starting with Cosimo I de Medici in 1569 and ending with the death of Gian Gastone de Medici in 1737. The Etruscans initially formed in 200 BC the small settlement of Fiesole and it was built in the style of an army camp with the main streets, the cardo and the decumanus, intersecting at the present Piazza della Repubblica. Situated along the Via Cassia, the route between Rome and the north, and within the fertile valley of the Arno, the settlement quickly became an important commercial centre. Peace returned under Lombard rule in the 6th century, Florence was conquered by Charlemagne in 774 and became part of the Duchy of Tuscany, with Lucca as capital. The population began to again and commerce prospered
Florence
–
A collage of Florence showing the
Galleria degli Uffizi (top left), followed by the
Palazzo Pitti, a sunset view of the city and the
Fountain of Neptune in the
Piazza della Signoria
Florence
–
A wooden model of Florence as it would have probably looked during Roman times, showing the ancient amphitheatre
Florence
–
The façade of the Cathedral
Florence
–
Leonardo da Vinci statue outside the
Uffizi Gallery.
3.
Mannerist
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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
Mannerist
–
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.
Mannerist
–
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.
Mannerist
–
Ignudi from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Mannerist
–
The Libyan Sibyl from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling.
4.
Palace of Fontainebleau
–
The Palace of Fontainebleau or Château de Fontainebleau is located 55 kilometres southeast of the centre of Paris, and is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The medieval castle and later château was the residence of French monarchs from Louis VII through Napoleon III, Napoleon I abdicated his throne there before being exiled to Elba. Today, it is a museum and a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is located in the commune of Fontainebleau. The earliest record of a castle at Fontainebleau dates to 1137. It became a residence and hunting lodge of the Kings of France because of the abundant game. It took its name one of the springs, the fountain de Bliaud, located now in the English garden. He commissioned the architect Gilles le Breton to build a palace in the new Renaissance style and it included monumental Porte Dorée, as its southern entrance. As well as a monumental Renaissance stairway, the portique de Serlio, beginning in about 1528, Francis constructed the Gallery Francis I, which allowed him to pass directly from his apartments to the chapel of the Trinitaires. He brought the architect Sebastiano Serlio from Italy, and the Florentine painter Giovanni Battista di Jacopo, known as Rosso Fiorentino, another Italian painter, Francesco Primaticcio from Bologna, joined later in the decoration of the palace. Together their style of decoration became known as the first School of Fontainebleau and this was the first great decorated gallery built in France. Broadly speaking, at Fontainebleau the Renaissance was introduced to France, in about 1540, Francis began another major addition to the chateau. Using land on the east side of the chateau purchased from the order of the Trinitaires, he began to build a new square of buildings around a large courtyard. It was enclosed on the north by the wing of the Ministers, on the east by the wing of Ferrare, the chateau was surrounded by a new park in the style of the Italian Renaissance garden, with pavilions and the first grotto in France. Primaticcio created more monumental murals for the gallery of Ulysses, following the death of Francis I, King Henry II decided to continue and expand the chateau. The King and his wife chose the architects Philibert Delorme and Jean Bullant to do the work and they extended the east wing of the lower court, and decorated it with the first famous horseshoe-shaped staircase. In the oval court, they transformed the loggia planned by Francois into a Salle des Fétes or grand ballroom with a coffered ceiling. Facing the courtyard of the fountain and the pond, they designed a new building. At Henris orders, the Nymphe de Fontainebleau was installed at the entrance of Château dAnet
Palace of Fontainebleau
–
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Palace of Fontainebleau
–
The Oval Courtyard, with the Medieval donjon, a vestige of the original castle where the King's apartments were located, in the center.
Palace of Fontainebleau
–
The Gallery of Francis I, connecting the King's apartments with the chapel, decorated between 1533 and 1539. It introduced the Italian Renaissance style to France.
5.
Classical architecture
–
Different styles of classical architecture have arguably existed since the Carolingian Renaissance, and prominently since the Italian Renaissance. Although classical styles of architecture can vary greatly, they can in all be said to draw on a common vocabulary of decorative and constructive elements. The term classical architecture also applies to any mode of architecture that has evolved to a highly refined state, such as classical Chinese architecture and it can also refer to any architecture that employs classical aesthetic philosophy. The term might be used differently from traditional or vernacular architecture, for contemporary buildings following authentic classical principles, the term New Classical Architecture may be used. Classical architecture is derived from the architecture of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, with the collapse of the western part of the Roman empire, the architectural traditions of the Roman empire ceased to be practised in large parts of western Europe. In the Byzantine Empire, the ancient ways of building lived on, the first conscious efforts to bring back the disused language of form of classical antiquity into Western architecture can be traced to the Carolingian Renaissance of the late 8th and 9th centuries. In general, therefore, they are not considered classical architectural styles in a strict sense, nonetheless, the classical architecture of the Renaissance from the outset represents a highly specific interpretation of the classical ideas. Most of the styles originating in post-renaissance Europe can be described as classical architecture and this broad use of the term is employed by Sir John Summerson in The Classical Language of Architecture. The elements of architecture have been applied in radically different architectural contexts than those for which they were developed. For example, Baroque or Rococo architecture are styles which, although classical at root, during these periods, architectural theory still referred to classical ideas but rather less sincerely than during the Renaissance. Neoclassical architecture held a strong position on the architectural scene c. With the advent of Modernism during the early 20th century, classical architecture arguably almost completely ceased to be practised, as noted above, classical styles of architecture dominated Western architecture for a very long time, roughly from the Renaissance until the advent of Modernism. That is to say, that classical antiquity at least in theory was considered the source of inspiration for architectural endeavours in the West for much of Modern history. Furthermore, it can even be argued that styles of architecture not typically considered classical, like Gothic, therefore, a simple delineation of the scope of classical architecture is difficult to make. The more or less defining characteristic can still be said to be a reference to ancient Greek or Roman architecture, and the architectural rules or theories that derived from that architecture. In the grammar of architecture, the word petrification is often used when discussing the development of sacred structures, such as temples, during the Archaic and early Classical periods, the architectural forms of the earliest temples had solidified and the Doric emerged as the predominant element. And not everyone within the reach of Mediterranean civilization made this transition. Nor was it the lack of knowledge of working on their part that prevented them from making the transition from timber to dressed stone
Classical architecture
–
Caryatids on the
Erechtheion, (
Athens), an example of a
Greek architectural element taken up by later classical architecture.
Classical architecture
–
Sebastiano Serlio 's canon of the
Classical orders, a prime example of classical
architectural theory.
Classical architecture
–
The forms of ancient
Roman temples like the pictured
Maison Carrée in
Nîmes (France) has served as an inspiration for plenty of much later classical architecture, e.g.
Virginia State Capitol.
Classical architecture
–
Lorsch Abbey gatehouse (Germany), c. 800, an example of the architectural style of the short-lived
Carolingian Renaissance, a first classical movement in architecture.
6.
Masonry
–
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar, the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of construction are brick, building stone such as marble, granite, travertine, and limestone, cast stone, concrete block, glass block. Masonry is generally a durable form of construction. However, the used, the quality of the mortar and workmanship. A person who constructs masonry is called a mason or bricklayer, Masonry is commonly used for walls and buildings. Brick and concrete block are the most common types of masonry in use in industrialized nations, Concrete blocks, especially those with hollow cores, offer various possibilities in masonry construction. They generally provide great strength, and are best suited to structures with light transverse loading when the cores remain unfilled. Filling some or all of the cores with concrete or concrete with steel reinforcement offers much greater tensile, the use of material such as bricks and stones can increase the thermal mass of a building and can protect the building from fire. Masonry walls are resistant to projectiles, such as debris from hurricanes or tornadoes. Extreme weather, under circumstances, can cause degradation of masonry due to expansion. Masonry tends to be heavy and must be built upon a foundation, such as reinforced concrete. Other than concrete, masonry construction does not lend well to mechanization. Masonry consists of components and has a low tolerance to oscillation as compared to other materials such as reinforced concrete, plastics, wood. Masonry has high compressive strength under vertical loads but has low tensile strength unless reinforced, the tensile strength of masonry walls can be increased by thickening the wall, or by building masonry piers at intervals. Where practical, steel reinforcements such as windposts can be added, a masonry veneer wall consists of masonry units, usually clay-based bricks, installed on one or both sides of a structurally independent wall usually constructed of wood or masonry. In this context the brick masonry is primarily decorative, not structural, the brick veneer is generally connected to the structural wall by brick ties. There is typically an air gap between the veneer and the structural wall. Concrete blocks, real and cultured stones, and veneer adobe are sometimes used in a very similar veneer fashion
Masonry
–
A mason laying mortar on top of a finished course of blocks, prior to placing the next course.
