Italian classicism in architecture. Classicism in architecture

Mannerism(from Italian maniera, manner) -appeared in Italy (Florence, Rome, etc.) in the 16th - first third of the 17th century. Characterized by the loss of Renaissance harmony between the physical and spiritual, nature and man. Some researchers (especially literary scholars) are not inclined to consider mannerism an independent style and see in it the early phase of the baroque. An important feature of mannerism as a style was its aristocracy, non-democratic nature, focus on the tastes of wealthy owners, and generally courtly character. The main customers and consumers of mannerist art were the church and secular aristocracy.

Characteristic features of the artistic approach to works belonging to the style of mannerism can be considered eroticism, inflated and broken lines, elongation or even deformation of figures, tense poses, unusual or bizarre effects associated with size, lighting or perspective, the use of a caustic chromatic range, overloaded composition, almost complete rejection of classical canons in architecture, in the compositions of paintings, loss of harmony for the sake of dissonance, anxiety, asymmetry, extreme impact on the feelings and consciousness of the customer and viewer.

Mannerist painters include Francesco Parmigianino (“Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror”), Jacopo Pontormo (“Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth”), Giorgio Vasari (“Perseus and Andromeda”).

The leading Mannerist sculptors include Benvenuto Cellini (“Saliera”).

Mannerism in architecture expresses itself in violations of the Renaissance balance; the use of structural solutions and grotesque elements that evoke a feeling of anxiety in the viewer. The most significant achievements of Mannerist architecture include the Palazzo del Te in Mantua (by Giulio Romano) and the Laurentian Library in Florence, designed by Michelangelo.

Classicism- artistic style in European art of the 17th - early 19th centuries, one of the most important features of which was the appeal to the forms of ancient art as an ideal aesthetic standard. Winckelmann is considered the ideological inspirer of the classical movement and the “father” of art criticism, who approached the study of ancient architectural monuments from a scientific point of view in his works devoted to the ancient arts. The spread of the ideas of classicism was facilitated by the works of the famous master of architectural landscapes Giovanni Piranesi, who dedicated a whole series of etchings to views of Roman ruins, as well as the perspective painting of Panini and the extraordinary compositions of the “painter of ruins” Hubert Robert.

The main founder of classicism in Italian architecture is considered Palladio Palladio himself, who actively used the ancient order in his buildings, relied on the works of the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius, who wrote in the 1st century. BC. "Ten books about architecture." The most significant work of Palladio, in which the master fully utilizes the forms of ancient temples, is considered the Villa Rotunda.

Despite the presence of monuments of ancient and Renaissance architecture, the development of classicist architecture in Italy is quite slow due to the difficult political and, as a consequence, economic situation of the country, because of which most Italian architects prefer to conduct active construction activities in Russia and Europe.

In many Italian buildings you can see a combination of typical Baroque elements with the classical order system of ancient Greece, present both in the form of columns and pilasters. In addition, the use of arches, colonnades, porticos and rotunda compositions is becoming common.

The main promoter of Italian classicism is Piermarini, who designed the famous La Scala theater, which in its artistic language is closer to the works of the Renaissance than to antiquity.

Classicism gave the world the architecture of such cities as London, Paris, Venice and St. Petersburg. Classicism in architecture dominated for more than three hundred years, from the 16th to the 19th centuries, and it was loved for its harmony, simplicity, rigor and, at the same time, grace. Referring to the forms of ancient architecture, classicism in architecture is characterized by clear volumetric forms, symmetrical axial compositions, straight monumentality and a spacious city planning system.

The origins of classicism in architecture, Italy

Classicism in architecture arose at the end of the Renaissance, in the 16th century, and the great Italian and Venetian architect Andrea Palladio is considered to be the father of this architectural style. As the writer Peter Weil said about Palladio in his book “Genius Loci”:

“Without going into architectural details, the easiest way is to conjure up the Bolshoi Theater or the regional House of Culture - they are what they are thanks to Palladio. And if we were to make a list of people through whose efforts the world—at least the world of the Hellenic-Christian tradition from California to Sakhalin—looks the way it does and not otherwise, Palladio would take first place.”

