How Did the Art and Architecture Changed From Early Times to the Present

St Peter's Basilica, Rome, showing
Maderno's facade and the adapted
Dome, originally designed by
Michelangelo. Renaissance style.

Taj Mahal, India (1632-54)
A superb example of Mughal
(Mogul) compages.

Resource
For architectural terms, see:
Architecture Glossary.
To see how architecture fits
into the evolution of fine arts,
see:: History of Fine art.

Human relationship Betwixt Architecture and Art

Ever since Antiquity, architecture - the art of designing and constructing buildings - has always been closely intertwined with the history of art, for at to the lowest degree three reasons. First, many public works (particularly religious buildings) were designed with aesthetics in mind, likewise as functionality. They were built to inspire as well equally serve a public office. Equally a result, they involved the services of a wide range of 'artists' and decorative craftsmen as well every bit labourers. Second, in many of these buildings, the exteriors and interiors acted as showcases for fine art painting (eg. Sistine Chapel), frieze and relief sculpture (eg. The Parthenon, European Gothic cathedrals), stained glass art (eg. Chartres Cathedral), and other artworks similar mosaics and metalwork. Thirdly, public building programs typically went paw in hand with the development of visual art, and most major 'arts' movements (eg. Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassical) influenced both architecture and the fine arts.

Ancient Architecture

Early architecture had ii main functions: (1) to consolidate security and ability; (ii) to delight the Gods. The richer the society, the more than important these functions became. Run across also: History of Art: Timeline.

Egyptian Compages

The beginning great civilization to emerge around the Mediterranean basin was that of Arab republic of egypt (c.3100-2040 BCE). In addition to its own written linguistic communication, religion and dynastic ruling class, it developed a unique fashion of Egyptian architecture, largely consisting of massive burial chambers in the form of Pyramids (at Giza) and underground tombs (in the desolate Valley of the Kings, Luxor). Design was monumental simply not architecturally circuitous and employed posts and lintels, rather than arches, although Egyptian expertise in stone had a strong influence on subsequently Greek compages. Famous examples of Egyptian pyramid architecture include: The Stride Pyramid of Djoser (c.2630 BCE) designed by Imhotep - ane of the greatest architects of the aboriginal world - and The Keen Pyramid at Giza (c.2550 BCE), as well chosen the Pyramid of Khufu or 'Pyramid of Cheops' - the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the World, as compiled by Antipater of Sidon (170-120 BCE). Later, during the Eye and Late Kingdoms (c.2040-300 CE), the Egyptians synthetic a series of palaces at Karnak (eg. Temple of Amon, 1530 BCE onwards). These structures were adorned with a various range of artworks - few of which survive - including murals, panel paintings, sculptures, and metalwork, depicting various Gods, deities, rulers and symbolic animals in the unique Egyptian hieratic fashion of art, together with hieroglyphic inscriptions. For more specific details, see: Early Egyptian Architecture (3100-2181); Egyptian Eye Kingdom Compages (2055-1650); Egyptian New Kingdom Architecture (1550-1069); Late Egyptian Architecture (1069 BCE - 200 CE).

For a comparing with the pyramid compages of the early Americas, see: Pre-Columbian Fine art (c.1200 BCE - 1535 CE).

Sumerian Architecture

Meanwhile, in Mesopotamia and Persia (c.3200-323 BCE), the Sumerian civilisation was developing its own unique edifice - a type of stepped pyramid chosen a ziggurat. But in contrast to the pyramids of the Egyptian Pharaohs, ziggurats were non congenital as tombs but as homo-made mountains to bring the Sumerian rulers and people closer to their Gods who supposedly dwelt high up in mountains to the e. Ziggurats were constructed from clay-fired bricks, ofttimes finished with coloured glazes. For more than details, see: Sumerian Fine art (c.4500-2270 BCE). For other cultures of ancient Iraq, encounter: Assyrian art (c.1500-612 BCE) and Hittite art (c.1600-1180 BCE). For an overall view, see: Mesopotamian art (c.4500-539). Run across also: Prehistoric Art Timeline.

Early Irish gaelic Architecture

Towards the end of the Stone Age, formalism megaliths (structures congenital from big stones) like the Knowth megalithic tomb (c.3300 BCE) and Newgrange passage tomb, began to appear in Northern Europe (This form of Megalithic fine art is exemplified by the Stonehenge stone circle.) Either arranged upright in the open, or buried and roofed over to class a 'dolmen', these heavy stone structures are believed by about archeologists to take had a religious or ritualistic function, and in some cases the alignment of their stones reveals a sophisticated knowledge of astronomy. The complex engravings unearthed at Newgrange marking the offset of visual arts in Ireland. For more well-nigh ancient and medieval buildings, please encounter Architectural Monuments of Ireland. For older types of historical site, run into Archeological Monuments of Ireland.

Minoan Architecture

The first European fine art of Classical Antiquity was created by the Minoans, based on the island of Crete. Minoan architecture utilized a mixture of stone, mud-brick and plaster to construct elaborate palaces (eg. Palace of Knossos c.1700-1400 BCE) as well as domed burial chambers (tholos) hidden in the hills. Many of these buildings were decorated with colourful murals and fresco paintings, depicting mythological animal symbols (eg. the bull) and events. Unfortunately most Minoan architecture was destroyed by earthquakes around 1200 BCE. Crete was and so taken over by the Myceneans from mainland Greece, from where a unified Greek culture and civilization emerged a few centuries later.

Greek Architecture

The history of fine art and architecture in Ancient Hellenic republic is divided into iii basic eras: the Archaic Flow (c.600-500 BCE), the Classical Period (c.500-323 BCE) and the Hellenistic Flow (c.323-27 BCE). [Meet also: Aegean art.] About 600 BCE, inspired by the theory and exercise of earlier Egyptian stone masons and builders, the Greeks set about replacing the wooden structures of their public buildings with stone structures - a process known as 'petrification'. Limestone and marble was employed for columns and walls, while terracotta was used for roof tiles and ornaments. Ornament was done in metal, similar bronze.