Masonry
–
Dry set masonry supports a rustic
log bridge, where it provides a well-drained support for the log (which will increase its service life).
Masonry
–
Masonry repair work done to a brick wall.
Masonry
–
Concrete masonry units (CMUs) or blocks in a basement wall before burial.
7.
Ashlar
–
Ashlar is finely dressed masonry, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared or the masonry built of such stone. It is the finest stone masonry unit, generally cuboid, mentioned by Vitruvius as opus isodomum, one such decorative treatment consists of small grooves achieved by the application of a metal comb. Generally used only on softer stone ashlar, this decoration is known as masons drag, ashlar is in contrast to rubble masonry, which employs irregularly shaped stones, although sometimes minimally worked or selected for similar size, or both. Ashlar is related but distinct from other stone masonry that is finely dressed but not quadrilateral, such as curvilinear masonry, ashlar may be coursed, which involves lengthy horizontal courses of stone blocks laid in parallel, and therefore with continuous horizontal joints. Ashlar may also be random, which involves stone blocks laid with deliberately discontinuous courses, in either case, it generally uses a joining material such as mortar to bind the blocks together, although dry ashlar construction, metal ties, and other methods of assembly have been used. The dry ashlar of Inca architecture in Cusco and Machu Picchu is particularly fine, the word is attested in Middle English and derives from Old French aisselier, from Latin axilla, diminutive of axis, plank. Ashlar blocks have been used in the construction of buildings as an alternative to brick or other materials. In classical architecture, ashlar wall surfaces were contrasted with rustication. The term is used to describe the dressed stone work of prehistoric Greece and Crete. For example, the tombs of Bronze Age Mycenae use ashlar masonry in the construction of the so-called beehive dome. This dome consists of finely cut ashlar blocks that decrease in size and these domes are not true domes, but are constructed using the corbel arch. Ashlar masonry was also used in the construction of palace facades on Crete. These constructions date to the MM III-LM Ib period, ca, in modern European masonry the blocks are generally about 35 centimetres in height. When shorter than 30 centimetres, they are called small ashlar. In some Masonic groupings, which such societies term jurisdictions, ashlars are used as a metaphor for how ones personal development relates to the tenets of their lodge. Ablaq Dimension stone Opus quadratum Rustication Stone cladding Stone veneer
Ashlar
–
Inca Empire Inca wall at
Machu Picchu, constructed in
dry ashlar masonry laid in parallel
courses
Ashlar
8.
Italian Renaissance architecture
–
Stylistically, Renaissance architecture followed Gothic architecture and was succeeded by Baroque architecture. Developed first in Florence, with Filippo Brunelleschi as one of its innovators, the style was carried to France, Germany, England, Russia and other parts of Europe at different dates and with varying degrees of impact. Italy of the 15th century, and the city of Florence in particular, was home to the Renaissance, the scholarly approach to the architecture of the ancient coincided with the general revival of learning. A number of factors were influential in bringing this about, Italian architects had always preferred forms that were clearly defined and structural members that expressed their purpose. Many Tuscan Romanesque buildings demonstrate these characteristics, as seen in the Florence Baptistery, Italy had never fully adopted the Gothic style of architecture. In the 15th century, Florence, Venice and Naples extended their power through much of the area that surrounded them and this enabled Florence to have significant artistic influence in Milan, and through Milan, France. Successive Popes, especially Julius II, 1503–13, sought to extend the Pope’s temporal power throughout Italy, in the early Renaissance, Venice controlled sea trade over goods from the East. Trade brought wool from England to Florence, ideally located on the river for the production of fine cloth, by dominating Pisa, Florence gained a seaport, and also maintained dominance of Genoa. In this commercial climate, one family in particular turned their attention from trade to the business of money-lending. The Medici became the chief bankers to the princes of Europe, becoming virtually princes themselves as they did so, along the trade routes, and thus offered some protection by commercial interest, moved not only goods but also artists, scientists and philosophers. This commenced in the mid 15th century and gained momentum in the 16th century, the construction of the Sistine Chapel with its uniquely important decorations and the entire rebuilding of St Peters, one of Christendoms most significant churches, were part of this process. In wealthy republican Florence, the impetus for church-building was more civic than spiritual, the unfinished state of the enormous cathedral dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary did no honour to the city under her patronage. The dome inspired further religious works in Florence, through Humanism, civic pride and the promotion of civil peace and order were seen as the marks of citizenship. Some major ecclesiastical building works were commissioned, not by the church. During the Renaissance, architecture became not only a question of practice, printing played a large role in the dissemination of ideas. The first treatise on architecture was De re aedificatoria by Leon Battista Alberti in 1450 and it was to some degree dependent on Vitruviuss De architectura, a manuscript of which was discovered in 1414 in a library in Switzerland. De re aedificatoria in 1485 became the first printed book on architecture, Sebastiano Serlio produced the next important text, the first volume of which appeared in Venice in 1537, it was entitled Regole generali darchitettura. It is known as Serlios Fourth Book since it was the fourth in Serlios original plan of a treatise in seven books, in all, five books were published
Italian Renaissance architecture
–
Tempietto di
San Pietro in Montorio, Rome, 1502, by
Bramante. This small temple marks the place where
St Peter was put to death.
Italian Renaissance architecture
–
Temple of Vesta,
Rome, 205 AD. As the most important temple of Ancient Rome, it became the model for Bramante's Tempietto.
Italian Renaissance architecture
–
Renaissance
Italian Renaissance architecture
–
The Romanesque Baptistery of Florence was the object of Brunelleschi's studies of perspective
9.
Castle
–
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. Usage of the term has varied over time and has applied to structures as diverse as hill forts. Over the approximately 900 years that castles were built, they took on a great many forms with different features, although some, such as curtain walls. A European innovation, castles originated in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the fall of the Carolingian Empire resulted in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes. Although their military origins are often emphasised in castle studies, the structures served as centres of administration. Many castles were built from earth and timber, but had their defences replaced later by stone. Early castles often exploited natural defences, lacking features such as towers and arrowslits, in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, a scientific approach to castle defence emerged. This led to the proliferation of towers, with an emphasis on flanking fire, many new castles were polygonal or relied on concentric defence – several stages of defence within each other that could all function at the same time to maximise the castles firepower. These changes in defence have been attributed to a mixture of castle technology from the Crusades, such as concentric fortification, not all the elements of castle architecture were military in nature, so that devices such as moats evolved from their original purpose of defence into symbols of power. Some grand castles had long winding approaches intended to impress and dominate their landscape, while castles continued to be built well into the 16th century, new techniques to deal with improved cannon fire made them uncomfortable and undesirable places to live. As a result, true castles went into decline and were replaced by artillery forts with no role in civil administration, and country houses that were indefensible. From the 18th century onwards, there was a renewed interest in castles with the construction of castles, part of a romantic revival of Gothic architecture. The word castle is derived from the Latin word castellum, which is a diminutive of the word castrum, meaning fortified place. The Old English castel, Old French castel or chastel, French château, Spanish castillo, Italian castello, the word castle was introduced into English shortly before the Norman Conquest to denote this type of building, which was then new to England. In its simplest terms, the definition of a castle accepted amongst academics is a fortified residence. Feudalism was the link between a lord and his vassal where, in return for service and the expectation of loyalty. Castles served a range of purposes, the most important of which were military, administrative, as well as defensive structures, castles were also offensive tools which could be used as a base of operations in enemy territory
Castle
–
The
Alcázar of Segovia in Spain overlooking the city
Castle
–
Bodiam Castle in
East Sussex, England, surrounded by a water-filled
moat
Castle
–
The
Norman "White Tower", the
keep of the
Tower of London, exemplifies all uses of a castle including city defence, a residence, and a place of refuge in times of crisis.
