Italy
The starting point of Mannerist architecture is the Villa Farnesina in Rome, built by Baldassarre Peruzzi around 1509.[7] It has a "u" plan, with two wings that enclose a median part in which, on the lower floor, a portico consisting of five semicircular arches opens. The articulation of the façade, adorned with lesenas and angular padding, is still classical, but the richly decorated frieze, which runs to the highest part of the building, already shows a change in taste. Furthermore, in a room on the upper floor, Peruzzi himself painted some colonnades and landscapes, in order to expand the architectural space.
However, Peruzzi's masterpiece must be found in the Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne, built in 1532. The structure is inserted into a ground plan of irregular dimensions, shaped like an "L". The façade is curvilinear and presents an architraved portico with freely spaced columns, whose depth contrasts with the upper register of the front; Unusual are the cornices that decorate the windows of the upper floors, attached to a wall decorated with flat padding. Also unprecedented is the configuration of the patio porticos: they are formed by two superimposed "Loggia (architecture)" loggias, closed to the ceiling by a third floor open by rectangular windows as long as the lower colonnade. All these solutions, partly influenced by the irregularities of the terrain, show a prevailing of the exception over the norm and place the Massimo Palace among the most interesting achievements of Mannerist architecture.[8].
A similar judgment can be expressed about the famous Tea Palace in Mantua, built by Giulio Romano between 1525 and 1534. The palace is a square building, with a square patio in the center; The main entrance was resolved with a loggia, where semicircular arches and serlianas are repeated. The front faces a garden delimited, on the opposite side, by a large semicircular exedra. These elements are based on the classical code, but the rustic character of the building (the order and padding are no longer on two different floors, but are united in a single element on the side facades) brings the work closer to the canons of Mannerist architecture. Furthermore, Giulio Romano applied the serlianas also in the depth of the portico, transforming the two-dimensional openings into spatial elements.
Two other Mantuan buildings designed by Giulio Romano himself also have rustic characters: his house) and the courtyard of the Stables in the Ducal Palace of Mantua.
In the first case, the padding extends to the roof of the building, while the architectural order leaves room for a series of pilasters on which semicircular arches have been placed. The two floors of the building have been subdivided by a first cornice as an impost that interrupts the horizontal course of the line at the point corresponding to the entrance, where it follows the shape of a tympanum "Tympanum (architecture)"). The courtyard of the Stable is still organized in two orders, but the rustic walls are characterized, in their upper part, by extravagant Solomonic semi-columns.
The relationship between nature (padded) and artifice (columns "Column (architecture)"), which in some works by Giulio Romano dissolves until the two elements are merged into a single parietal structure, finds further examples in some Venetian palaces made by Michele Sanmicheli, Andrea Palladio and Jacopo Sansovino. Sanmicheli created the Palazzo Pompei"), built in Verona in the first decades of the century. The scheme of the façade, in two orders, imitates the façade of the House of Raphael, designed by Bramante (1508, now destroyed), although with some important differences that seek to accentuate, in the lower register, the fills over the voids; however, on the second floor, in the place of the windows designed by Bramante in the House of Raphael, Sanmicheli introduced a large loggia expressive force.
Also by Sanmicheli is the Palazzo Canossa"), built in Verona around 1530, where the rustic elements and those of artifice reach a greater integration. Another work of the architect is the Palazzo Bevilacqua, characterized by a rustic facing on the first floor and by large openings to the arch in the upper register, which alternate with smaller windows contained in the space of the intercolumnio.
The theoretical work The Four Books of Architecture (1570) is due to the Vincentian Andrea Palladio, which influenced civil architecture until the neoclassical era.[9] His first notable work is the so-called Palladian Basilica (1546), in which his "Palladian motif" of an arch "Arco (architecture)") between lintels appears.[10] Among his works it is appropriate to remember the Thiene palaces. (around 1545), Barbaran da Porto") and Valmarana (1565), in whose relationship between nature and artifice it is possible to capture the Mannerist element of the Palladian style.