Like painters and sculptors, Greek architects enjoyed none of the enhanced status accorded to their successors. They were not seen equally artists but every bit tradesmen. Thus no names of architects are known before about the 5th century BCE. The about mutual types of public buildings were temples, municipal structures, theatres and sports stadiums.

Architectural Methods of Ancient Greece

Greek architecture used simple post-and-lintel edifice techniques. It wasn't until the Roman era that the curvation was developed in order to span greater distances. As a result, Greek architects were forced to utilise a peachy many more than stone columns to back up brusque horizontal beams overhead. Moreover, they could not construct buildings with large interior spaces, without having rows of internal support columns. The standard structure format, used in public buildings like the Hephaesteum at Athens, employed big blocks of limestone or a lite porous stone known as tuff. Marble, existence scarcer and more than valuable was reserved for sculptural decoration, except in the grandest buildings, such equally the Parthenon on the Acropolis.

Greek Building Pattern

The typical rectangular building pattern was often surrounded by a columns on all iv sides (eg. the Parthenon) or more than rarely at the front and rear but (eg the Temple of Athena Nike). Roofs were laid with timber beams covered by terra cotta tiles, and were not domed. Pediments (the flattened triangular shape at each gable end of the building) were usually filled with sculptural ornament or friezes, as was the row of lintels along the peak of each side wall, between the roof and the tops of the columns. In the belatedly 4th and 5th centuries BCE, Greek architects began to depart from the strictly rectangular plan of traditional temples in favour of a circular structure (the tholos), embellished with blackness marble to highlight certain architectural elements and provide rich color contrasts.

These buildings were famously adorned with a huge range of Greek sculpture - pedimental works, friezes, reliefs and various types of free-standing statue - of a figurative nature, depicting mythological heroes and events in Greek history and culture.

Principles of Greek Architecture: Classical Orders

The theory of Greek architecture - arguably the most influential grade of classical Greek art - was based on a system of 'Classical Orders' - rules for building design based on proportions of and between the private parts. This resulted in an aesthetically pleasing consistency of appearance regardless of size or materials used. There were three orders in early Greek architecture: the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. The Doric way was common in mainland Hellenic republic and later spread to the Greek colonies in Italy. The Ionic style was employed in the cities of Ionia along the w declension of Turkey and other islands in the Aegean. Where the Doric style was formal and austere, the Ionic was less restrained and more decorative. The third style, Corinthian, came subsequently and represented a more ornate development of the Ionic social club. The differences between these styles is virtually manifestly visible in the ratio betwixt the base of operations diameter and superlative of their columns. Doric compages (exemplified by Greek structures, similar the Parthenon and the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens) was more pop during the Classical age, while the Ionic fashion gained the upper hand during the more relaxed menstruum of Hellenistic Art (c.323-30 BCE).

Famous Buildings of Ancient Greece

Famous examples of ancient Greek architecture include: the Acropolis complex (550-404 BCE) including the Parthenon (447-422 BCE), the Temples at Paestum (550 BCE onwards), the Temple of Zeus at Olympia (468-456 BCE), the Temple of Hephaistos (c.449 BCE), the Temple of Athena Nike (427 BCE), the Theatre at Delphi (c.400 BCE), the Tholos Temple of Athena Pronaia (380-360 BCE), and the Pergamon Altar of Zeus (c.166-156 BCE). See as well: Sculpture of Ancient Greece.

Roman Architecture

Different the more artistic and intellectual Greeks, the Romans were essentially practical people with a flair for engineering science, construction and military matters. In their architecture, as in their art, they borrowed heavily from both the Etruscans (eg. in their utilize of hydraulics for swamp-clearing and in the structure of arches), and also the Greeks, whom they regarded as their superiors in all visual arts. However, without Roman fine art - with its genius for copying and adapting Greek styles - most of the artistic achievements of Greek artifact would have been lost.

Architectural Priorities of Ancient Rome

Roman architecture served the needs of the Roman land, which was keen to impress, entertain and cater for a growing population in relatively confined urban areas. Drainage was a common trouble, equally was security. This, together with Rome'due south growing desire to increase its power and majesty throughout Italy and beyond, required public buildings to exist imposing, large-calibration and highly functional. This is exemplified by Roman architectural achievements in drainage systems, aqueducts (eg. the aqueduct at Segovia, 100 CE, and over 11 aqueducts in the metropolis of Rome itself, such as Aqua Claudia and Anio Novus), bridges (eg. the Pont du Gard) roads, municipal structures like public baths (eg. the Baths of Caracalla and the Baths of Diocletian), sports facilities and amphitheatres (eg. the Colosseum 72-80 CE), even fundamental heating systems. Numerous temples and theatres were also built. Later on, as their empire spread, the Roman architects seized the opportunity to create new towns from scratch, designing urban grid-plans based on two wide streets - a due north-due south axis (the cardo) and an east-west axis (the decumanus). The town eye was located at the intersection of the two roads. They as well built upward; for instance, Ostia, a rich port urban center most Rome, boasted a number of v-storey apartment blocks.

Architectural Advances: Arches & Concrete

Roman architecture was assisted by major advances in both design and new materials. Pattern was enhanced through architectural developments in the structure of arches and roof domes. Arches improved the efficiency and capability of bridges and aqueducts (fewer support columns were needed to back up the structure), while domed roofs non but permitted the building of larger open areas nether comprehend, simply also lent the exterior an impressive appearance of grandeur and majesty, as in several of import secular and Christian basilicas, similar the Pantheon.