Castle
–
Windsor Castle in England was founded as a fortification during the
Norman Conquest and today is one of the principal official residences of Queen
Elizabeth II.
10.
Palazzo Vecchio
–
The Palazzo Vecchio is the town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the Piazza della Signoria with its copy of Michelangelos David statue as well as the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi, the building acquired its current name when the Medici dukes residence was moved across the Arno to the Palazzo Pitti. The cubical building is made of rusticated stonework, with two rows of two-lighted Gothic windows, each with a trefoil arch. In the 15th century, Michelozzo Michelozzi added decorative bas-reliefs of the cross, the building is crowned with projecting crenellated battlement, supported by small arches and corbels. Under the arches are a series of nine painted coats of arms of the Florentine republic. Some of these arches can be used as embrasures for dropping heated liquids or rocks on invaders, the solid, massive building is enhanced by the simple tower with its clock. This tower contains two cells, that, at different times, imprisoned Cosimo de Medici and Girolamo Savonarola. The tower is named after its designer Torre dArnolfo, Duke Cosimo I de Medici moved his official seat from the Medici palazzo in via Larga to the Palazzo della Signoria in May 1540, signalling the security of Medici power in Florence. Cosimo commissioned Giorgio Vasari to build a walkway, the Vasari corridor, from the Palazzo Vecchio, through the Uffizi. Cosimo I also moved the seat of government to the Uffizi, the palace gained new importance as the seat of united Italys provisional government from 1865–71, at a moment when Florence had become the temporary capital of the Kingdom of Italy. The tower currently has three bells, the oldest was cast in the 13th century, above the front entrance door, there is a notable ornamental marble frontispiece, dating from 1528. In the middle, flanked by two gilded lions, is the Monogram of Christ, surrounded by a glory, above the text, Rex Regum et Dominus Dominantium (translation, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This text dates from 1851 and does not replace an earlier text by Savonarola as mentioned in guidebooks, between 1529 and 1851 they were concealed behind a large shield with the grand-ducal coat of arms. Michelangelos David also stood at the entrance from its completion in 1504 to 1873, a replica erected in 1910 now stands in its place, flanked by Baccio Bandinellis Hercules and Cacus. The first courtyard was designed in 1453 by Michelozzo, in the lunettes, high around the courtyard, are crests of the church and city guilds. In the center, the fountain is by Battista del Tadda. The Putto with Dolphin on top of the basin is a copy of the original by Andrea del Verrocchio and this small statue was originally placed in the garden of the Villa Medici at Careggi. The water, flowing through the nose of the dolphin, is brought here by pipes from the Boboli Gardens, in the niche, in front of the fountain, stands Samson and Philistine by Pierino da Vinci
Palazzo Vecchio
–
Palazzo Vecchio overlooks
Piazza della Signoria
Palazzo Vecchio
–
Palazzo Vecchio by night.
Palazzo Vecchio
–
Painting of the Palazzo and the square in 1498, during the execution of
Girolamo Savonarola
Palazzo Vecchio
–
Engraving of a map depicting the palazzo and square with the corridor, by Stefano Buonsignori, 1584
11.
Japanese castle
–
Japanese castles were fortresses constructed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries, and came into their best-known form in the 16th century. Castles in Japan were built to guard important or strategic sites, such as ports, river crossings, or crossroads, and almost always incorporated the landscape into their defenses. Though they were built to last and used more stone in their construction than most Japanese buildings, castles were constructed primarily of wood. This was especially true during the Sengoku period, when many of these castles were first built, however, many were rebuilt, either later in the Sengoku period, in the Edo period that followed, or more recently, as national heritage sites or museums. Today there are more than one hundred castles extant, or partially extant, in Japan, some castles, such as the ones at Matsue and Kōchi, both built in 1611, remain extant in their original forms, not having suffered any damage from sieges or other threats. Hiroshima Castle, on the end of the spectrum, was destroyed in the atomic bombing. The character for castle, 城, by itself read as shiro, is read as jō when attached to a word, thus, for example, Osaka Castle is called Ōsaka-jō in Japanese. Originally conceived as fortresses for military defense, Japanese castles were placed in locations, along trade routes, roads. Though castles continued to be built with these considerations, for centuries, fortresses were built as centres of governance. By the Sengoku period, they had come to serve as the homes of daimyōs, to impress and to intimidate rivals not only with their defences but also with their sizes, architecture, and elegant interiors. Azuchi served as the center of Odas territories, and as his lavish home. Before the Sengoku period, most castles were called yamajirō, though most later castles were built atop mountains or hills, these were built from the mountains. Trees and other foliage were cleared, and the stone and dirt of the mountain itself was carved into rough fortifications, ditches were dug, to present obstacles to attackers, as well as to allow boulders to be rolled down at attackers. Moats were created by diverting mountain streams, buildings were made primarily of wattle and daub, using thatched roofs, or, occasionally, wooden shingles. Small ports in the walls or planks could be used to deploy bows or fire guns from, the main weakness of this style was its general instability. Thatch caught fire more easily than wood, and weather. Eventually, stone began to be used, encasing the hilltop in a layer of fine pebbles
Japanese castle
–
Himeji Castle, a
World Heritage Site in
Hyōgo Prefecture, is the most visited castle in
Japan.
Japanese castle
–
Tsuyama Castle was a typical
hilltop castle.
Japanese castle
–
The reconstructed western gate of
Ki castle.
Japanese castle
–
Nagoya Castle
12.
Porta Maggiore
–
The Porta Maggiore, or Porta Prenestina, is one of the eastern gates in the ancient but well-preserved 3rd-century Aurelian Walls of Rome. Through the gate ran two ancient roads, the Via Praenestina and the Via Labicana, the Via Prenestina was the eastern road to the ancient town of Praeneste. The Via Labicana heads southeast from the city, the Porta Maggiore is by far the best urban site to visit for an understanding and view of the ancient aqueducts. It is a double archway built of white travertine. It was first known as the Porta Prenestina, perhaps a reference to the road over which is passes. The gate, built in 52 AD by the emperor Claudius, was intended to provide a decorative section of support for two aqueducts, the Aqua Claudia and the Anio Novus. The two channels of these aqueducts, one lying on top of the other, can be seen when viewing the cross-section running through the attic at the top of the gate. The gate was incorporated in the Aurelian Wall in 271 by the emperor Aurelian thus truly turning it into an entrance to the city, experts refer to this as an early example of “architectural recycling, ” essentially adapting one existing structure, to another use. In this case using an aqueduct as a wall and it was modified further when the emperor Honorius augmented the walls in 405. The foundations of a guardhouse added by Honorius are still visible, while the part of the gate. It is currently known as the Porta Maggiore, possibly designated as such because of the road runs through the gate leads to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. The church is an important place of prayer dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the following inscriptions in praise of the emperors Claudius, Vespasian, and Titus for their work on the aqueducts are prominently displayed on the attic of the Porta Maggiore, TI. CLAUDIUS DRUSI F. CAISAR AUGUSTUS GERMANICUS PONTIF, IIII P. P. / AQUAS CURTIAM ET CAERULEAM PERDUCTAS A DIVO CLAUDIO ET POSTEA INTERMISSAS DILAPSASQUE / PER ANNOS NOVEM SUA IMPENSA URBI RESTITUIT. T. CAESAR DIVI F. VESPASIANUS AUGUSTUS PONTIFEX MAXIMUS TRIBUNIC, / POTESTATE X IMPERATOR XVII PATER PATRIAE CENSOR COS. Close by the gate, just outside the wall, is the unusual Tomb of the Baker, in 1915, a subterranean Neopythagorean basilica was discovered nearby on the Via Praenestina, dating from the 1st century. The groundplan shows three naves and an apse, a similar to that which began to be adopted in Christian basilicas during the 4th century. The vaults are decorated with white stuccoes symbolizing Neopythagorean beliefs, although the meaning of elements of the decoration remains a subject of debate. Information on the Porta Prenestina from the LacusCurtius website, pictures of the gate Porta Maggiore information Further information, and a map
Porta Maggiore
–
Outer side of the Porta Maggiore.