Such a component emerges with greater vigor in the suburban residences built by the Vincentian architect and in particular in the Villa Serego in Santa Sofia de Pedemonte and in the Villa Barbaro in Maser "Maser (Italy)"). The first was built around 1565 and has a closed patio (at least in the original project) and rustic columns, made with limestone blocks carved in an irregular shape and superimposed to create irregular piles. Somewhat more recent, Villa Barbaro is located along a slight slope of a hill. If in most of the Palladian villas the residence itself is preceded by the environments dedicated to agricultural work, here this relationship is inverted and the master's house precedes the work environments; At the back there is a large exedra, reminiscent of the nymphaeum of Roman villas. The Teatro Olimpico of Vicenza is due to Palladio and his disciple Vincenzo Scamozzi, with great later influence, with illusionist elements that anticipate the Baroque. Scamozzi also wrote a theoretical treatise, Idea dell'architettura Universale (1615). The churches he made in Venice also stand out, with complex floor plans and pediments embedded in each other on the facades: Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore, Church of the Redeemer.[11].
Civil architecture still offers important examples in some Venetian palaces. Its predominant characteristics were theorized by Sebastián Serlio in his Sette libri dell'architettura.[12] In Serlio's illustrations, as well as in Sansovino's creations, the mural mass of the facades is lightened with large openings, where the architectural orders are not only used as decorative objects, but also as load-bearing elements. He contributed greatly to the dissemination of classical orders and decorative elements throughout Europe.[11].
Buildings such as the "Corner Palace" (1532) belong to this typology, designed by Sansovino, who at the same time fuses the Florentine-Roman scheme (evident by the presence of the internal courtyard) with the Venetian one (presence of a central hall that corresponds to the access atrium, from which several internal environments depart). Furthermore, the articulation of the façade, in which voids prevail over full ones, anticipates the design of the Marciana Library (1537), still built by Sansovino delimiting the square next to the Basilica of Saint Mark. In fact, the façade of the Library is arranged in two orders: the first imitates the Roman model, with columns that support architraves and semicircular openings; the second, in which the Mannerist taste is more evident, is instead made up of serlianas with cornices and columns that support a richly decorated frieze.
Also from Sansovino is the Palazzo del Zecca") (around 1537), built next to the aforementioned library. The scheme of the façade is innovative: the entrance portico supports an arcade formed by non-ringed columns, dominated by a double architrave; the last floor, added successively after a project probably drawn up by the same architect, still takes up the theme of the sash columns, with intervals of large windows with tympanums "Tympano (architecture)") triangular.
However, the works of artists such as Sansovino and Palladio could hardly be defined Mannerist in the same way as those made by Giulio Romano or Michelangelo, the two main exponents of this style.[13].
It is considered that Michelangelo was the one who introduced these forms, by reinterpreting Renaissance classicism in a personal and dramatic key.[14] In the analysis of his architecture, some Florentine works are particularly significant, such as the Sagrestia Nuova (completed in 1534) and the Biblioteca Laurenciana (designed in 1523). Compared to the previous examples, where the designer's attention is generally concentrated on the plan and the façade surface, the Sagrestia Nuova in Florence is presented as a container designed to house sculptures. It is located next to the Basilica of San Lorenzo and there is speculation regarding the Sagrestia Vecchia designed by Brunelleschi, of which the floor plan imitates. Michelangelo freely elaborated the forms adopted in the Sagrestia Vecchia, depriving them of Brunelleschian harmony. For example, above the access portals, he made rectilinear pilasters supported by large corbels, with shallow niches dominated by tympanums excavated at the bottom.
In the Laurentian library, built along the cloister of the same basilica, pre-existing conditions had to be considered. The project was resolved with the creation of two adjacent environments: the atrium, with a small surface area and characterized by a high ceiling, and the reading room, located on a higher floor. The walls of the atrium are configured as palace facades directed towards the interior, with blind niches and attached columns (in order to reinforce the wall); On the other hand, the reading room, reachable by means of a staircase that expands downwards (made by Bartolomeo Ammannati), is a brighter environment, with more contained vertical dimensions, but much longer, in such a way that it contradicts the spatial effect.