Developments in materials were also crucial, every bit chronicled by the Roman architect Vitruvius (c.78-10 BCE) in his volume De Architectura. This is exemplified by the Roman invention of concrete (opus cementicium), a mixture of lime mortar, sand, water, and stones, in the 3rd century BCE. This exceptionally stiff and convenient substitute for stone revolutionized Roman engineering and compages. As tile-covered concrete began to replace marble as the master edifice textile, architects could exist more than daring. Buildings were freed from the rectangular Greek design-plan (with its undomed roofs and lines of pillars supporting flat architraves) and became less geometric and more free-flowing.

Like their Egyptian and the Greek predecessors, architects in aboriginal Rome embellished their public buildings with a wide range of artworks, including: Roman sculpture (especially reliefs, statues and busts of the Emperor), fresco murals, and mosaics.

Famous Buildings of Ancient Rome

2 of the greatest structures of Aboriginal Rome were the Colosseum (the elliptical Flavian amphitheatre in the eye of Rome) and Trajan's Column (a monument to the Emperor Trajan). Situated to the eastward of the Roman Forum, the Colosseum took 8 years to build, had seating for l,000 spectators. Historians and archeologists approximate that a staggering 500,000 people and over 1 one thousand thousand wild animals perished in the 'games' at the Colosseum. Trajan'south Cavalcade, located close to the Quirinal Hill, north of the Roman Forum, was finished in 113 CE. It is renowned for its magnificent and highly detailed screw bas relief sculpture, which circles the shaft of the monument 23 times, and narrates Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. The shaft itself is made from twenty huge blocks of Carrara marble, each weighing almost 40 tons. It stands virtually thirty metres in meridian and 4 metres in width. A smaller but no less important Roman monument was the Ara Pacis Augustae (13-9 BCE).

Impact of Politics and Religion on Roman Architecture

In 330 CE, nearly the time St Peter'southward Basilica was completed, the Roman Emperor Constantine I declared that the city of Byzantium (afterwards renamed Constantinople, now Istanbul in Turkey), was to be the capital of the Roman Empire. Later, in 395 CE, following the death of Emperor Theodosius, the empire was divided into 2 parts: a Western one-half based kickoff in Rome until it was sacked in the fifth century CE, then Ravenna (See Ravenna mosaics); and an eastern half based in the more secure city of Constantinople. In addition, Christianity (previously a minority sect) was alleged the sole official religion throughout the empire. These twin developments impacted on architecture in two ways: first, relocation to Constantinople helped to preserve and prolong Roman culture, which might otherwise have been destroyed by the barbaric invaders of Italia; 2d, the emergence of Christianity provided what became the dominant theme of compages and the visual arts for the next one,200 years.

Byzantine Architecture (330-554 CE)

Byzantine architects - including numerous Italians who had moved to the new capital letter from Italy - connected the gratis-flowing tradition of Roman compages, constructing a number of magnificent churches and religious buildings, during the era of early Christian fine art, such as: the Chora Church (c.333) the Hagia Irene (c.360) and the Church of St. Sergius and Bacchus, all in Istanbul; the Church building of St. Sophia in Sofia, Bulgaria (527-65), the awesome Hagia Sophia (532-37) which replaced the sacked Cathedral of Constantinople, and the Church of Hagia Sophia in Thessaloniki. Great secular buildings included: the Great Palace of Constantinople, and Basilica Cistern.

New architectural techniques included the use of concave triangular sections of masonry, known equally pendentives, in order to carry the weight of the ceiling dome to corner piers. This led to the structure of larger and more magnificent domes, and greater open space inside the building, as exemplified in the Hagia Sophia. New decorative methods included the introduction of dazzling mosaics made from drinking glass, rather than rock used by the Romans. The interiors of churches were also richly decorated with Byzantine art, such every bit gilding, murals and relief sculptures - but not statues every bit these were non venerated as icons.

Use of Icons in Byzantine Religious Architecture

In the Byzantine or Eastern Orthodox tradition of Christian art, simply flat images or low relief sculptures are permissible in religious art. This cultural tradition held that three-dimensional representations glorified the human aspect of the flesh rather than the divine nature of the spirit, thus information technology opposed 3-D religious imagery. (The Roman Christians, did not prefer these prohibitions, thus we all the same accept religious sculpture in Catholic and Protestant architecture.) Every bit it was, the Byzantine style of iconography developed in a highly stylised manner and aimed to present complex theology in a very uncomplicated way, making it possible to brainwash and inspire fifty-fifty the illiterate. For example, colour was very important: aureate represented the radiance of Heaven; red, the divine life; blue was the colour of man life; white was the uncreated essence of God, used for example in the icon painting of the Resurrection of Christ. Typically, Jesus wears a red undergarment with a blue outer-garment (signifying God condign Human being), while Mary wears a blue undergarment with a red outer-garment (signifying that humans tin can actually reach God). For more information, see: Christian Fine art (Byzantine Menstruum).

Developments (600-1450)

Later the Early menstruation of Byzantine architecture (c.300-600), which was largely a continuation of Roman architecture, in that location came a Middle Flow (c.600-1100), notable only for the popularity of the cantankerous-in-foursquare blazon architectural church building design (examples include the monastery of Hosios Lukas in Greece (c.g), and the Daphni Monastery most Athens (c.1050); later this came the Comnenian and Paleologan periods (c.1100-1450), known just for rare achievements similar Elmali Kilise and other rock sanctuaries of Cappadocia, the Churches of the Pantokrator and of the Theotokos Kyriotissa in Constantinople.