Porta Maggiore
–
Remains of Honorius' gate, which are not in their original location.
Porta Maggiore
–
Cross section of Porta Maggiore showing two aqueducts.
13.
Renaissance
–
The Renaissance was a period in European history, from the 14th to the 17th century, regarded as the cultural bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. It started as a movement in Italy in the Late Medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe. This new thinking became manifest in art, architecture, politics, science, Early examples were the development of perspective in oil painting and the recycled knowledge of how to make concrete. Although the invention of movable type sped the dissemination of ideas from the later 15th century. In politics, the Renaissance contributed to the development of the customs and conventions of diplomacy, the Renaissance began in Florence, in the 14th century. Other major centres were northern Italian city-states such as Venice, Genoa, Milan, Bologna, the word Renaissance, literally meaning Rebirth in French, first appeared in English in the 1830s. The word also occurs in Jules Michelets 1855 work, Histoire de France, the word Renaissance has also been extended to other historical and cultural movements, such as the Carolingian Renaissance and the Renaissance of the 12th century. The Renaissance was a movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the early modern period. Renaissance scholars employed the humanist method in study, and searched for realism, however, a subtle shift took place in the way that intellectuals approached religion that was reflected in many other areas of cultural life. In addition, many Greek Christian works, including the Greek New Testament, were back from Byzantium to Western Europe. Political philosophers, most famously Niccolò Machiavelli, sought to describe life as it really was. Others see more competition between artists and polymaths such as Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Donatello, and Masaccio for artistic commissions as sparking the creativity of the Renaissance. Yet it remains much debated why the Renaissance began in Italy, accordingly, several theories have been put forward to explain its origins. During the Renaissance, money and art went hand in hand, Artists depended entirely on patrons while the patrons needed money to foster artistic talent. Wealth was brought to Italy in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries by expanding trade into Asia, silver mining in Tyrol increased the flow of money. Luxuries from the Eastern world, brought home during the Crusades, increased the prosperity of Genoa, unlike with Latin texts, which had been preserved and studied in Western Europe since late antiquity, the study of ancient Greek texts was very limited in medieval Western Europe. One of the greatest achievements of Renaissance scholars was to bring this entire class of Greek cultural works back into Western Europe for the first time since late antiquity, Arab logicians had inherited Greek ideas after they had invaded and conquered Egypt and the Levant. Their translations and commentaries on these ideas worked their way through the Arab West into Spain and Sicily and this work of translation from Islamic culture, though largely unplanned and disorganized, constituted one of the greatest transmissions of ideas in history
Renaissance
–
David, by
Michelangelo (
Accademia di Belle Arti,
Florence) is a masterpiece of Renaissance and world art.
Renaissance
–
Renaissance
Renaissance
–
Leonardo da Vinci 's
Vitruvian Man (c. 1490) shows clearly the effect writers of Antiquity had on Renaissance thinkers. Based on the specifications in
Vitruvius '
De architectura (1st century BC), Leonardo tried to draw the perfectly proportioned man.
Renaissance
–
Portrait of a young woman (c. 1480-85) (
Simonetta Vespucci) by
Sandro Botticelli
14.
Facade
–
A façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. It is a loan word from the French façade, which means frontage or face. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect from a design standpoint, from the engineering perspective of a building, the façade is also of great importance due to its impact on energy efficiency. For historical façades, many local zoning regulations or other laws restrict or even forbid their alteration. The word comes from the French foreign loan word façade, which in turn comes from the Italian facciata, from faccia meaning face, the earliest usage recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is 1656. It was quite common in the Georgian period for existing houses in English towns to be given a fashionable new façade, in modern highrise building, the exterior walls are often suspended from the concrete floor slabs. Examples include curtain walls and precast concrete walls, the façade can at times be required to have a fire-resistance rating, for instance, if two buildings are very close together, to lower the likelihood of fire spreading from one building to another. In general, the systems that are suspended or attached to the precast concrete slabs will be made from aluminium or stainless steel. In recent years more lavish materials such as titanium have sometimes been used, whether rated or not, fire protection is always a design consideration. The melting point of aluminium,660 °C, is reached within minutes of the start of a fire. Firestops for such building joints can be qualified, too, putting fire sprinkler systems on each floor has a profoundly positive effect on the fire safety of buildings with curtain walls. Some building codes also limit the percentage of area in exterior walls. When the exterior wall is not rated, the slab edge becomes a junction where rated slabs are abutting an unrated wall. For rated walls, one may also choose rated windows and fire doors, on a film set and within most themed attractions, many of the buildings are only façades, which are far cheaper than actual buildings, and not subject to building codes. In film sets, they are held up with supports from behind. Within theme parks, they are usually decoration for the interior ride/attraction/restaurant, by Ulrich Knaack, Tillmann Klein, Marcel Bilow and Thomas Auer. ISBN 978-3-7643-7961-2 ISBN 978-3-7643-7962-9 Giving buildings an illusion of grandeur Poole, the article outlines the development of the façade in ecclesiastical architecture from the early Christian period to the Renaissance
Facade
–
Carlo Maderno 's monumental façade of
Saint Peter's basilica in
Vatican City.
Facade
–
The façade of the
Houston Fire Department 's Central Station, c. 1914.
Facade
–
The façade at
Bletchley Park,
United Kingdom is a mix of architectural styles.
Facade
–
Prague.
15.
St Giles in the Fields
–
St Giles-in-the-Fields, also commonly known as the Poets Church, is a church in the London Borough of Camden, in the West End. It is close to the Centre Point office tower and the Tottenham Court Road tube station, the church is part of the Diocese of London within the Church of England. Several buildings have stood on the site, the present structure was built between 1731 and 1733. The first recorded church on site was a chapel of the parish of Holborn attached to a monastery and leper hospital founded by Matilda of Scotland. At that time, it well outside the boundaries of the city of London, though on the main road to Tyburn. This chapel probably came to function as the church of the village that grew up to provide services to the hospital. The hospital was supported by the Crown and administered by the City for its first two hundred years, in fact, it was named a free chapel. Beginning in 1299, on the order of Edward I, it was administered by the Order of Saint Lazarus, during the fourteenth century, the king, on several occasions, interfered by appointing a new head of the hospital. In 1391, Richard II sold the hospital, chapel, and lands to the Cistercian abbey of St Mary de Graces, just by the Tower of London. The property at the time included 8 acres of farmland, a survey-enumerated eight horses, twelve oxen, the grant was revoked in 1402 and the property returned to the Lazars. Lepers were cared-for at this location until the mid century, when the disease abated. During the reign of Henry V, in 1414, the village was the headquarters of Sir John Oldcastles abortive Lollard rebellion, the monastery was dissolved in 1539 during the reign of Henry VIII, with the lands eventually being granted to Lord Lisle in 1548. However, the chapel survived as a parish church. The first Rector of St Giles was appointed in 1547, an illustration from this time shows the church with a round tower and dome. A spire replaced this structure in 1617, the early church fell into disrepair and a Gothic brick structure was built between 1623 and 1630, mostly paid for by the Duchess of Dudley, the wife of Sir Robert Dudley. The new building was consecrated by William Laud, Bishop of London, an illuminated manuscript listing the subscribers to the rebuilding, is still kept in the church. Later moved again, his head was taken to Rome and then given to the Archbishop of Armagh, and is now at Drogheda and he was canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1975. The five Jesuit fathers with whom Plunkett asked to be buried, Thomas Whitbread, William Harcourt, John Fenwick, John Gavan, Edward Coleman, secretary to the Duchess of York
St Giles in the Fields
–
Church of St Giles-in-the-Fields, London
St Giles in the Fields
–
Hogarth's Noon from
Four Times of the Day, showing the church in the background
St Giles in the Fields
–
Looking down the aisle, inside the church
St Giles in the Fields
–
The West side of the interior, showing the organ.