The city where Andrea Palladio lived and worked is Italian Vicenza, located in northeastern Italy near Venice. Now Vicenza is widely known in the world as the city of Palladio, who created many beautiful villas. In the second half of his life, the architect moved to Venice, where he designed and built remarkable churches, palazzos and other public buildings. Andrea Palladio was awarded the title of “the most prominent citizen of Venice.”

Cathedral of San Giorgio Mangiore, Andrea Palladio

Villa Rotonda, Andrea Palladio

Loggia del Capitagno, Andrea Palladio

Teatro Olimpico, Andrea Palladio and Vincenzo Scamozzi

Andrea Palladio's follower was his talented student Vincenzo Scamozzi, who, after the death of his teacher, completed work on the Teatro Olimpico.

Palladio's works and ideas in the field of architecture were loved by his contemporaries and were continued in the works of other architects of the 16th and 17th centuries. The architecture of classicism received the most powerful impetus in its development from England, Italy, France and Russia.

Further development of classicism

Classicism in England

Classicism literally swept into England, becoming the royal architectural style. A whole galaxy of the most talented architects in England of those times studied and continued the ideas of Palladio: Inigo Jones, Christopher Wren, Earl of Burlington, William Kent.

The English architect Inigo Jones, a fan of the works of Andrea Palladio, brought Palladio's architectural legacy to England in the 17th century. It is believed that Jones was one of the architects who laid the foundation for the English school of architecture.

Queens House, Greenwich, Inigo Jones

Banquet House, Inigo Jones

England was rich in architects who continued classicism - along with Jones, such masters as Christopher Wren, Lord Burlington and William Kent made a huge contribution to the architecture of England.

Sir Christopher Wren, an architect and professor of mathematics at Oxford, who rebuilt central London after the great fire of 1666, created the national English classicism "Wren classicism".

Royal Chelsea Hospital, Christopher Wren

Richard Boyle, Earl Architect of Burlington, philanthropist and patron of architects, poets and composers. The count-architect studied and collected the manuscripts of Andrea Palladio.

Burlington House, Earl Architect of Burlington

The English architect and gardener William Kent collaborated with the Earl of Burlington, for whom he designed gardens and furniture. In gardening he created the principle of harmony of form, landscape and nature.

palace complex in Golkhem

Classicism in French architecture

In France, classicism has been the dominant style since the French Revolution, when a desire for laconicism arose in architecture.

It is believed that the beginning of classicism in France was marked by the construction of the Church of Saint Genevieve in Paris , designed by the self-taught French architect Jacques Germain Soufflot in 1756, later called the Pantheon.

Temple of Saint Genevieve in Paris (Pantheon), Jacques Germain Soufflot

Classicism brought major changes to the city's planning system; winding medieval streets were replaced by majestic, spacious avenues and squares, at the intersection of which architectural monuments were located. At the end of the 18th century, a unified urban planning concept appeared in Paris. An example of the new urban planning concept of classicism was the Rue de Rivoli in Paris.

Rue de Rivoli in Paris

The architects of the imperial palace, prominent representatives of architectural classicism in France, were Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine. Together they created a number of majestic architectural monuments - the Arc de Triomphe on Place Carrousel in honor of Napoleon's victory in the Battle of Austerlitz. They are responsible for the construction of one of the wings of the Louvre, the Marchand Pavilion. Charles Percier participated in the restoration of the Compiegne Palace, created the interiors of Malmaison, Saint-Cloud Castle and Fontainebleau Palace.

Arc de Triomphe in honor of Napoleon's victory at the Battle of Outerlitz, Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine

Wing of the Louvre, Pavilion Marchand, Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine

Classicism in Russia

In 1780, at the invitation of Catherine II, Giacomo Quaregi arrived in St. Petersburg as “Her Majesty’s Architect.” Giacomo himself was from Bergamo, Italy, studied architecture and painting, his teacher was the largest German painter of the classic era, Anton Raphael Mengs.

