Academic Year 2022/2023
History of Architecture
Prof.ssa Sara Bova (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Syllabus
Renaissance Rome. From Alberti to Michelangelo
Important | before the beginning of the course, you are expected to read the following book
J.N. Summerson, The classical language of architecture, London 1980.
Week 1
Lecture 1 | Monday, 14 November 2022, 9 am – 12 pm
Introduction to the course
Main objectives, and explanation of the written exam assignment and of the oral examination criteria | 30 m
Early Renaissance architecture in Florence: a general outline
This section of the lecture focuses mainly on Brunelleschi, Donatello, Masaccio, Michelozzo and the rise of a novel architectural system | 1 h
Rome and Leon Battista Alberti (1432-1472)
This section of the lecture deals with the conditions of Rome in the early 15th century and how the presence of the humanist and architect Leon Battista Alberti favored the start of a change | 1h 30 m
Bibliography
C.L. Frommel, The architecture of the Italian Renaissance, London 2007, pp. 13-26, 31-48, 51-54.
D. Hemsoll, Emulating Antiquity: Renaissance buildings from Brunelleschi to Michelangelo, New Haven-London 2019, pp. 26-86.
L.H. Heydenreich, Architecture in Italy 1400-1500, introduction and notes by P. Davies, New Haven 1996 (1st ed. 1974), pp. 13-24, 35-44, 55-58.
Additional selected references
C.L. Frommel, “Papal policy: the planning of Rome during the Renaissance”, in Art and history: images and their meaning, ed. by Robert I. Rotberg and Theodore K. Rabb, Cambridge 1988, pp. 39-65: 39-47.
C.W. Westfall, “Alberti and the Vatican Palace type”, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 33 1974, 2, pp. 101-121.
Visit 1 | Wednesday, 16 November 2021, 2 pm – 5 pm
The main Roman palaces of the 15th century
The visiting path includes the Palazzo Venezia and the Palazzo della Cancelleria.
Bibliography
C.L. Frommel, “Papal policy: the planning of Rome during the Renaissance”, in Art and history: images and their meaning, ed. by Robert I. Rotberg and Theodore K. Rabb, Cambridge 1988, pp. 39-65: 45-47.
C.L. Frommel, The architecture of the Italian Renaissance, London 2007, pp. 51-53.
L.H. Heydenreich, Architecture in Italy 1400-1500, introduction and notes by P. Davies, New Haven 1996 (1st ed. 1974), pp. 69-71, 71-73.
Additional selected references
M.D. Davis, “‘Opus isodomum’ at the Palazzo della Cancelleria: Vitruvian studies and archeological and antiquarian interests at the Court of Raffaele Riario”, in Roma, centro ideale della cultura dell’Antico nei secoli XV e XVI: da Martino V al Sacco di Roma 1417-1527, convegno internazionale di studi (Roma, 25-30 novembre 1985), a cura di Silvia Danesi Squarzina, Milano 1989, pp. 442-457.
T. Magnuson, Studies in Roman Quattrocento Architecture, Stockholm 1958. pp. 245-296.
Lecture 2 | Friday, 18 November 2021, 9 am – 12 pm
Rome and other humanistic centers in the late 15th century
Florence, Pienza, Urbino, Mantova | 1 h 30 m
Rome under the papacies of Sixtus IV, Innocent VIII and Alexander VI | 1 h 30 m
Bibliography
C.L. Frommel, “Papal policy: the planning of Rome during the Renaissance”, in Art and history: images and their meaning, ed. by Robert I. Rotberg and Theodore K. Rabb, Cambridge 1988, pp. 39-65: 47-50.
C.L. Frommel, The architecture of the Italian Renaissance, London 2007, pp. 54-70, 91-98.
L.H. Heydenreich, Architecture in Italy 1400-1500, introduction and notes by P. Davies, New Haven 1996 (1st ed. 1974), pp. 58-85.
Additional selected references
T. Magnuson, Studies in Roman Quattrocento Architecture, Stockholm 1958, pp. 297-340.
Week 2
Lecture 3 | Monday, 21 November 2021, 9 am – 12 pm
Renaissance Architectural Theory
Among the treatise analyzed, particular attention will be paid to the following works:
a. De architectura by Vitruvius
b. De re aredificatoria by Leon Battista Alberti
c. 16th century editions of Vitruvius’ De architectura: Fra’ Giocondo’s and Cesare Cesariano’s works
d. Novel architectural treatises: Serlio’s, Vignola’s and Palladio’s works
Bibliography
Architectural theory: pioneering texts on architecture from the Renaissance to today, vol. 1, Köln 2022, pp. 22-27, 60-95, 110-117.
D. Hemsoll, Emulating Antiquity: Renaissance buildings from Brunelleschi to Michelangelo, New Haven-London 2019, pp. 188-190.
Additional selected references
M. Carpo, Architecture in the age of printing: orality, writing, typography, and printed images in the history of architectural theory, Cambridge (Mass.) 2001, pp. 16-22, 42-56, 103-109, 119-124.
J. Onians, Bearers of meaning: the classical orders in Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance, Princeton (NJ) 1988, pp. 33-40, 147-157, 263-286.
Lecture 4| Friday, 25 November 2022, 9 am – 12 pm
Rome in the age of pope Julius II: Donato Bramante’s architectural works
Bibliography
C.L. Frommel, The architecture of the Italian Renaissance, London 2007, pp. 99-112.
C.L. Frommel, “Papal policy: the planning of Rome during the Renaissance”, in Art and history: images and their meaning, ed. by Robert I. Rotberg and Theodore K. Rabb, Cambridge 1988, pp. 39-65: 50-54.