16.
Palazzo Medici Riccardi
–
The Palazzo Medici, also called the Palazzo Medici Riccardi after the later family that acquired and expanded it, is a Renaissance palace located in Florence, Italy. It is the seat of the Metropolitan City of Florence, the palace was designed by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo for Cosimo de Medici, head of the Medici banking family, and was built between 1444 and 1484. It was well known for its masonry, which includes architectural elements of rustication. The tripartite elevation used here expresses the Renaissance spirit of rationality, order and this tripartite division is emphasized by horizontal stringcourses that divide the building into stories of decreasing height. Michelozzo di Bartolomeo was influenced in his building of this palace by both classical Roman and Brunelleschian principles, during the Renaissance revival of classical culture, ancient Roman elements were often replicated in architecture, both built and imagined in paintings. In the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, the masonry and the cornice had precedents in Roman practice, yet in totality it looks distinctly Florentine. Similarly, the early Renaissance architect Brunelleschi used Roman techniques and influenced Michelozzo, the open colonnaded court that is the center of the palazzo plan has roots in the cloisters that developed from Roman peristyles. The once open corner loggia and shop facing the street were walled in during the 16th century. The new windows are set into what appears to be an infill of the original arched opening. The building reflects the wealth of the Medici family. Then a garden done in the finest of polished marbles, with diverse plants, Cosimo received the young Sforza in the chapel not less ornate and handsome than the rest of the house. Other decorations included two lunettes by Filippo Lippi, depicting Seven Saints and the Annunciation, now at the National Gallery, when the Medici family returned to Florence after their short exile in the early 16th century, they kept a low profile and exercised their power behind the scenes. This is reflected in the exterior of this building, and is said to be the reason why Cosimo de Medici rejected Brunelleschis earlier proposal. The palace was the site of the wedding reception between Ferdinando de Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany and Violante Beatrice of Bavaria in 1689
Palazzo Medici Riccardi
–
The "kneeling windows" a feature later copied by the Medici at their
Palazzo Pitti, also in Florence.
Palazzo Medici Riccardi
–
Rusticated stone walls of the
Renaissance Palazzo Medici Riccardi
Palazzo Medici Riccardi
–
Inner courtyard.
17.
Palazzo Strozzi
–
Palazzo Strozzi is a palace in Florence, Italy. A great number of buildings were acquired during the 70s. Giuliano da Sangallo provided a model of the design. Filippo Strozzi died in 1491, long before the completion in 1538. Duke Cosimo I de Medici confiscated it in the same year, the palace faces the historical Via de Tornabuoni. Palazzo Strozzi is an example of architecture with its rusticated stone, inspired by the Palazzo Medici. Unlike the Medici Palace, which was sited on a corner lot and this introduced a problem new in Renaissance architecture, which, given the newly felt desire for internal symmetry of planning symmetry, how to integrate the cross-axis. The ground plan of Palazzo Strozzi is rigorously symmetrical on its two axes, with clearly differentiated scales of its principal rooms and its dominating cornice is typical of the Florentine palaces of the time. The palace was incomplete by Simone del Pollaiolo, who was in charge of the construction of the palace until 1504. Also by Cronaca is the cortile or central courtyard surrounded by an arcade, the famous wrought-iron lanterns that decorate the corners of the palace exterior, are by an iron-worker named Caparra. The palazzo remained the seat of the Strozzi family until 1937, great changes were made to the building when the Istituto Nazionale delle Assicurazioni occupied Palazzo Strozzi. The palazzo, granted by the Istituto Nazionale delle Assicurazioni to the Italian State in 1999, is now home to the Institute of Humanist Studies, viesseux and the Renaissance Studies Institute have both also occupied the building since 1940. Two Collectors and the 1910 Exhibition of Impressionism, here also is the seat of the Istituto Nazionale del Rinascimento and the noted Gabinetto Vieusseux, with the library and reading room. Palazzo dello Strozzino Palais Strozzi in Vienna Bullard Melissa M. Filippo Strozzi, goldthwaite, Richard, Private Wealth in Renaissance Florence, A Study of Four Families 1968. —, The Building of Renaissance Florence, An Economic and Social History 1980. Palazzo Strozzi in official website of Tourism of Tuscany
Palazzo Strozzi
–
Façade.
Palazzo Strozzi
–
The square.
18.
Pitti Palace
–
The Palazzo Pitti, in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the side of the River Arno. The core of the present palazzo dates from 1458 and was originally the residence of Luca Pitti. The palace was bought by the Medici family in 1549 and became the residence of the ruling families of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. It grew as a treasure house as later generations amassed paintings, plates, jewelry. In the late 18th century, the palazzo was used as a base by Napoleon. The palace and its contents were donated to the Italian people by King Victor Emmanuel III in 1919, the palazzo is now the largest museum complex in Florence. The principal palazzo block, often in a building of design known as the corps de logis, is 32,000 square metres. It is divided into several principal galleries or museums detailed below, the construction of this severe and forbidding building was commissioned in 1458 by the Florentine banker Luca Pitti, a principal supporter and friend of Cosimo de Medici. The early history of the Palazzo Pitti is a mixture of fact, Pitti is alleged to have instructed that the windows be larger than the entrance of the Palazzo Medici. Besides obvious differences from the architects style, Brunelleschi died 12 years before construction of the palazzo began. The design and fenestration suggest that the architect was more experienced in utilitarian domestic architecture than in the humanist rules defined by Alberti in his book De Re Aedificatoria. Though impressive, the original palazzo would have no rival to the Florentine Medici residences in terms of either size or content. Whoever the architect of the Palazzo Pitti was, he was moving against the flow of fashion. The rusticated stonework gives the palazzo a severe and powerful atmosphere, reinforced by the series of seven arch-headed apertures. The Roman-style architecture appealed to the Florentine love of the new style allantica, work stopped after Pitti suffered financial losses following the death of Cosimo de Medici in 1464. Luca Pitti died in 1472 with the building unfinished, the building was sold in 1549 by Buonaccorso Pitti, a descendant of Luca Pitti, to Eleonora di Toledo. Raised at the court of Naples, Eleonora was the wife of Cosimo I de Medici of Tuscany
Pitti Palace
–
Early,
tinted 20th-century photograph of the Palazzo Pitti, then still known as La Residenza Reale following the residency of
King Victor Emmanuel II between 1865 and 1871, when Florence was the capital of Italy.
Pitti Palace
–
Luca Pitti (1398–1472) began work on the palazzo in 1458.
Pitti Palace
–
Eleonora di Toledo,
Duchess of Florence, bought the palazzo from the Pitti in 1549 for the Medici. Portrait after
Bronzino.
Pitti Palace
–
A
lunette painted in 1599 by
Giusto Utens, depicts the palazzo before its extensions, with the
amphitheatre and the Boboli Gardens behind. The red stone excavated from the site was used in extensions to the palazzo.
19.