As the Eastern Roman Empire connected, Byzantine compages gradually became more than influenced by eastern traditions of construction and ornamentation. Buildings increased in geometric complexity, while brick and plaster were employed in addition to stone for decorative purposes, like the external zig-zag patterns. The previous 'Classical Orders' or styles were interpreted more freely, and windows filtered light through thin sheets of alabaster to create softer illumination. The 2 basic design-plans were the basilican, or centric, blazon (eg. The basilica at the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem) and the circular, or cardinal, type (eg. the great octagonal church at Antioch).

Byzantine Architectural Legacy

In the Due west, Byzantine designs influenced the European creative revival in the grade of Carolingian Art (750-900) and Ottonian Art (900-1050), which led into Romanesque and Gothic architecture. In the East, it continued to exert a pregnant influence on early on Islamic art and compages, as exemplified by the Umayyad Great Mosque of Damascus and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, while in Republic of bulgaria, Russia, Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine and other Orthodox countries, it endured even longer.

Romanesque Style

The term Romanesque compages is sometimes used to cover all firsthand derivations of Roman architecture in the W, following the collapse of Rome until the flowering of the Gothic style in about 1200. More than usually still, information technology denotes a distinctive style that emerged most simultaneously in France, Frg, Italy and Kingdom of spain (the latter too influenced by Moorish designs) in the 11th century. It is characterized almost plain by a new massiveness of scale, inspired by the greater economic and political stability that arrived after centuries of turmoil.

Charlemagne I and Otto I

The Romanesque revival of medieval Christian art began with Charlemagne I, Rex of the Franks, who was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in St. Peter's Rome, by Pope Leo III in 800. Famous for his Carolingian art, curiously, his major architectural achievement - the Palatine Chapel in Aachen (c.800) - was non inspired by St Peter's or other churches in Rome, just by the octagonal Byzantine-style Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. Run across besides Medieval Sculpture.

Unfortunately, the Carolingian empire rapidly dissolved, but Charlemagne'southward patronage of compages and the arts to promote Christianity, marked a vital first stride in the re-emergence of a European-wide culture. Moreover, many of the Romanesque and Gothic churches and monasteries were congenital on the foundations of Carolingian architecture. Charlemagne's pre-Romanesque architectural efforts were later continued past Otto one (Holy Roman Emperor 936-73), in a style known as Ottonian Art, which gave manner to the fully fledged 'Romanesque.' (Note: the Romanesque manner in England and Republic of ireland is commonly referred to as Norman architecture.)

Religion

Christianity continued to be the dominant driving force for most significant building works. The flowering of the Romanesque manner in the 11th century coincided with the reassertiveness of Rome, as the upper-case letter of Christianity, and its influence upon secular government led to the Christian re-conquest of Spain (began 1031) and the Crusades to free the Holy Land from Islamic control. The acquisition of Holy Relics by the Crusaders, together with the fervour aroused by their campaigns, triggered the construction of a moving ridge of new churches and cathedrals beyond Europe. In Italy, they include the Cathedral of Pisa with its famous leaning campanile (bong tower), Modena Cathedral and Parma Cathedral, equally well as famous churches like the Santa Maria (Rome), the Baptistery (Florence), and San Zeno Maggiore (Verona). In France, they include Laon Cathedral (among others), and the abbeys of Cluny, Aux Dames (Caen) and Les Hommes (Mont Saint-Michel). In England, they include 26 out of 27 ancient Cathedrals, such as Winchester, Ely and Durham. In Federal republic of germany, they include Augsburg and Worms Cathedrals (among others) and the abbeys of Mainz, Worms, Speyer and Bamberg. (Come across German Medieval Art.) In addition to its influence over international politics, the Roman Church also exercised growing power through its network of Bishops and its close association with Monastic orders such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, Carthusians and Augustinian Canons. From these monasteries, Bishops and Abbots exercised a growing administrative power over the local population, and devoted huge resources to religious works, including illuminated gospel manuscripts, cultural scholarship, metalwork, sculpture and church building building. This is exemplified by the powerful Benedictine monastery at Cluny in Burgundy, whose abbey church typified the Romanesque style of architecture and became the largest building in Europe until the Renaissance.

Features of Romanesque Compages

Although they relied on several blueprint features from Greek and Roman Antiquity, Romanesque architects had neither the imagination of the Greeks, nor the engineering ability of the Romans. For example, Roman building techniques in brick and stone were largely lost in most parts of Europe. In general, the style employed thick walls, circular arches, piers, columnsgroin vaults, narrow slit-windows, large towers and decorative arcading. The basic load of the edifice was carried not its arches or columns but by its massive walls. And its roofs, vaults and buttresses were relatively primitive in comparing with later styles. Interiors were heavy with rock, had dim lighting and - compared with later Gothic styles - unproblematic unadorned lines. Romanesque churches tended to follow a conspicuously defined form, and are recognizable throughout Europe. Only rarely did one come across traces of Byzantine or Eastern influence, except along trade routes. A notable example is the domed St Marker'due south Basilica in Venice.

Despite its relative simplicity of manner, Romanesque architecture did reinstigate two important forms of fine art: sculpture (which had largely disappeared since the autumn of Rome) and stained drinking glass. But given the size of windows in Romanesque fashion buildings, the latter remained a relatively minor element in Medieval art until the advent of Gothic designs. See too: Romanesque Sculpture.

Romanesque Revival architecture was a 19th century style championed by architects like the Louisiana-born Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-86), who was responsible for "Richardsonian Romanesque", as exemplified by the Marshall Field Wholesale Store (1885-87), in Chicago.

NOTE: For a comparison with Eastern designs of the aforementioned catamenia, see: the 11th century Kandariya Mahadeva Hindu Temple (1017-29) in India; and the 12th century Angkor Wat Khmer Temple (1115-45) in Cambodia.