D. Hemsoll, Emulating Antiquity: Renaissance buildings from Brunelleschi to Michelangelo, New Haven-London 2019, pp. 114-159.
W. Lotz, Architecture in Italy: 1500-1600, introduction and notes by D. Howard, New Haven 1995 (1st ed. 1974), pp. 11-25.
Additional selected references
J.S. Ackerman, “The Belvedere as a classical villa”, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 14 1951, pp. 70-91.
J. Onians, Bearers of meaning: the classical orders in Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance, Princeton (NJ) 1988, pp. 225-246.
Visit 2 | Friday, 25 November 2022, 2 pm – 5 pm
Bramante’s Rome
The visit path includes the following places: the Tempietto of San Pietro in Montorio, via Giulia, the rests of the Palazzo dei Tribunali and the cloister of Santa Maria della Pace.
Bibliography
D. Hemsoll, Emulating Antiquity: Renaissance buildings from Brunelleschi to Michelangelo, New Haven-London 2019, pp. 125-126, 149-157.
W. Lotz, Architecture in Italy: 1500-1600, introduction and notes by D. Howard, New Haven 1995 (1st ed. 1974), pp. 11-12, 13.
Additional selected references
A. Bruschi, Bramante, London 1977, pp. 71-85, 129-143.
Lecture 5| Monday, 28 November 2022, 9 am – 12 pm
Rome from Bramante’s death to the Sack of Rome (1513-1527): Raphael and his legacy
The aim of the lecture is to discuss the role of Raphael as an architect, comparing his works to Bramante’s, as well as to the ones realized by other important artists he worked with, such as Baldassarre Peruzzi, Giulio Romano and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger.
Bibliography
C.L. Frommel, “Papal policy: the planning of Rome during the Renaissance”, in Art and history: images and their meaning, ed. by Robert I. Rotberg and Theodore K. Rabb, Cambridge 1988, pp. 39-65: 55-60.
C.L. Frommel, The architecture of the Italian Renaissance, London 2007, pp. 115-125.
W. Lotz, Architecture in Italy: 1500-1600, introduction and notes by D. Howard, New Haven 1995 (1st ed. 1974), pp. 27-34, 35-39, 45-60.
D. Hemsoll, Emulating Antiquity: Renaissance buildings from Brunelleschi to Michelangelo, New Haven-London 2019, pp. 159-176, 180-187, 188-190.
Additional selected references
J. Onians, Bearers of meaning: the classical orders in Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance, Princeton (NJ) 1988, pp. 247-262.
J.K.G. Shearman, “The Chigi Chapel in S. Maria del Popolo”, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 24 1961, pp. 129-160.
Week 4
Visit 3 | Monday, 5 December 2022, 9 am – 12 pm
A walk through 16th century Rome: Roman ruins and ‘novel antiquities’
The visit path includes the following places: Palazzo di Iacopo da Brescia, Palazzo Alberini, Serra Chapel in San Giacomo degli Spagnoli (now, Nostra Signora del Sacro Cuore), Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne, Palazzo Farnese
Bibliography
J.K.G. Shearman, “Raphael as Architect”, Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, 116 1968, pp. 388-409.
D. Hemsoll, Emulating Antiquity: Renaissance buildings from Brunelleschi to Michelangelo, New Haven-London 2019, pp. 164-166, 176-187.
W. Lotz, Architecture in Italy: 1500-1600, introduction and notes by D. Howard, New Haven 1995 (1st ed. 1974), pp. 35-37, 49-51, 57-60.
Additional selected references
J.K.G. Shearman, “Raphael, Rome, and the Codex Escurialensis”, Master drawings, 15 1977, pp. 107-146.
Lecture 6 | Wednesday, 7 December 2022, 9 am – 12 pm
Michelangelo’s Rome: challenging Vitruvianism (1534-1564)
The purpose of the lecture is to trace the main characteristics of Michelangelo’s architecture, discussing how it diverges from the Vitruvian canon.
Bibliography
C.L. Frommel, The architecture of the Italian Renaissance, London 2007, pp. 135-144, 171-184.
C.L. Frommel, “Papal policy: the planning of Rome during the Renaissance”, in Art and history: images and their meaning, ed. by Robert I. Rotberg and Theodore K. Rabb, Cambridge 1988, pp. 39-65: 60-65.
W. Lotz, Architecture in Italy: 1500-1600, introduction and notes by D. Howard, New Haven 1995 (1st ed. 1974), pp. 89-106.
D. Hemsoll, Emulating Antiquity: Renaissance buildings from Brunelleschi to Michelangelo, New Haven-London 2019, pp. 209-297 (in particular, pp. 209-227, 260-274).
Additional selected references
J.S. Ackerman, The architecture of Michelangelo, London 1995 (1st ed. 1961), pp. 25-36, 37-52, 171-192, 193-220, 260-268.
Week 5
Visit 4 | Monday, 12 December 2022, 9 am – 12 pm
Michelangelo’s Rome
The visit path includes the following places: Porta Pia, the Sforza Chapel in Santa Maria Maggiore, the Capitolium.
Bibliography
W. Lotz, Architecture in Italy: 1500-1600, introduction and notes by D. Howard, New Haven 1995 (1st ed. 1974), pp. 94-97, 103-104.
D. Hemsoll, Emulating Antiquity: Renaissance buildings from Brunelleschi to Michelangelo, New Haven-London 2019, pp. 275-297.
Additional selected references
J.S. Ackerman, The architecture of Michelangelo, London 1995 (1st ed. 1961), pp. 136-170, 221-242, 243-259).
