Editing Renaissance architecture (section)

==Early Renaissance==
{{main|Quatrocento}}
The leading architects of the Early Renaissance or Quattrocento were [[Filippo Brunelleschi]], [[Michelozzo]] and [[Leon Battista Alberti]].

===Brunelleschi===
{{main|Filippo Brunelleschi}}
The person generally credited with bringing about the Renaissance view of architecture is Filippo Brunelleschi, (1377–1446).<ref>Cropplestone, Trewin, ''World Architecture'', 1963, Hamlyn. Page 243</ref> The underlying feature of the work of Brunelleschi was "order".
[[File:Piazza SS Annunziata Firenze Apr 2008 (3).JPG|thumb|upright|[[Ospedale degli Innocenti]] in Florence.]]
In the early 15th century, Brunelleschi began to look at the world to see what the rules were that governed one's way of seeing. He observed that the way one sees regular structures such as the [[Florence Baptistery]] and the tiled pavement surrounding it follows a mathematical order – [[linear perspective]].

The buildings remaining among the ruins of ancient Rome appeared to respect a simple mathematical order in the way that Gothic buildings did not. One incontrovertible rule governed all [[Ancient Roman architecture]] – a semi-circular arch is exactly twice as wide as it is high. A fixed proportion with implications of such magnitude occurred nowhere in [[Gothic architecture]]. A Gothic pointed arch could be extended upwards or flattened to any proportion that suited the location. Arches of differing angles frequently occurred within the same structure. No set rules of proportion applied.

From the observation of the architecture of Rome came a desire for symmetry and careful proportion in which the form and composition of the building as a whole and all its subsidiary details have fixed relationships, each section in proportion to the next, and the architectural features serving to define exactly what those rules of proportion are.<ref name= W&M>Robert Erich Wolf and Ronald Millen, ''Renaissance and Mannerist Art'', 1968, Harry N. Abrams.</ref> Brunelleschi gained the support of a number of wealthy Florentine patrons, including the Silk Guild and [[Cosimo de' Medici]].

[[File:Santa Maria del Fiore cupola (1622842169).jpg|thumb|left|The dome of [[Florence Cathedral]]]]

====Florence Cathedral====
{{main|Florence Cathedral}}
Brunelleschi's first major architectural commission was for the enormous brick dome which covers the central space of Florence's cathedral, designed by [[Arnolfo di Cambio]] in the 14th century but left unroofed. While often described as the first building of the Renaissance, Brunelleschi's daring design utilises the pointed Gothic arch and Gothic ribs that were apparently planned by Arnolfo. It seems certain, however, that while stylistically Gothic, in keeping with the building it surmounts, the dome is in fact structurally influenced by the great dome of Ancient Rome, which Brunelleschi could hardly have ignored in seeking a solution. This is the dome of the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]], a circular temple, now a church.

Inside the Pantheon's single-shell concrete dome is coffering which greatly decreases the weight. The vertical partitions of the coffering effectively serve as ribs, although this feature does not dominate visually. At the apex of the Pantheon's dome is an opening, 8 meters across. Brunelleschi was aware that a dome of enormous proportion could in fact be engineered without a keystone. The dome in Florence is supported by the eight large ribs and sixteen more internal ones holding a brick shell, with the bricks arranged in a herringbone manner. Although the techniques employed are different, in practice, both domes comprise a thick network of ribs supporting very much lighter and thinner infilling. And both have a large opening at the top.<ref name=BF />

[[File:Einblick LH2 San Lorenzo Florenz.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The church of San Lorenzo]]

====San Lorenzo====
{{main|Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence}}
The new architectural philosophy of the Renaissance is best demonstrated in the churches of San Lorenzo, and [[Santo Spirito, Florence]]. Designed by Brunelleschi in about 1425 and 1428 respectively, both have the shape of the [[Latin cross]]. Each has a modular plan, each portion being a multiple of the square bay of the aisle. This same formula controlled also the vertical dimensions. In the case of Santo Spirito, which is entirely regular in plan, transepts and chancel are identical, while the nave is an extended version of these. In 1434 Brunelleschi designed the first Renaissance centrally planned building, [[Santa Maria degli Angeli, Florence]]. It is composed of a central [[octagon]] surrounded by a circuit of eight smaller chapels. From this date onwards numerous churches were built in variations of these designs.<ref>Giovanni Fanelli, ''Brunelleschi'', 1980, Becocci editore Firenze</ref>