Gothic Architecture

The term 'Gothic' denotes a style of compages and art that superceded Romanesque, from the mid-12th century to the mid-15th century. Coined originally as a term of abuse by Italian Renaissance artists and others similar Christopher Wren, to describe the type of Medieval compages they considered barbaric, as if to suggest it was created by Gothic tribes who had destroyed classical fine art of Antiquity, the Gothic art style is characterized past the use of pointed arches, thinner walls, ribbed vaults, flying buttresses, huge stained glass windows and elaborate tracery. Recall of it as a sort of finer, more vertical, more detailed, brighter, more than exciting and more inspirational grade of Romanesque. The Gothic fashion as applied to cathedrals is normally divided into ii variations: Rayonnant Gothic Architecture (c.1200-1350) and Flamboyant Gothic Architecture (1375-1500). Modern critics like John Ruskin had a high opinion of the Gothic mode. For more, run into: Gothic Architecture. Encounter also: Gothic Sculpture.

Groundwork

The 12th century was a menstruation of growth in trade and urban evolution throughout Europe. This inceasing prosperity, together with advances in science and geometry, plus new ideas about how cathedrals could exist built in lodge to inspire religious devotion among the masses, were all important factors in the evolution of gothic compages. Although the new style was closely associated with the promotion of religion, and although much of the gothic building program was financed by monastic orders and local bishops, it was non a religious architectural move. In a mode, Christianity was a product brand used past secular government, to compete for prestige and influence. Every bit a upshot, Kings and bottom administrators saw cathedrals every bit major civic and commercial assets, and supported their construction accordingly.

Central Feature of Gothic Architecture

The principal feature of the Gothic mode is the pointed curvation, believed by many experts to originate in Assyrian, and later, Islamic architecture. This characteristic, which channeled the weight of the ceiling onto weight-bearing piers or columns at a much steeper angle than was previously possible with the Romanesque 'rounded' arches, permitted architects to raise vaults much higher and thus create the impression of 'reaching towards sky'. It also led to the adoption of numerous other features. Instead of massively thick walls, modest windows and dim interiors, the new Gothic buildings had thin walls, oft supported by flight buttresses, and huge stained drinking glass windows, as exemplified by Sainte Chapelle (1241-48) in Paris. The soaring ceilings and brighter light revolutionized ecclesistical design by tranforming the interior of many cathedrals into inspirational sanctuaries. (See also: Stained Glass Art: Materials and Methods.)

The Gothic Cathedral - A Mini-Universe

In keeping with the new and more confident philosophy of the age, the Gothic cathedral was seen past architects and churchmen as representing the universe in miniature. Each chemical element of the building's blueprint was intended to convey a theological message: the awesome celebrity of God. Thus the logical and ordered nature of the structure reflected the clarity and rationality of God'south universe, while the sculptures, stained glass windows and murals illustrated the moral letters of the Bible.

The Church of Saint-Denis (c.1137-41)

The edifice which marks the real beginning of the Gothic era was the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis, near Paris. Begun nether the direction of Abbot Suger, friend of the French Kings, Louis Six and Louis 7, the church building was the first structure to use and unify all of the elements that define Gothic every bit an architectural style. Although pointed arches, column clusters and cross-rib vaulting had all been used before, it wasn't until Saint-Denis that these features came together in a coherent whole, and the building became a sort of image for more than churches and cathedrals in the region known equally the Ile de France. In due class, the style spread throughout France, England, the Low Countries, Federal republic of germany, Kingdom of spain and Italy. (Come across also: English Gothic Sculpture and German Gothic Sculpture.)

Examples of Ecclesiastical Gothic Compages

Although used in the pattern and construction of palaces, castles, municipal boondocks halls, order halls, abbeys and universities, the Gothic style is best exemplified by the Gothic cathedrals of Northern France. The greatest examples include: Notre-Dame Cathedral Paris (1163-1345); Reims Cathedral (1211-1275); Chartres Cathedral (1194-1250); and Amiens Cathedral (1220-1270); (in Germany) Cologne Cathedral (1248-1880); (in Austria) St Stephen's Cathedral Vienna; (in Spain) the cathedrals of Burgos, Toledo and Leon; (in Italy) Florence, Milan and Siena; while English Gothic compages is best represented by Westminster Abbey, York Minster and the cathedrals of Salisbury, Exeter, Winchester, Canterbury and Lincoln.

Renaissance-Fashion Architecture (1400-1620)

Groundwork

Financed by commercial prosperity and competition between urban center-states, such as Florence, Rome and Venice, also as rich families like the Medici cyberbanking dynasty in Florence and the Fuggers cyberbanking family in Germany, the Renaissance was neverthess a triumph of will over world events. Non long earlier, there had been a run of disastrous European harvests (1315-nineteen); the Black Death plague (1346) which wiped out one tertiary of the European population; the 100 Years War betwixt England and French republic (1339-1439), and the Christian Church building was polarized by schism. Hardly ideal conditions for the rebirth or rinacimento that followed. Every bit it was, the 16th century Popes in Rome almost bankrupted the Church in the early 16th century due to their profligate financing of fine buildings and the visual arts.

Architectural Style

Renaissance architecture was catalyzed by the rediscovery of architectural styles and theories of Ancient Rome. The first depictions of this Classical architecture emerged in Italy during the early 15th century when a re-create of De Architectura ("Ten Books Conerning Architecture") by the 1st century Roman architect Vitruvius, was sudddenly unearthed in Rome. At the same fourth dimension, the Florentine builder and creative person Filippo Brunellesci (1377-1446) had begun studying aboriginal Roman designs, and was convinced that ideal edifice proportions could be ascertained from mathematical and geometrical principles. Information technology was Brunellesci's magnificent 1418 design for the dome of the Florence Cathedral (1420-36) - now regarded every bit the showtime case of Renaissance architecture - which ushered in a new mode based on the long-neglected placement and proportion rules of Classical Artifact.