Classical order
–
An Order in architecture is a certain assemblage of parts subject to uniform established proportions, regulated by the office that each part has to perform. The three orders of architecture—the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian—originated in Greece, to these the Romans added, in practice if not in name, the Tuscan, which they made simpler than Doric, and the Composite, which was more ornamental than the Corinthian. The Architectural Order of a building is akin to the mode or key of classical music. It is established by certain modules like the intervals of music, Columns shrank into half-columns emerging from walls or turned into pilasters. This treatment continued after the conscious and correct use of the orders, initially following exclusively Roman models, Greek Revival architecture, inspired by increasing knowledge of Greek originals, returned to more authentic models, including ones from relatively early periods. Each style has distinctive capitals at the top of columns and horizontal entablatures which it supports, the column shaft and base also varies with the order, and is sometimes articulated with vertical hollow grooves known as fluting. The capital rests on the shaft and it has a load-bearing function, which concentrates the weight of the entablature on the supportive column, but it primarily serves an aesthetic purpose. The necking is the continuation of the shaft, but is separated by one or many grooves. The echinus lies atop the necking and it is a circular block that bulges outwards towards the top to support the abacus, which is a square or shaped block that in turn supports the entablature. The entablature consists of three layers, all of which are visually separated from each other using moldings or bands. There are names for all the parts of the orders. The height of columns are calculated in terms of a ratio between the diameter of the shaft at its base and the height of the column, sometimes this is phrased as lower diameters high, to establish which part of the shaft has been measured. There are three orders in Ancient Greek architecture, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. These three were adopted by the Romans, who modified their capitals, the Roman adoption of the Greek orders took place in the 1st century BC. The three Ancient Greek orders have since been used in neo-classical European architecture. Sometimes the Doric order is considered the earliest order, but there is no evidence to support this, rather, the Doric and Ionic orders seem to have appeared at around the same time, the Ionic in eastern Greece and the Doric in the west and mainland. Both the Doric and the Ionic order appear to have originated in wood, the Temple of Hera in Olympia is the oldest well-preserved temple of Doric architecture. It was built just after 600 BC, the Doric order later spread across Greece and into Sicily where it was the chief order for monumental architecture for 800 years
Classical order
–
Table of architecture,
Cyclopaedia, 1728
Classical order
–
An illustration of the Five Architectural Orders engraved for the
Encyclopédie, vol. 18, showing the
Tuscan and
Doric orders (top row); two versions of the
Ionic order (center row);
Corinthian and
Composite orders (bottom row).
Classical order
–
Greek orders with full height
Classical order
–
The Doric order of the
Parthenon
20.
Mullion
–
A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window, door, or screen, or is used decoratively. When dividing adjacent window units, its purpose is to provide structural support to an arch or lintel above the window opening. Its secondary purpose may be as a support to the glazing of the window. When used to support glazing, they are teamed with horizontal elements called transoms which divide an openings upper part into one or more additional lights. In the commercial industry, the term floating mullion is also applied to an interlock profile which is fitted in between a pair of double swing doors. Stone mullions were used in Armenian, Saxon and Islamic architecture prior to the 10th century and they became common across Europe in the Romanesque architecture, with paired windows divided by a mullion, set beneath a single arch becoming a fashionable architectural form. The same structural form was used for open arcades as well as windows, in Gothic architecture windows became larger and arrangements of multiple mullions and openings were used, both for structure and ornament. This is particularly the case in Gothic churches where stained glass is set in lead, mullioned windows of a simpler form continued to be used into the Renaissance and various Revival styles. Italian windows with a mullion, dividing the window into two equal elements are said to be biforate, or to parallel the Italian, bifore windows. Mullions may be made of any material, but wood and aluminum are most common, I. M. Pei used all-glass mullions in his design of JFK Airports Terminal 6, unprecedented at the time. Mullions are vertical elements and are confused with transoms, which lie horizontally. The word is also confused with the muntin which is the word for the very small strips of wood or metal that divide a sash into smaller glass panes or lights. A mullion acts as a member, in most applications the mullion transfers wind loads and weight of the glazing. Although in the instance of a wall screen, the mullions only support the weight of the transoms, glass. Also in the case of a wall screen the weight of glazing can be supported from above this puts the mullions under tension rather than compression. In traditional designs today, mullions and transoms are normally used in combination with divided-light windows, came Glass mullion system Mullion wall Muntin Stained glass Transom Müller, W. G. Vogel. Examples of houses with mullioned windows in the UK
Mullion
–
A mullioned window in the church of
San Francesco of
Lodi, Lombardy
Mullion
–
Late
gothic mullioned window at
Sutton Place, Surrey, c. 1525, illustration by
Joseph Nash, c.1840
Mullion
–
A
Moorish mullioned window in the
Alhambra of Granada
21.
Aedicule
–
In ancient Roman religion, an aedicula is a small shrine. The word aedicula is the diminutive of the Latin aedes, a temple building, many aediculae were household shrines that held small altars or statues of the Lares and Penates. The Lares were Roman deities protecting the house and the household gods. The Penates were originally gods of the storeroom, later becoming household gods guarding the entire house. Other aediculae were small shrines within larger temples, usually set on a base, surmounted by a pediment, in Roman architecture the aedicula has this representative function in the society. They are installed in buildings like the Triumphal arch, City gate. The Celsus Library in Ephesus is a good example, a tabernacle frame on a wall serves similar hieratic functions as a free-standing, three-dimensional architectural baldaquin or a ciborium over an altar. In Late Gothic settings, altarpieces and devotional images were customarily crowned with gables and canopies supported by clustered-column piers, painted ædicules frame figures from sacred history in initial letters of illuminated manuscripts. Aedicular door surrounds that are treated, with pilasters or columns flanking the doorway. Similar small shrines, called naiskoi, are found in Greek religion, aediculae exist today in Roman cemeteries as a part of funeral architecture. Presently the most famous aedicule is situated inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in city of Jerusalem, contemporary American architect Charles Moore uses the concept of aediculae in his work to create spaces within spaces and to evoke the spiritual significance of the home. Pilaster Portico Adkins, Lesley & Adkins, Roy A
Aedicule
–
Front of
Celsus Library with aediculae in
Ephesus.
Aedicule
–
The Aedicula where, according to
Christian religious tradition, the body of
Jesus was buried.
Aedicule
–
Gothic facade of
Exeter Cathedral, with rows of figures in aedicular or tabernacle frames above the door, and two above the
crenellations
Aedicule
–
Two "tabernacle windows" in the
Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence. These are of the type known as "inginocchiata", "kneeling" on two brackets.
22.
Palazzo Rucellai
–
Palazzo Rucellai is a palatial fifteenth-century townhouse on the Via della Vigna Nuova in Florence, Italy. The Rucellai Palace is believed by most scholars to have designed by Leon Battista Alberti between 1446 and 1451 and executed, at least in part, by Bernardo Rossellino. Its splendid facade was one of the first to proclaim the new ideas of Renaissance architecture based on the use of pilasters, the Rucellai Palace demonstrates the impact of the antique revival but does so in a manner which is full of Renaissance originality. The grid-like facade, achieved through the application of a scheme of trabeated articulation, twin-lit, round-arched windows in the two upper stories are set within arches with highly pronounced voussoirs that spring from pilaster to pilaster. The facade is topped by a projecting cornice. The ground floor was for business and was flanked by benches running along the street facade, the second story was the main formal reception floor and the third story the private family and sleeping quarters. A fourth hidden floor under the roof was for servants, with almost no windows, the palace contains an off-center court, built to a design that may have been adapted from Brunelleschis loggia at his Spedale degli Innocenti. In the triangular Piazza dei Rucellai in front of the palace and set at angles to it is the Loggia de Rucellai, which was used for family celebrations, weddings. The two buildings together with the open space between them, form one of the most refined urban compositions of the Italian Renaissance. An accurate appraisal of the Rucellai Palaces architectural importance has been hindered by uncertainties concerning when, traditionally, and supported by some 16th-century sources, it has been dated to the period 1446-51, making the facades of both the Medici and Rucellai palaces contemporaries. In these tax records, the location of property is defined by naming adjacent features be they streets or neighbors, Mack, thus, was able to reconstruct ownership histories for the site now occupied by the palace for pertinent tax year. What Mack discovered substantiates Giovanni Rucellai own testimony that out of eight houses, eight dwellings did, in fact, once occupy the site of the present Rucellai Palace. Records for the tax year 1446 show that Giovanni Rucellai and his family lived in a house at the corner of the Via della Vigna Nuova. Evidently intending to enlarge his living quarters in keeping with his financial and civic standing. Shortly thereafter, the house contiguous to his own along the Via della Vigna Nuova, owned by his mother, finally, the house adjoining his mothers was added to the growing residential complex. The present internal disposition of the palace testifies to the process by which the building evolved. By 1455 one of the Via dei Palchetti houses had been razed and replaced by a courtyard surrounded on three sides by arcades whose round arches were supported by Corinthian columns, a cross-vaulted corridor now linked the courtyard with the Via della Vigna Nuova. Externally, the way in which the Rucellai Palace was created may be seen along the Via dei Palchetti
Palazzo Rucellai
–
Palazzo Rucellai.
