Italian classicism in architecture. Italy of the Baroque and Classical eras
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
It fell into complete disrepair. Architecture develops only in Rome, where the Baroque style was especially pronounced in the construction of religious buildings. Baroque is characterized by complexity of plans, splendor of interiors with unexpected spatial and lighting effects, an abundance of curves, plastically bending lines and surfaces. Painting, sculpture, and painted wall surfaces are widely used in architecture.
In the 17th century construction work is ending St. Peter's Cathedral (). In the second half of the century, the architect Bernini built a colonnade on the square in front of the cathedral, completing the formation of the composition of St. Peter's Square. Typical examples of Baroque ensembles in Rome are the Spanish Steps (early 18th century), leading to the Cathedral of Santa Trinita dei Monti, as well as the Palazzo Poli ensemble with the famous Trevi Fountain (second half of the 18th century).
In addition to Rome, magnificent works of Baroque were created in Venice (Veneto). At the end of the 17th century. was erected on the spit of the Grand Canal - a picturesque octagonal building with a powerful dome.
City Turin(Piedmont), founded by the Romans in the 16th century. became the residence of the Duke of Savoy, who moved the capital of the duchy from France. Here in the XVII-XVIII centuries. a whole complex of baroque palaces, castles and country residences was created, demonstrating the power of the Savoy dynasty. The future king of a united Italy, Victor Emmanuel II, was born in Turin in 1829, and in 1861 the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed here.
As a result of the earthquake of 1693, eight cities (including Catania) in the region in the southeast of the island of Sicily were destroyed. Restored simultaneously in the late Baroque style, they became a unique complex of architecture and urban development. For example, in Catania there is a magnificent Duomo and St. Agatha's Cathedral, and the Elephant Fountain is a symbol of the city.
In the middle of the 18th century. the Neapolitan king decided to create a residence that would not be inferior in splendor and luxury (). Not far from Naples, in (Campania) a huge palace complex was built with a park integrated into the surrounding natural landscape. The park has a regular layout; here you can see fountains, numerous flower beds and even a waterfall framed by sculptures. The palace and park complex in Caserta was created in the classicist style. Like Renaissance architecture, classicism returns to the order systems of antiquity. Classicism is a style of symmetrical, strict and slender forms with a clear and simple composition, often accompanied by brilliance and splendor of interiors.
Chronologically, the most recent cultural monument of Italy is a factory village (Lombardy), built at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. Enlightened industrialists built such villages, comfortable and rationally designed, for their workers not only in Europe, but also in North America.
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.
La Scala Opera House (Teatro alla Scala). 1776-1778 Architect G. Piermarini.
Italy was a country that preserved ancient monuments of architecture and art, which influenced the principles of the formation of works in various fields of culture. The development of classicism in Italy, as in other European countries, was facilitated by the worldview of the emerging bourgeoisie, whose representatives rejected the excessive luxury of Baroque and Rococo and sought to introduce the principles of ancient classics into art. Archaeological excavations at Pompeii have expanded knowledge about the architecture of the Roman Empire. The results of studies of classical culture were described in scientific works. Of the Italian authors, the most famous is Giovanni Piranesi, who created etchings on themes of antiquity, published in series starting in the 1740s. Classicism in Italy was formed not only under the influence of antiquity, but also under the influence of the Renaissance and the works of Andrea Palladio. The most famous architect and promoter of classicism in Italy was Giuseppe Piermarini (1734-1808), one of whose projects was the Teatro alla Scala opera house in Milan, the church of Santa Maria del Priorato ) in Rome, built by Piranesi.
Church of Santa Maria del Priorato in Rome. Architect G. Piermarini. 1766
In Milan, the Bonaparte Forum was designed (from 1801), the Arena for 30 thousand spectators was built (from 1806, architect L. Canonica), the Triumphal Arch of the World (Arca della Pace. 1806-1838, architect L. Cagnola), Porta Nuova (Porta Nuova. 1810, architect Tzanoya). In Turin, Via Po and Piazza Vittorio Veneto were created with elements of classicism. The architect F. Bonsignore (1760-1843) built the church of the Gran Madre di Dio (Chiesa della Gran Madre di Dio. 1818-1831), reminiscent of the Roman Pantheon. In Naples, the transition from Baroque to Italian classicism is demonstrated in the works of Luigi Vanvitelli (1700 - 1773). His work is the Church of Santa Annunziata (Chiesa della Santissima Annunziata. beginning in 1760), its facade still has typical Baroque lines , but the lower part of the building is in the Ionic style and the upper part in the Corinthian style. The architect also created elements of the order system in the Royal Castle in Coserta. The center of the building is an octagon, pilasters decorate the outbuildings and the courtyard. In 1817-1846. in Naples the architect P. Bianca (Pietro Bianci. 1787-1849). built the Church of Santi Francesco e Paolo with a rotunda (Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo. 1817 - 1846), with a semi-circular colonnade in plan, open towards the royal palace.
Santi Francesco e Paolo with rotunda (Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo).1817 - 1846. architect P. Bianca. Naples.
In 1816, classicism in Italy was enriched by the San Carlo Theater (Teatro di San Carlo 1737), reconstructed after a fire, with a five-arched facade and portico - designed by Giovanni Antonio Medrano (1703-1760) and Angelo Carasale. ?-1742)
Theater San Carlo (Teatro di San Carlo). 1737 Project by Giovanni Antonio Medrano and Angelo Caracel.
In Italy, an interesting monument of foreign classicism was the work of the architect C. Amati (Carlo Amati. 1776-1852) - the Church of San Carlo Borromeo (1836-1847), crowned with a drum and a dome. Classical motifs even appear in buildings such as the reservoirs in Livorno by the architect Pasquale Pochantte. Piazza del Popolo (Piazza del Popolo. 1811-1822) by the architect G. Valadier (Giuseppe Valadier. 1762-1839) is a striking example of foreign classicism, which has become one of the examples for urban planning. In Florence, the architect Poggi (Giuseppe Poggi. 1811 - 1901) in 1865 created Piazzale Michelangelo, which overlooked the city.
Piazza del Popolo. 1811-1822 architect J. Valadier, Rome.
Italian classicism spread throughout the world thanks to architects working in Germany, Russia, France and Spain. Interest in antiquity forces modern architects to pay attention to both Russian and foreign classicism, when reproducing classical motifs in individual buildings. Using decorative elements of facades, an order system, and building composition, designers create structures reminiscent of works of foreign classicism. An example of such a project is the illustration below.
Project of a manor house, created according to models of buildings of foreign classicism.