Famous Renaissance Architects

Another of import Renaissance architect was Leon Battista Alberti (1404-72), who is even so revered equally one of the founders of modern architectural theory. Assertive that platonic architectural design was based on the harmony of structure, function and ornament, he was greatly inspired past the theory and practice of aboriginal Roman architects and engineers.

Other famous Italian architects included: (1) Donato Bramante (1444-1514), the leading designer of the Loftier Renaissance; (2) Guiliano da Sangallo (1443-1516), an of import intermediary builder between the Early and High Renaissance periods; (three) Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), a leading architect, as well equally one of the greatest sculptors and painters of the age; (4) Baldassare Peruzzi (1481-1536), an important builder and interior designer; (five) Raffaello Santi (Raphael) (1483-1520), a visionary designer also as painter; (half-dozen) Michele Sanmicheli (1484-1559), the nearly famous educatee of Bramante; (7 & 8) Jacopo Sansovino (1486-1570) and Andrea Palladio (1508-1580), the ii meridian figures in Venetian Renaissance architecture; (9) Giulio Romano (1499-1546), the master exponent of Italian Mannerist-manner architecture; (10) Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) who designed the loggia for the Uffizi gallery and the connecting Vasari Corridor; and (eleven) Vincenzo Scamozzi (1548-1616) i of the great theorists of the late Renaissance.

Features of Renaissance Architecture

Put simply, Renaissance buildings were modelled on the classical compages of the Greeks and Romans, but retained modern features of Byzantine and Gothic invention, such equally complex domes and towers. In improver, while replicating and improving on Classical scupture, they also incorporated mod mosaics and stained glass, along with outstanding fresco murals. Renaissance architecture can exist seen in countless examples of churches, cathedrals and municipal buildings across Europe, (eg. in many French Chateaux, such as Fontainebleau Chateau, home of the Fontainebleau School: 1528-1610) and its fashion has been reapplied in subsequently ages to famous structures every bit diverse every bit the US Capitol and the Uk National Gallery. (In England, the style is sometimes known as Elizabethan architecture.)

Supreme Examples of Renaissance Compages

The two greatest Renaissance-manner structures are undoubtedly the redesigned St Peter'southward Basilica in Rome and the cathedral in Florence, both of which were highlights of the Grand Bout (1650-1850).

Inspired by civic rivalry betwixt the Ducal States, Brunellesci's dome made the Florentine cathedral the tallest building in Tuscany. In its architectural design, it combined the Gothic tradition of stone vaulting and the principles of Roman engineering. Its herring-bone bonding of brickwork and concentric rings of masonry blocks dispensed with the need for centring, which was unmanagable at the elevation involved.

Commissioned by Pope Julius II (1443-1513), the rebuilding of the 1,100 yr erstwhile church building of St Peter's in Rome (1506-1626) was the work of numerous architects, including Bramante, Raphael, Sangallo, Maderno, Michelangelo and Bernini, and extended beyond the High Renaissance into the Mannerist and Baroque eras. Its features include a 87-feet high lantern on top of a huge ovoid dome (altered from Michelangelo's hemispherical design due to fears of instability), and a frontal facade incorporating a gigantic Order of pilastered Corinthian columns, each 90 feet high. At 452 feet, St Peter's is taller than any other Renaissance church.

More Data
• Proto-Renaissance Fine art
• Early Renaissance Art
• High Renaissance Art

Bizarre Compages (1550-1790)

Equally the 16th century unfolded, the religious, political and philosophical certainties which had prevailed during the Early (c.1400-85) and High (1486-1520) Renaissance periods, began to unravel. In 1517, Martin Luther sparked the Protestant Reformation, casting European-wide doubt on the integrity and theology of the Roman Church. This was the catalyst for several wars involving France, Italy, Kingdom of spain and England, and led direct to the Counter-Reformation movement, launched by Rome, to attract the masses abroad from Protestantism. Renewed patronage of the visual arts and compages was a key instrument in this propaganda campaign, and resulted in a grander, more than dramatic fashion in both areas. For the rest of the century, this more dynamic style was known as Mannerism (fashion-ishness), and thereafter, Baroque - a term derived from the Portugese word barocco, meaning 'an irregular pearl'.

Key Features of the Bizarre Style

Bizarre compages can be seen as a more than circuitous, more than detailed, more elaborate, more than ornamented form of Renaissance architecture. More than swirls, more complex manipulation of low-cal, colour, texture and perspective. On the outside of its churches, it featured more ostentatious facades, domes, columns, sculpture and other embellishments. On the inside, its flooring-plans were more than varied. Long, narrow naves were displaced by wider, sometimes circular shapes; split up chapels and other areas were created, along with trompe l'oeil furnishings; ceilings were covered in fresco paintings. The whole thing was designed to interest, if not dazzle, the spectator.

Baroque was an emotional mode of compages, and took total reward of the theatrical potential of the urban landscape. This is exemplified above all past Saint Peter's Square (1656-67) in Rome, in front of the domed St Peter'south Basilica. Its architect, Giovanni/Gianlorenzo Bernini rings the square with colonnades, which widen slightly as they approach the cathedral, conveying the impression to visitors that they are existence embraced by the arms of the Cosmic Church building. The entire arroyo is constructed on a gigantic calibration, to induce feelings of awe.

In general, Baroque architecture constituted part of the struggle for religious superiority and for the hearts and minds of worshippers across Europe. On a more political level, secular Baroque architecture was employed to buttress the authoritarianism of reigning monarchs, like King Louis XIV of France, among others. From Italy, it spread to the rest of Europe - especially Catholic Europe - where each country typically adult its own interpretation. Run across besides: German Baroque Fine art.