After returning to Rome, Michelangelo took care of the reconstruction of St. Peter's Basilica and the organization of Piazza del Campidoglio (1546). For the basilica he rejected the design of Antonio da Sangallo the Younger and returned to the original centralized plan, thereby annulling the perfect balance studied by Bramante: by means of a porticoed façade he gave a main direction to the entire building and then, after having demolished parts already made by his predecessors, he further reinforced the pilasters that supported the dome, distancing them from the delicate Bramanteesque proportions. On the other hand, in Piazza del Campidoglio, he had to take into account the pre-existing buildings; Therefore, he conceived a trapezoidal space, delimited, towards the Forum, by the Senatorio Palace and, along the inclined sides, by the New Palace and the Palace of the Conservators.
One of his last works was the Puerta Pía (1562), to which he dedicated many sketches in which complex and particular forms are revealed that inspired several Mannerist architects.[15].
Other Tuscan artists of the century produced works of a mannerist type, relying above all on the definition of detailed works; An example of this is the external staircase of the Villa of Artimino"), by Bernardo Buontalenti.
A particular case is the Uffizi Palace by Giorgio Vasari (1560), whose high urban planning value is also noted in addition to the search for details and particulars: in fact, the complex is inserted between the Old Palace and the Arno to form a closed corridor, towards the river, through a serliana. The elevations are based on the repetition of the intercolumniary module; Despite this, it is evident how the Uffizi has not been conceived only as facade plans, but also in spatial terms.
A fusion between classicist and mannerist themes is seen in the architecture of Jacopo Vignola, who can be considered a disciple of Michelangelo. He wrote an influential theoretical work, Regole delli cinque ordine d'architettura") (1562), which contains measurements of Roman monuments "Category:Monuments of Rome (city)". In 1550, Vignola built a small Roman church on the Via Flaminia, with an elliptical plan contained within a rectangle. In 1551, also in Rome, he built Villa Julia, where Michelangelo also worked, Vasari and Bartolomeo Ammannati.
Next, in 1558, Vignola took over a fortress begun by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger some decades earlier, transforming it into one of the happiest expressions of the Mannerist movement: the great palace of the Farnese in Caprarola. The exterior has a pentagonal plan and underlines the perimeter of the original fortress; On the other hand, inside there is a circular patio, formed by two overlapping loggias. Two circular rooms have been placed along the main side of the villa, intended respectively to house a spiral staircase and a chapel, while on the outside the complex is preceded by a trapezoidal square. The ambiguity of the building plays mainly in the fortress-residence binomial; Furthermore, while the external surfaces look flat, because they are devoid of relevant cornices, the internal patio surprises with its shape and its deep spatial articulation.
Vignola's most famous work is, however, the Jesuit Church of Rome (il Gesù), begun in 1568 and destined to "exercise an influence perhaps broader than any other church built in the last four hundred years."[16] The architect fused the centralized schemes of Renaissance architecture with the longitudinal ones of the medieval period. This is a scheme not completely new in the culture of the time. Vignola, in the conception of the internal space, was inspired by the Basilica of Saint Andrew "Basilica of Saint Andrew (Mantua)"), by Leon Battista Alberti, but without conferring on the side chapels the Renaissance autonomy of the Albertian church; the nave "Nave (architecture)") assumed greater importance, while the chapels were reduced to mere side openings. The sumptuous decoration of the church dates back to the Baroque era. Later and purer is the façade (1577), designed by Giacomo della Porta and which establishes a motif later imitated countless times: a low and wide body, a second narrower body and a pediment finishing it.
Bartolomeo Ammannati is another representative of Florentine Mannerism. He was the author of the expansion of the Pitti Palace in Florence; The particularity of the building is the contrast between the exterior, with regular shapes, and the interior, open to the garden, with a semicircular shape. We also owe him the Bóboli garden, with its grottoes and water features.[11].
France
Italian Mannerism deeply influenced the architecture of French castles, but, initially, it was limited to only the decorative aspect.[18] For example, between 1515 and 1524, Francis I began the renovation and expansion of the Blois Castle, where cross windows (typical of the century in Italy) and mansards in the Mannerist style were made. The exuberant coverage of the castle still recalls medieval models and French tradition, as well as the structure of the external staircase, which, however, was decorated according to Renaissance taste.
