Architecture in Italy
From the start of the 12th century. Italian architecture was
characterized by many different aspirations, which combined to create an
architectural culture of great vitality and a striking geographical
diversity. On the one hand Franco-Burgundian influences began to filter
through with the foundation of Cistercian monasteries, from Chiaravalle
to Fossanova, and were partially adopted by new orders, in particular
the frugal Franciscans and Dominicans. Challenging these ideas was the
tenacious Romanesque tradition, which was well able to cater for the
needs of the new city states. This was the case in the Po Valley of
northern Italy, although the church of Sant'Andrea in Vercelli and the
top colonnade of the Baptistry of Parma already showed concessions to
the new style from the north side of the Alps. Another important
influence on Italian architecture was offered by the classical heritage,
dominated by the early Christian basilicas in Rome, and in the Imperial
revivals in Italy, splendidly interpreted by Frederick II of Germany
(1194-1250). who was crowned emperor of Rome in 1220. This complex
combination of influences was profoundly interlinked with equally
multifaceted developments in other Italian art forms, making it
difficult to recognize coherent and unambiguous patterns. From a
historical point of view. Gothic represented a distinct change, which
counteracts the traditional understanding of an uninterrupted transition
from the Romanesque to the Renaissance (epitomized by the work of
Brunelleschi). By the 13th century, the Franciscan and Dominican orders,
together with the Humiliati. a penitential association of the laity
specific to the Po Valley, were pushing for simpler constructions and
more usable space. As a result, the ceilings of nave and aisles.
whether vaulted or wooden, were adjusted to reduce the differences
in height between the side aisles, while the widely spaced pillars
gradually diminished the excessive mix of straight and curved lines by
the use of wide-diameter arches, either pointed or completely rounded.
The result was a geometric architectonic image that was rationally
coherent in design. The surrounding walls became a surface for the
multicoloured decorations of cycles of legendary scenes, which were
either painted on, as in the buildings at Assisi, or sculpted, as in the
facade of Siena Cathedral. Seen from this point of view, Giotto's
bell-tower in Florence represented an extraordinary return to the
integrity of surface articulation. Despite the obvious French influences
in the Upper church of Assisi or in San Francesco, Bologna, with its
radial chapels around the choir, the Dominicans and Franciscans
consciously respected civic needs and erected buildings of strong public
character, as is clear in Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce in
Florence. Out of this situation the image of the civic cathedral took
shape: from Siena to Orvieto, Lecce, and Bologna. Milan provided an
opportunity for later revisions of the French innovations, especially as
regards decoration (triforia, rose-windows, spires, pinnacles). Other
integrations are beautifully exemplified by the crowning of the
Baptistry of Pisa and its neighbouring cemetery, the Camposanto. That
these developments were closely modelled on the art of goldsmiths is
evident in the two great facades of Orvieto and Siena, with the
micro-architecture of ciboria (dome-shaped canopies above the high
altar), pulpits, and funerary monuments - works in which artists such as
Giovanni Pisano (c.1248- 1314) and Arnolfo di Cambio participated. Also
characteristic of the new age was the versatility of great architects
who were generally competent artists in a wide range of different
fields, including draughtsmanship. Such artists include Giotto and
Arnolfo di Cambio in Florence, and Giovanni Pisano in Siena. The Italian
cities developed rapidly to reach economic independence and this
fostered numerous new civic buildings with a versatile mixture of Gothic
pinnacles, colonnaded porticos, and sculptural detail. Clustered around
the central square, magnificent town halls, hospitals, and urban
palazzos were built, and work continued on the cathedrals. Echoes of
classical architecture, which retained vestiges of the ancient rules of
proportion, was strongest in Rome. It was also seen at the court of
Frederick, which in Castel del Monte interpreted Cistercian Gothic in
noble, classical forms. The octagonal cathedral crossings provided a
monumental example, which was to extend the geometric styles beyond the
confines of the cathedral, to be applied to the fountains of city
squares. It is also in the cathedrals of Pisa. Siena, and Ancona that
another example of geometric order emerges: the cupola set above the
transept and the body of the nave.