Celebrated Baroque Architects

Famous Bizarre architects included: Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola (1507-73), papal architect to Pope Julius 3 and the Farnese family; Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), a designer who perfectly expressed the ideals of the Counter Reformation; Francesco Borromini (1599-1667), a lifelong rival of Bernini; Pietro Berrettini da Cortona (1596-1669), a protege of Pope Urban Eight (see likewise quadratura); Francois Mansart (1598-1666), designer of French townhouses and chateaux similar the Château de Maisons, whose name was given to the mansard roof (sic); his groovy-nephew Jules Hardouin Mansart (1646-1708), designer of the great dome of Les Invalides in Paris; and Louis Le Vau (1612-70), another famous French Baroque builder, responsible for the church building of Saint-Sulpice in Paris and the Wings of the Louvre. Jules Hardouin Mansart and Louis Le Vau were the principal architects of the Palace of Versailles (begun 1623), creating such extravagancies as the Hall of Mirrors and the Marble Court. In Germany, an iconic Bizarre structure is the Wurzburg Residenz (1720-44), designed past Balthasar Neumann (1687-1753).

In England, the leader of the Baroque style was Sir John Vanbrugh (1664-1726), designer of Blenheim Palace; while in Russian federation, Bartolomeo Rastrelli (1700-1771) was chiefly responsible for the way known every bit Russian Baroque, but which incorporated elements of both early Neoclassical and Rococo architecture. Rastrelli designed the Winter Palace (1754-62), Smolny Cathedral (1748-57) in St Petersburg, and redesigned Catherine'southward Palace, outside the metropolis.

Rococo Architecture (1715-89)

During the final phase of Bizarre, the reign of King Louis Xv of France witnessed a defection against the earlier Baroque style of Louis Xiv'south court, and the emergence of a more decorative, playful fashion of architecture, known equally Rococo. An constructing of the words 'rocaille' (rock) and 'coquillage' (sells), reflecting its abundance of flowing curved forms, Rococo was championed past Nicolas Pineau, who partnered Jules Hardouin-Mansart in designing interiors for the regal Château de Marly.

Unlike other major architectural movements, similar Romanesque, Gothic or Baroque, Rococo was really concerned with interior design. This was because it emerged and remained centred in France, where rich patrons were unwilling to rebuild houses and chateaux, preferring instead to remodel their interiors. And the manner was far too whimsical and light-hearted for the exteriors of religious and borough buildings. As a result, Rococo architects - in effect, interior designers - confined themselves to creating elaborately decorated rooms, whose plasterwork, murals, tapestries, piece of furniture, mirrors, porcelain, silks, chinoiserie and other embellishments presented the visitor with a consummate aesthetic experience - a total work of art (but hardly compages!)

Rococo perfectly reflected the decadent indolence and degeneracy of the French Regal Court and High Society. Peradventure because of this, although it spread from France to Federal republic of germany, where information technology proved more popular with Catholics than Protestants, it was less well received in other European countries like England, The Low Countries, Espana and even Italy. It was swept away past the French Revolution and by the sterner Neoclassicism which heralded a render to Classical values and styles, more in keeping with the Age of Enlightenment and Reason.

Neoclassical Architecture (1640-1850)

Early Neoclassical Forms

Neoclassicism did not appear overnight. In its early forms (1640-1750), it co-existed with Baroque, and functioned as a corrective fashion to the latter'due south more flamboyant excesses. Thus in England, Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723) designed St Paul's Cathedral, the Regal Observatory in Greenwich, the Royal Chelsea Hospital and the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford, in a fashion which is much more classicist than Bizarre, fifty-fifty though he is still classified as a Baroque architect. Other early English Neoclassicist designers included Inigo Jones (1573-1652) and William Kent (1685-1748).

Features of Neoclassicism Proper (1750-1850)

A timely back up for ancien regimes throughout Europe, from St Petersburg to Vienna, and a model for youthful empires-to-come like the United states of America, Neoclassical art was withal another render to the Classical Orders of Greek and Roman Antiquity. Although, as in the Renaissance, the style retained all the engineering advances and new materials of the modernistic era. It was characterized past monumental structures, supported or decorated by columns of Doric, Ionic or Corinthian pillars, and topped with classical Renaissance domes. Technical innovations of late 18th century architecture like layered cupolas and inner cores added strength to domes, and their dimensions increased, lending increased grandeur to borough buildings, churches, educational facilities and large private homes.

Neoclassical architecture originated in Paris, largely due to the presence of French designers trained at the French University in Rome. Famous French architects included: Jacques Germain Soufflot (1713-eighty), who designed the Pantheon (1756-97) in Paris; Claude Nicolas Ledoux (1736-1806), designer of the Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans (1773-93) and the Cathedral of Saint-Germaine (1762-64); and Jean Chalgrin, who designed the Arc de Triomphe (1806). In England the tradition was maintained by Paris-trained Sir William Chambers, Robert Adam (1728-92), John Nash (1752-1835), Sir John Sloane (1753-1837), William Wilkins (1778-1839) and Sir Robert Smirke (1780-1867). It was quickly adopted by progressive circles in Sweden as well. In Germany, Neoclassical architects included: Carl Gotthard Langhans (1732-1808), designer of the Brandenburg Gate (1789-91) in Berlin; Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781-1841), responsible for the Konzerthaus on Gendarmenmarkt (1818-21), the Tegel Palace (1821-4), and the Altes Museum (1823-thirty), all in Berlin. These two architects transformed the Prussian majuscule of Berlin to rival Paris or Rome in classical splendour.