===Michelozzo===
[[Michelozzo Michelozzi]] (1396–1472), was another architect under patronage of the [[Medici]] family, his most famous work being the [[Palazzo Medici Riccardi]], which he was commissioned to design for [[Cosimo de' Medici]] in 1444. A decade later he built the [[Villa Medici, Fiesole]]. Among his other works for Cosimo are the library at the Convent of [[San Marco, Florence]]. He went into exile in Venice for a time with his patron. He was one of the first architects to work in the Renaissance style outside Italy, building a palace at [[Dubrovnik]].<ref name= I.R. />
[[File:Palazzo medici riccardi 33 Sailko adj.JPG|thumb|left|Palazzo Medici Riccardi by Michelozzo. Florence, 1444]]
The Palazzo Medici Riccardi is Classical in the details of its pedimented windows and recessed doors, but, unlike the works of Brunelleschi and Alberti, there are no [[classical orders]] of columns in evidence. Instead, Michelozzo has respected the Florentine liking for rusticated stone. He has seemingly created three orders out of the three defined rusticated levels, the whole being surmounted by an enormous Roman-style cornice which juts out over the street by 2.5 meters.<ref name=BF />

===Alberti===
[[Leon Battista Alberti]], born in Genoa (1402–1472), was an important [[Humanism|Humanist]] theoretician and designer whose book on architecture ''De re Aedificatoria'' was to have lasting effect. An aspect of [[Renaissance humanism]] was an emphasis of the anatomy of nature, in particular the human form, a science first studied by the Ancient Greeks. Humanism made man the measure of things. Alberti perceived the architect as a person with great social responsibilities.<ref name= I.R. />

[[File:Mantova Concattedrale Sant'Andrea Apostolo Fassade 4.jpg|thumb|right|[[Basilica of Sant'Andrea, Mantua]], the façade]]
He designed a number of buildings, but unlike Brunelleschi, he did not see himself as a builder in a practical sense and so left the supervision of the work to others. Miraculously, one of his greatest designs, that of the [[Basilica of Sant'Andrea, Mantua]], was brought to completion with its character essentially intact. Not so the [[Tempio Malatestiano|Church of San Francesco]] in [[Rimini]], a rebuilding of a Gothic structure, which, like Sant'Andrea, was to have a façade reminiscent of a Roman [[triumphal arch]]. This was left sadly incomplete.<ref name= I.R. />

Sant'Andrea is an extremely dynamic building both without and within. Its triumphal façade is marked by extreme contrasts. The projection of the order of pilasters that define the architectural elements, but are essentially non-functional, is very shallow. This contrasts with the gaping deeply recessed arch which makes a huge portico before the main door. The size of this arch is in direct contrast to the two low square-topped openings that frame it. The light and shade play dramatically over the surface of the building because of the shallowness of its mouldings and the depth of its porch. In the interior Alberti has dispensed with the traditional nave and aisles. Instead there is a slow and majestic progression of alternating tall arches and low square doorways, repeating the "[[triumphal arch]]" motif of the façade.<ref>Joseph Rykwert, ''Leonis Baptiste Alberti'', Architectural Design, Vol 49 No 5–6, Holland St, London</ref>
[[File:Santa Maria Novella.jpg|thumb|left|Façade of [[Santa Maria Novella]], 1456–70]]
Two of Alberti's best known buildings are in Florence, the [[Palazzo Rucellai]] and at [[Santa Maria Novella]]. For the palace, Alberti applied the classical orders of columns to the façade on the three levels, 1446–51. At Santa Maria Novella he was commissioned to finish the decoration of the façade. He completed the design in 1456 but the work was not finished until 1470.

The lower section of the building had Gothic niches and typical polychrome marble decoration. There was a large [[Oculus (architecture)|ocular]] window in the end of the nave which had to be taken into account. Alberti simply respected what was already in place, and the Florentine tradition for polychrome that was well established at the [[Baptistery of Florence|Baptistery of San Giovanni]], the most revered building in the city. The decoration, being mainly polychrome marble, is mostly very flat in nature, but a sort of order is established by the regular compartments and the circular motifs which repeat the shape of the round window.<ref name=BF /> For the first time, Alberti linked the lower roofs of the aisles to nave using two large scrolls. These were to become a standard Renaissance device for solving the problem of different roof heights and bridge the space between horizontal and vertical surfaces.<ref name= Pevs>[[Nikolaus Pevsner]], ''An Outline of European Architecture'', Pelican, 1964, ISBN unknown</ref>