23.
Donato Bramante
–
Donato Bramante, born as Donato di Pascuccio dAntonio and also known as Bramante Lazzari, was an Italian architect. He introduced Renaissance architecture to Milan and the High Renaissance style to Rome and his Tempietto marked the beginning of the High Renaissance in Rome when Pope Julius II appointed him to build a sanctuary over the spot where Peter was allegedly crucified. Bramante was born under the name Donato dAugnolo, Donato di Pascuccio dAntonio, here, in 1467, Luciano Laurana was adding to the Palazzo Ducale an arcaded courtyard and other Renaissance features to Federico da Montefeltros ducal palace. Around 1474, Bramante moved to Milan, a city with a deep Gothic architectural tradition, and built several churches in the new Antique style. The Duke, Ludovico Sforza, made him virtually his court architect, beginning in 1476, space was limited, and Bramante made a theatrical apse in bas-relief, combining the painterly arts of perspective with Roman details. There is a sacristy, surmounted by a dome. In Milan, Bramante also built the tribune of Santa Maria delle Grazie, other works include the Cloisters of SantAmbrogio, Milan. However, in 1499, with his Sforza patron driven from Milan by an invading French army, Bramante made his way to Rome, in Rome, he was soon recognized by Cardinal Della Rovere, shortly to become Pope Julius II. Despite its small scale, the construction has all the proportions and symmetry of Classical structures, surrounded by slender Doric columns. According to an engraving by Sebastiano Serlio, Bramante planned to set it within a colonnaded courtyard. In November 1503, Julius engaged Bramante for the construction of the grandest European architectural commission of the 16th century, the cornerstone of the first of the great piers of the crossing was laid with ceremony on 17 April 1506. Very few drawings by Bramante survive, though some by his assistants do, Bramantes plan envisaged four great chapels filling the corner spaces between the equal transepts, each one capped with a smaller dome surrounding the great dome over the crossing. So Bramantes original plan was much more Romano-Byzantine in its forms than the basilica that was actually built. Bramante also worked on other commissions. Among his earliest works in Rome, before the Basilicas construction was under way, is the cloister of Santa Maria della Pace near Piazza Navona, Santa Maria presso San Satiro, Milan, ca. Palazzo Caprini, Rome, started around 1510 Leon Battista Alberti Giorgio Vasari Davies, Paul, Bramante, Donato, The Dictionary of Art, Vol. IV, New York, Grove, pp. 642–653, ISBN9781884446009. Bramante, Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed. Vol. IV, New York, Charles Scribners Sons,1878, Bramante, Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed. Vol. IV, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press,1911, p.418. Donato Bramante Source Information, Pictures & Documentaries about Donato
Donato Bramante
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Donato Bramante
Donato Bramante
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A draft for St Peter's superimposed over a plan of the ancient basilica
Donato Bramante
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The dome, as planned by Bramante
24.
Arcade (architecture)
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An arcade is a succession of arches, each counter-thrusting the next, supported by columns, piers, or a covered walkway enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians, the walkway may be lined with stores. A blind arcade superimposes arcading against a solid wall, blind arcades are a feature of Romanesque architecture that was taken into Gothic architecture. European shopping malls generally resemble the bazaars and souks of Asia, the word arcade comes from French arcade from Provençal arcada or Italian arcata, based on Latin arcus, ‘bow’. One of the earliest examples of a European shopping arcade, the Covered Market, Oxford, the Covered Market was started in response to a general wish to clear untidy, messy and unsavoury stalls from the main streets of central Oxford. John Gwynn, the architect of Magdalen Bridge, drew up the plans, twenty more soon followed, and after 1773 meat was allowed to be sold only inside the market. From this nucleus the market grew, with stalls for garden produce, pig meat, dairy products, Gostiny Dvor in St Petersburg, Russia is another early shopping arcade. Throughout the following century, Gostiny Dvor was augmented, resulting in ten indoor streets, during the post-World War II reconstructions, its inner walls were demolished and a huge shopping mall came into being. This massive 18th-century structure got a recently and entered the 21st century as one of the most fashionable shopping centres in Eastern Europe. An early French arcade is the Passage du Caire created in 1798 as a tribute to the French campaign in Egypt and it was appreciated by the public for its protection from the weather, noise and filth of the streets. A year later American architect William Thayer created the Passage des Panoramas with a row of shops passing between two panorama paintings, shopping arcades increasingly were built in the second Bourbon Restoration. Upper levels of arcades often contained apartments and sometimes brothels. S. W, australia Great Gostiny Dvor St. Petersburg, Russia The Passage St
Arcade (architecture)
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Arcades inside the
Mosque of Uqba also known as the Great Mosque of Kairouan, located in
Kairouan,
Tunisia.
Arcade (architecture)
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Arcades inside the
Bonne-Espérance Abbey.
Arcade (architecture)
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Gallery with arcades on
High Medieval square in
Metz,
France.
Arcade (architecture)
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Mozaffarieh:
Tabriz Bazaar,
Iran, devoted to carpet selling.
25.
Voussoir
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A voussoir /vuˈswɑːr/ is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, used in building an arch or vault. Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, the keystone is the center stone or masonry unit at the apex of an arch. The springer is the lowest voussoir on each side, located where the curve of the springs from the vertical support or abutment of the wall or pier. The keystone is decorated or enlarged. The word is a term borrowed in Middle English from French verbs connoting a turn. Each wedge-shaped voussoir turns aside the thrust of the mass above, transferring it from stone to stone to the bottom face. Voussoir arches distribute weight efficiently and take advantage of the compressive strength of stone. In Visigothic and Moorish architecture, the voussoirs are often in alternating colors, usually red and this is sometimes found in Romanesque architecture also. The bricks used in such an arch are referred to as voussoirs
Voussoir
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William Henry Playfair, University of Edinburgh: beveled edges of each stone block emphasize the voussoirs
26.