Russian Neoclassicism

Rastrelli'southward Baroque fashion Russian buildings, like the Winter Palace (1754-62), did not find favour with Catherine the Peachy (1762-1850), who preferred Neoclassical designs. As a issue, she summoned the Scottish architect Charles Cameron (c.1745–1812), who built the Pavlovsk Palace (1782-86) about St Petersburg, the Razumovsky Palace in the Ukraine (1802) and the Alexander Palace outside St Petersburg (1812). Other important neoclassical architects for the Russian Czars included: Vincenzo Brenna (Cameron's educatee), Giacomo Quarenghi and Matvey Fyodorovich Kazakov.

American Neoclassicism

The Us Capitol Edifice, with its neoclassical frontage and dome, is 1 of America's most recognizable and iconic structures. Begun in 1793, its basic blueprint was the work of William Thornton (1759-1828), reworked past Benjamin Latrobe (1764-1820), Stephen Hallet and Charles Bulfinch (1763-1844). The dome and rotunda were initially built from wood, but afterwards replaced with rock and iron. The overall design was inspired by both the eastern facade of the Louvre Museum in Paris, and by the Pantheon in Rome. Latrobe himself went on to design numerous other buildings in America, in the Neoclassical way including: the Bank of Pennsylvania (1789), Richmond Capitol (1796), the Fairmount Waterworks, Philadelphia (1799), and the Baltimore Commutation (1816), to name merely a few. Bulfinch completed the Capitol in the 1820s, setting the template for other state capitols in the process, and then returned to his architectural practice in Boston. A cardinal figure in the development of American compages during the early 19th century, was the 3rd US President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), whose potent preference for neoclassicism, in the design of public buildings, had a strong influence on his contemporaries.

19th Century Architecture

19th-Century architecture in Europe and America witnessed no new of import design movements or schools of idea. Instead, in that location emerged a number of revivals of sometime styles. These included: The Greek Revival (American followers included Jefferson and Latrobe); the Gothic Revival - led by Viollet-le-Duc in France; American followers included Richard Upjohn (1802-78) and James Renwick (1818-95); a Neo-Romanesque Revival (1849-1880), led by Henry Hobson Richardson; Beaux-Arts architecture - a fusion of neo-Renaissance and neo-Baroque forms, practiced by Richard Morris Hunt (1827-95) - best known for designing the plinth of the Statue of Liberty (1870-86) - and by the Ohio-born Cass Gilbert (1859-1934); and the Second Empire way (1850-eighty) in French republic, which was characterized past a revival of the Mansard Roof. The only awe-inspiring architectural masterpiece was the Eiffel Tower (1885-89), built by the French architect Stephen Sauvestre and the French engineer Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923). Wrought iron frameworks were also a characteristic of Victorian architecture in United kingdom (1840-1900) - thank you to Robert Stephenson (1803-59) and Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-59) - as were other new materials, similar glass - as used in the construction of Crystal Palace, designed by Joseph Paxton (1801-65). Popular Victorian styles included Neo-Gothic and Jacobethan. A behemothic replica of a viaduct pylon, the tower is built entirely from iron girders. The only significant exception to the above Revivalist movements was the fin de siecle appearance of Art Nouveau architecture, pioneered by Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926), Victor Horta (1861-1947) and Hector Guimard (1867-1942), and by Secessionists similar the Viennese architect Joseph Maria Olbrich (1867-1908).

Frank Lloyd Wright

The greatest ever American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) revolutionized spatial concepts with his Prairie house mode of domestic architecture, introducing open-plan layouts and the widespread utilise of unfinished natural materials. Prairie Schoolhouse architecture is exemplified by Robie House (1910), Fallingwater (1936-37), Unity Temple (1936-39), Royal Hotel Tokyo, Cloth Block Houses, Johnson Wax Building (1936-39), Usonian House (mid-1930s), Price Belfry (1955), Guggenheim Museum NY (1956-9). Influenced past American colonial architecture, 19th century Shingle manner designs and Japanese architecture, as well every bit the Arts and Crafts movement, he too paid the closest attending to the detail of interior fixtures and fittings and the employ of natural, local materials. Wright's piece of work showed that European traditionalism (and modernism) was not the just answer to architectural issues in the United states.

American Skyscrapers

However, an immense amount of development in both building design and technology took place in American compages, at this time, due to the Chicago School and the growth of skyscraper architecture, from 1849 onwards. These supertall buildings came to dominate later building pattern across the United States. The Chicago School of architecture, founded by the skyscraper architect and engineer William Le Baron Jenney (1832-1907), was the pioneer grouping. Other of import contributors to supertall belfry design included the ex-Bauhaus designers Walter Gropius (1883-1969) and Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969); Philip Johnson (1906-2005), Skidmore Owings and Merrill, their leading structural engineer Fazlur Khan (1929-82), I.M.Pei (b.1917).

For details of the greatest architectural designers in the United States, see: American Architects (1700-2000).

20th Century Architecture

Twentieth century compages has been dominated by the use of new technologies, building techniques and construction materials. Hither is a brief outline of the century'south master architectural schools and movements. For details, come across: 20th Century Architecture (1900-2000).

• 1900-twenty Art Nouveau
• 1900-25 Early Modernism (See:Le Corbusier and Peter Behrens)
• 1900-25 Continental Advanced (De Stijl, Neue Sachlichkeit)
• 1900-2000 Steel-frame Skyscraper Compages
• 1907-33 Deutscher Werkbund
• 1919-33 Bauhaus Pattern (see the biography of Walter Gropius); this evolves into the International Style of Modernistic Architecture (1940-70).
• 1925-40 Art Deco
• 1928-40 Totalitarian Architecture (Federal republic of germany/USSR) - see Nazi art (1933-45)
• 1945-70 Late Modernism: 2nd Chicago School of Compages
• 1945-2000 High Tech Corporate Pattern Architecture
• 1960-2000 Postmodernist Art
• 1980-2000 Deconstructivism - run across Frank O. Gehry (b.1929).
• 1990-2000 Blobitecture

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Source: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/architecture-history.htm

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