Quarenghi is the author of several dozen beautiful buildings in St. Petersburg and its environs, including the English Palace in Peterhof, the pavilion in Tsarskoe Selo, the building of the Hermitage Theater, the Academy of Sciences, the Assignation Bank, the summer palace of Count Bezborodko, the Horse Guards Manege, the Catherine Institute of Noble Maidens and a lot others.

Alexander Palace, Giacomo Quarenghi

The most famous projects of Giacomo Quarenghi are the buildings of the Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg and the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo.

Smolny Institute, Giacomo Quarenghi

An admirer of the traditions of the Palladian and new Italian schools of architecture, Quarenghi designed surprisingly elegant, noble and harmonious buildings. The city of St. Petersburg owes its beauty largely to the talent of Giacomo Quarega.

Russia of the 18th and 19th centuries was rich in talented architects who worked in the style of classicism along with Giacomo Quarenghi. In Moscow, the most famous masters of architecture were Vasily Bazhenov and Matvey Kazakov, and Ivan Starov in St. Petersburg.

Artist and architect, teacher, Vasily Bazhenov, a graduate of the Academy of Arts and a student of the French professor of architecture Charles Devailly, created projects for the Tsaritsyn Palace and Park Ensemble and the Grand Kremlin Palace, which remained unrealized because the architect fell out of favor with Catherine II. The facilities were completed by M. Kazakov.

Plan of the architectural ensemble of Tsaritsino, Vasily Bazhenov

Russian architect Matvey Kazakov, during the reign of Catherine the Great, worked in the center of Moscow in the Palladian style. His work includes such architectural ensembles as the Senate Palace in the Kremlin, Petrovsky Travel Palace, and the Great Tsaritsyn Palace.

Petrovsky Travel Palace, Matvey Kazakov

Tsaritsin Palace, Vasily Bazhenov and Matvey Kazakov

Academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences Ivan Starov is the author of such architectural structures as the Trinity Cathedral in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, St. Sophia Cathedral near Tsarskoe Selo, Pellinsky Palace, Tauride Palace and other beautiful buildings.

Tauride Palace, Ivan Starov

The origins of classicism in architecture, Italy

“Without going into architectural details, the easiest way is to conjure up the Bolshoi Theater or the regional House of Culture - they are what they are thanks to Palladio. And if we were to make a list of people through whose efforts the world - at least the world of the Hellenic-Christian tradition from California to Sakhalin - looks the way it does and not otherwise, Palladio would take first place.”

Cathedral of San Giorgio Mangiore, Andrea Palladio

Villa Rotonda, Andrea Palladio

Loggia del Capitagno, Andrea Palladio

Teatro Olimpico, Andrea Palladio and Vincenzo Scamozzi

Andrea Palladio's follower was his talented student Vincenzo Scamozzi, who, after the death of his teacher, completed work on the Teatro Olimpico.

Further development of classicism

Classicism in England

Queens House, Greenwich, Inigo Jones

Banquet House, Inigo Jones

England was rich in architects who continued classicism - along with Jones, such masters as Christopher Wren, Lord Burlington and William Kent made a huge contribution to the architecture of England.

Sir Christopher Wren, an architect and professor of mathematics at Oxford, who rebuilt central London after the great fire of 1666, created the national English classicism "Wren classicism".

Royal Chelsea Hospital, Christopher Wren

Richard Boyle, Earl Architect of Burlington, philanthropist and patron of architects, poets and composers. The count-architect studied and collected the manuscripts of Andrea Palladio.

Burlington House, Earl Architect of Burlington

palace complex in Golkhem

Classicism in French architecture

In France, classicism has been the dominant style since the French Revolution, when a desire for laconicism arose in architecture.

Temple of Saint Genevieve in Paris (Pantheon), Jacques Germain Soufflot

Rue de Rivoli in Paris

Arc de Triomphe in honor of Napoleon's victory at the Battle of Outerlitz, Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine

Wing of the Louvre, Pavilion Marchand, Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine

Classicism in Russia

Alexander Palace, Giacomo Quarenghi

The most famous projects of Giacomo Quarenghi are the buildings of the Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg and the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo.

