Tag Archives: Renaissance
A brief but affectionate history of the arch
I have a crush on arches. Technically an arch is any rounded architectural structure that spans an opening. The curve of the arch disperses the vertical weight it holds horizontally to allow for greater distance between supports. But let’s leave the technical details to the engineers–what you need to know is this: arches are practical, arches […]
I hope that you, my friends, might also one day find yourselves at the door to Villa La Rotonda in Vicenza while a security guard sings you the theme to Married… with Children.
“Where are you from?” asked the gregarious guard at the entry to Palladio’s Villa La Rotonda. After replying, “Chicago, USA” we braced ourselves for the usual “Al Capone, bang bang bang!” only to be surprised by the guard’s delighted smile and cheery rendition of the theme song to Married… with Children. While Chicago may be […]
Urbino: Ideal Renaissance city drowned in a sea of drunken students
How could I help it? I idealized Urbino. Even though I’ve long maintained a vigilant stance against romanticizing people and places alike, this was Urbino: Renaissance mecca for humanists, scholars, art and architecture. The location, in the isolated and mountainous region of Italy’s Marche, combined with being a university town filled me with visions of […]
Palladio’s Teatro Olimpico: classic geeks, architecture nerds and trompe-l’œil freaks hold hands and say GAH!
I’ve been meaning to write about visiting Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy in an academic way, letting you all know that it was constructed in 1580 from Andrea Palladio’s plans based on a reconstruction of an ancient Roman theater ,etc, etc, because you, my readers, need the facts. But I’ve got to be straight with you: as soon […]
Piero della Francesca’s Resurrection in Sansepolcro
It’s the perfect fresco for Easter: Christ steps proudly from his tomb super hero-style in his bubblegum pink robe. Those poor dupes, the guards, are sleeping and miss the drama. The composition is symmetrical, and a perfect triangle from the top of Christ’s head to the bodies of the guards below. It was only once […]
Bramante’s Tempietto gets a visit from the Infamous Blue Traveling Poncho
This modestly-scaled building in Rome, the Tempietto, is the monument of Italian High Renaissance. Donato Bramante created his “little temple” in 1502 after a lifetime of studying Roman ruins and the architectural writings of the classical author Vitruvius. Bramante followed a strict classical ratio of proportions, where height equals width in the lower and upper sections. The Tempietto feels rather […]
Interlude in Rimini with funeral at Tempio Malatestiano
I had it all planned: we were in route from Florence to Urbino , and we would jump off the train for a few hours in Rimini to visit Alberti’s Tempio Malatestiano. HOB and I were in the midst of our self-designed Ideal City trip across Italy. Were studying the work of five Renaissance architects/urban planners: Brunelleschi, Bramante, Alberti, Michelangelo and […]
Picnic at the Cathedral 