Doric order
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The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture, the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognised by the simple circular capitals at the top of columns and it was the earliest and in its essence the simplest of the orders, though still with complex details in the entablature above. The Greek Doric column was fluted or smooth-surfaced, and had no base, the capital was a simple circular form, with some mouldings, under a square cushion that is very wide in early versions, but later more restrained. In stone they are purely ornamental, the relatively uncommon Roman and Renaissance Doric retained these, and often introduced thin layers of moulding or further ornament, as well as often using plain columns. The Doric order was used in Greek Revival architecture from the 18th century onwards, often earlier Greek versions were used, with wider columns. Since at least Vitruvius it has been customary for writers to associate the Doric with masculine virtues and it is also normally the cheapest of the orders to use. In their original Greek version, Doric columns stood directly on the pavement of a temple without a base. The Parthenon has the Doric design columns and it was most popular in the Archaic Period in mainland Greece, and also found in Magna Graecia, as in the three temples at Paestum. These are in the Archaic Doric, where the capitals spread wide from the column compared to later Classical forms, pronounced features of both Greek and Roman versions of the Doric order are the alternating triglyphs and metopes. The triglyphs are decoratively grooved with two vertical grooves and represent the original wooden end-beams, which rest on the plain architrave that occupies the half of the entablature. Under each triglyph are peglike stagons or guttae that appear as if they were hammered in from below to stabilize the post-and-beam construction and they also served to organize rainwater runoff from above. The spaces between the triglyphs are the metopes and they may be left plain, or they may be carved in low relief. The spacing of the triglyphs caused problems which some time to resolve. The architecture followed rules of harmony, since the original design probably came from wooden temples and the triglyphs were real heads of wooden beams, every column had to bear a beam which lay across the centre of the column. Triglyphs were arranged regularly, the last triglyph was centred upon the last column and this was regarded as the ideal solution which had to be reached. Changing to stone instead of wooden beams required full support of the architrave load at the last column. At the first temples the final triglyph was moved, still terminating the sequence, even worse, the last triglyph was not centered with the corresponding column. That “archaic” manner was not regarded as a harmonious design, the resulting problem is called the doric corner conflict
Doric order
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Temple of the Delians,
Delos; 19th century pen-and-wash restoration.
Doric order
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An example of the early archaic Doric order- Temple of Poseidon in
Paestum, Italy.
Doric order
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The Doric order of the
Parthenon
Doric order
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The Roman Doric order from the
Theater of Marcellus: triglyphs centered over the end column
27.
Pier (architecture)
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A pier, in architecture, is an upright support for a structure or superstructure such as an arch or bridge. Sections of structural walls between openings can function as piers, the simplest cross section of the pier is square, or rectangular, but other shapes are also common. In medieval architecture, massive circular supports called drum piers, cruciform piers, columns are a similar upright support, but stand on a round base. In buildings with sequence of bays between piers, each opening between two piers is considered a single bay, single-span bridges have abutments at each end that support the weight of the bridge and serve as retaining walls to resist lateral movement of the earthen fill of the bridge approach. Multi-span bridges require piers to support the ends of spans between these abutments, in cold climates the upstream edge of a pier may include a starkwater to prevent accumulation of broken ice during peak snowmelt flows. The starkwater has a sharpened upstream edge sometimes called a cutwater, the cutwater edge may be of concrete or masonry, but is often capped with a steel angle to resist abrasion and focus force at a single point to fracture floating pieces of ice striking the pier. In the Arc de Triomphe, Paris the central arch and side arches are raised on four massive planar piers, the original plan by Donato Bramante for St Peters Basilica in Rome has richly articulated piers, rendered in solid black. The vaulting they support is in lines, a familiar representation convention in architectural plans. Four piers support the weight of the dome at the central crossing and these piers were found to be too small to support the weight and were changed later by Michelangelo to account for the massive weight of the dome. The piers of the four apses that project from each wall are also strong. Many niches articulate the wall-spaces of the piers, column — pillar Compound pier Pilaster Deep foundation
Pier (architecture)
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The
Pont du Gard (c.19 BC), Nîmes; 3 rows of piers with
arches springing from them support the bridge.
Pier (architecture)
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The
Arc de Triomphe, Paris, supported by 4 massive planar piers.
Pier (architecture)
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Montacute House (c.1598), England: piers of the
long gallery have niches with statues of the '
Nine Worthies '.
28.
Palace of Charles V
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The Palace of Charles V is a Renaissance building in Granada, southern Spain, located on the top of the hill of the Assabica, inside the Nasrid fortification of the Alhambra. The building has never been a home to a monarch and stood roofless until 1957, the structure was commanded by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, who wished to establish his residence close to the Alhambra palaces. Although the Catholic Monarchs had already altered some rooms of the Alhambra after the conquest of the city in 1492, the project was given to Pedro Machuca, an architect whose biography and influences are poorly understood. At the time, Spanish architecture was immersed in the Plateresque style, Machuca built a palace corresponding stylistically to Mannerism, a mode still in its infancy in Italy. The exterior of the uses a typically Renaissance combination of rustication on the lower level. The plan of the palace is a 17-metre high, 63-metre square containing an inner circular patio and this has no precedent in Renaissance architecture, and places the building in the avant-garde of its time. The classical orders are in form except around the central doorways. Both main façades emphasize the portals, made of stone from the Sierra Elvira, the circular patio has also two levels. The lower consists of a Doric colonnade of stone, with an orthodox classical entablature formed of triglyphs. The upper floor is formed by a stylized Ionic colonnade whose entablature has no decoration, the interior spaces and the staircases are also governed by the combination of square and circle. Similar aesthetic devices would be developed in the decades under the classification of Mannerism. The palace was not completed, and remained roofless until the twentieth century. Photo Essay on the Palace of Charles V
Palace of Charles V
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Southern facade of the Palace of Charles V.
Palace of Charles V
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Patio of the Palace of Charles V.
29.
Granada
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Granada is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of four rivers, the Beiro, the Darro, the Genil and the Monachil. It sits at an elevation of 738 m above sea level, yet is only one hour by car from the Mediterranean coast. Nearby is the Sierra Nevada Ski Station, where the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1996 were held, about 3. 3% of the population did not hold Spanish citizenship, the largest number of these people coming from South America. Its nearest airport is Federico García Lorca Granada-Jaén Airport, the Alhambra, a Moorish citadel and palace, is in Granada. It is the most renowned building of the Andalusian Islamic historical legacy with its cultural attractions that make Granada a popular destination among the touristic cities of Spain. The Almohad influence on architecture is preserved in the Granada neighborhood called the Albaicín with its fine examples of Moorish. Granada is also well-known within Spain for the University of Granada which has about 80,000 students spread over five different campuses in the city, the pomegranate is the heraldic device of Granada. The region surrounding what today is Granada has been populated since at least 5500 BC and experienced Roman, the most ancient ruins found in the city belongs to an Iberian oppidum called Ilturir, in the region known as Bastetania. This oppidum eventually changed its name to Iliberri, and after the Roman conquest of Iberia, the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, starting in AD711, brought large parts of the Iberian Peninsula under Moorish control and established Al-Andalus. In the early 11th century, after a war that ended the Caliphate, the Berber, Zawi ben Ziri, established an independent kingdom for himself. Jewish people were established in another close to Illiberis, called Gárnata or Gárnata al-Yahūd. Granadas historical name in the Arabic language was غرناطة, the word Gárnata possibly means hill of strangers. Because the city was situated on a low plain and, as a result, difficult to protect from attacks, in a short time this town was transformed into one of the most important cities of Al-Andalus. By the end of the 11th century, the city had spread across the Darro to reach the hill of the future Alhambra, the Almoravids ruled Granada from 1090 and the Almohad dynasty from 1166. With the Reconquista in full swing after the conquest of Córdoba in 1236, according to some historians, Granada was a tributary state to the Kingdom of Castile since that year. It provided connections with Muslim and Arab trade centers, particularly for gold from sub-Saharan Africa and the Maghreb, the Nasrids also supplied troops from the Emirate and mercenaries from North Africa for service to Castile. Ibn Battuta, a traveler and an authentic historian, visited the Kingdom of Granada in 1350
Granada
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From top left: The
Alhambra,
Generalife, Patio de los Leones in Alhambra, Royal Hall in Alhambra,
Albaicín and
Sacromonte, Huerto del Carlos, in Albaicín, Plaza Nueva, house in Albaicín, façade of the
cathedral, bell tower of the cathedral,
Royal Chapel
Granada
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Arco/puerta de Elvira in Granada
Granada
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Historic map of Granada by
Piri Reis
30.
Giulio Romano
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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
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Titian's Portrait of Giulio Romano (ca. 1536), oil on canvas, 101 x 86 cm
Giulio Romano
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The fall of the Giants, fresco in Sala dei Giganti,
Palazzo del Te,
Mantua
Giulio Romano
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In the
Palazzo Te, Mantua.
Giulio Romano
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Giulio Romano, selfportrait
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