Smolny Institute, Giacomo Quarenghi

Plan of the architectural ensemble of Tsaritsino, Vasily Bazhenov

Petrovsky Travel Palace, Matvey Kazakov

Tsaritsin Palace, Vasily Bazhenov and Matvey Kazakov

Classicism in the architecture of different countries has distinctive features and different names. After reading the article, you will find out what corresponds to this style in Germany, England, the USA and other countries. What features are inherent in this or that type, in what sequence they developed - everything you need to know about classicism.

Features of classicism in the architecture of the building

Classicism in architecture is the sublime beauty and calm grandeur of buildings. The architects sought to use symmetry in the layout and restraint in the decoration. Simple and austere buildings, reminiscent of ancient Greek temples, harmoniously integrated into the environment, produce a majestic impression. The aesthetics of the classical style favored large-scale urban planning projects.

At its core has research works of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio (1508 - 1580). His ideas quickly found followers and spread throughout Europe in the 17th century. New archaeological excavations in the 18th century and political events of this period increased interest in the architecture of Ancient Rome and in ancient Greece. Thanks to this, classicism was at the peak of its popularity from the 18th to the 19th centuries. The architecture of this (late) period in the West is called neoclassicism and sometimes .

A superb example of neo-Palladian architecture in London. Chiswick House

Landmark buildings of this trend are found throughout Europe and beyond:

Triumphal Arch on Star Square and the Pantheon in Paris,
Chiswick House on Burlington Line in London,
Admiralty building and Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg,
White House and Capitol in Washington.

Naturally, this is far from complete list of masterpiece buildings of the direction.

Giacomo Quarenghi. Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg. The central part of the main facade and the plan of the outer wall

Palladian style or Palladianism in architecture

It was earlier that Palladianism is considered the beginning of classicism. It takes its name from the name of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio(1508-1580). He devoted himself to studying the architectural monuments of Ancient Rome and the treatises of Vitruvius (Marcus Vitruvius Pollio; 1st century BC). Palladio translated the principles of architecture from antiquity into accessible modern language. His books on architecture have become teaching aids for architects around the world.

In his creative works, Palladio strictly followed the rules of symmetry and perspective, and made extensive use of double-light arched windows, which are now called Palladian windows.

The Palladian style quickly gained popularity in other countries, adapting to the preferences of the local public. He played an important role in the development of architectural ideas of the classical style. This process can be observed in the example of the work of British architects in the article.

A textbook example of Palladianism in architecture is the Villa La Rotonda in Italy. Take a closer look at this structure, created by Andrea himself, in this 4-minute video:

The development of style in England can be divided into three stages.

Early Palladianism in England

Palladio's Italian ideas were brought to Britain at the beginning of the 17th century and quickly took root and found support. The influence of the architectural and cultural traditions of Ancient Greece and Rome is clearly visible in the works

Early classicism. Banqueting House. London

Georgian classical style in architecture

Georgian style. Kenwood House, London

The Georgian Classical style (1714 - 1811) denotes the period of successive reigns of the British monarchs the Georges of the House of Hanover, and covers the styles of English Classical architecture of the 18th century.

The dominant direction of this era remained Palladianism.

Georgian style row house. Downing Street, London

The row houses of this period were made of bricks and were characterized by clear lines with minimal decoration. Its features include:

symmetrically planned buildings,
flat bricks, often red in Great Britain or other colors in Canada and the United States,
plastered white ornament in the form of pilasters and arches,
black front door (with rare exceptions).

Georgianism formed the basis of the colonial style. Creativity is considered an example of this architecture Robert Adam from Scotland.

Regency

Regency architecture replaces the Georgian style. Since 1811, the eldest son of the monarch, George III, declared incompetent, was proclaimed prince regent. George IV remained so until his father died in 1820. Hence the name of the Regency era, the architecture of which continues the era of classicism and Palladian ideas and, at the same time, expresses an interest in eclecticism and mixing.

Regency architecture in England. Royal Pavilion, Brighton

Minute video review:

The row buildings of this period consisted of buildings with a white plastered facade and a black entrance door framed by two white columns. It is worth noting that these houses are recognized one of the most beautiful and elegant, if not throughout Europe, then at least in the UK.