Under the same reign of Francis I, starting in 1528, work began on the expansion of the Palace of Fontainebleau, which led to the construction of the Porte Dorée, the factory buildings around the Cour du Cheval Blanc and the gallery connecting a pre-existing tower and the constructions of the Cour du Cheval Blanc. The configuration of the Porte Dorée, with the three superimposed loggias, is reminiscent of the Doge's Palace of Urbino, but the front of the Gallery of Francis I is more Renaissance. Here, a portico with rustic pilasters, formed by alternating major and minor arcades, supports the upper registers, where regular windows open, placed on an axis with the major arcades, and higher up, numerous windows dominated by arched tympanums. However, the strongly pitched roofs follow the French tradition. It is in this castle-palace of Fontainebleau where Mannerist fantasy was most clearly introduced.[11].
Similarly, the Chambord Castle presents a clear contrast between factory bodies and roofs. It was built between 1519 and 1547 by Domenico da Cortona, an Italian architect who trained under the guidance of Da Sangallo. The complex, completely surrounded by moats, is rectangular in shape, with four circular towers at the corners, a long central court and, along the long side, a square keep, still delimited by four towers with a circular plan. This tower constitutes the heart of the entire castle and has a circular double spiral staircase, inspired by an idea by Leonardo da Vinci, so that whoever goes down does not bump into whoever goes up.
Another Italian, the aforementioned Sebastiano Serlio, worked on the Castle of Ancy-le-Franc, where he introduced, around a square courtyard, factory bodies closed – on all angles – by square towers. This model, inspired by a Neapolitan palace by Giuliano da Maiano (the Villa of Poggioreale, now extinct),[19] had notable success in suburban residences; This is a scheme not devised by Serlio, but one that the architect contributed to affirming, also thanks to the wide dissemination of his treatise. The external fronts along the courtyard take up the theme of the niches and combined pilasters already adopted by Bramante in the Belvedere Courtyard in Vatican City.
The Square Courtyard (Cour Carrée) of the Louvre Palace can be traced back to this scheme, which Francis I preferred to the pre-existing medieval castle. The work, entrusted to Pierre Lescot, began in 1546; The initial project envisaged the construction of a two-story building, to which an attic was added during construction. The lower floor is arranged with a double system of arches and architraves; The upper one is articulated by means of columns and windows with alternating triangular and arcuate tympanums. Here Pierre Lescot reinterprets Italian mannerism in a French key, giving it more serenity and rhythm.[11] The attic has been enriched with decorations by Jean Goujon that give the a decidedly mannerist appearance.
England
Towards the end of the century in England, various country houses were built, in a style that sought order more than "licences".[22] Among these it is worth mentioning Longleat House, Wollaton Hall and Hardwick Hall.
The first was built between 1572 and 1580 in Wiltshire; It is characterized by large rectangular openings and closed galleries, while the most Renaissance element is in the access portal.
Always in 1580, work began on Wollaton Hall in Nottinghamshire. The plan takes up the scheme of the square with angular towers; In the central part of the construction a tower emerges with four other circular towers on the sides.
As at Longleat House, there are still large windows that mark the facades of Hardwick Hall, in Derbyshire (1590-1596). The plan is practically a rectangle with angular towers and stands; The roof, as in the previous residences, is delimited by a parapet "Parapet (architecture)").
The Italian influence, and in particular Palladian, is more evident in the works of Íñigo Jones, where the elements taken from Mannerism assume a secondary role with respect to the search for an architecture "solid, dimensionable according to the rules, virile, devoid of affectations."[23].
His first important work was the Queen's House in Greenwich "Greenwich (London)"). The plan is "H" shaped, perhaps inspired by the Villa de Ambra), with large regular windows and a loggia placed in the center of one of the long sides, which is contrasted, on the opposite front, by a forty-foot cubic room.
Closely linked to the Queen's House is the Banqueting House, begun by Jones in 1622. Designed according to the module of a double cube, it was initially equipped with an apse, later demolished. The exterior façade, closed by a richly decorated frieze, is made up of two superimposed orders in smooth padding, with columns and lesenas that frame the rectangular openings, according to a style that imitates Palladian models.
The principle of thinking about buildings according to regular spaces, in which a close relationship between internal and external configuration emerges, is also found in other buildings by Íñigo Jones, for example, in the double cube modules of the Queen's Chapel (1623), while the plan of the Covent Garden church (1631) was still planned on a double square.