two princes Musidorus and Pyrocles as they struggle to
win their loves.
Further reading: Reinhold Grimm and Jost Hermand
(eds), From the Greeks to the Greens: Images of the Simple
Life (Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, 1990);
Simon Schama, Landscape and Memory (New York and
London: HarperCollins, 1995), esp. pp. 516–38.
archeus A word introduced by PARACELSUSto denote the
vital power of an organism to respond appropriately to
various stimuli. Thus, the role of the archeus of the stom-
ach was to extract the digestible parts of food and dispose
of the remainder. A failure of the archeus would lead to
poisoning and sickness. The notion persisted throughout
the 17th century but finally disappeared before the grow-
ing acceptance of the mechanical philosophy.
architecture Humanist scholarship of the early 15th cen-
tury, characterized by a nostalgic yearning for the bygone
age of Roman splendor, had far-reaching repercussions
within the visual arts. Both classical literature and the an-
tique monuments that survived throughout Italy acted as
testimonials to the glories of Rome before the influx of the
barbarians and their foreign (Gothic) culture. Not sur-
prisingly, architects were quick to translate the humanists’
literary attempts to emulate antiquity into “the ancient
manner of building.” VITRUVIUS, whose architectural trea-
tise, De architectura, survived from antiquity, was known
throughout the Middle Ages in Italy, but Poggio BRACCI-
OLINI’s discovery (1414) of a superior manuscript of De ar-
chitectura coincided with a surging interest in the
principles of ancient building. The editio princeps, without
illustrations, appeared at Rome (c. 1486); Fra GIOCONDO
published an illustrated edition at Venice in 1511; Cesari-
ano’s Italian translation followed in 1521, and Daniele
BARBARO’s version came out in 1556, with illustrations by
PALLADIO.
Vitruvian theory centered upon three elements: util-
ity, strength, and beauty. The concept of beauty was to
preoccupy Renaissance architects from BRUNELLESCHIto
Inigo JONES. Vitruvius’ notion of beauty derived from the
modular interrelationship of every part of the whole, cre-
ating a harmonious and symmetrical unit. ALBERTI, in his
widely disseminated treatise De re aedificatoria (editio
princeps 1485), defined beauty as “the harmony of all the
parts ... fitted together with such proportion and connec-
tion that nothing could be added, diminished, or altered
but for the worse....” This summarized the underlying
principles of Renaissance architecture. Thus Alberti intro-
duced large volutes on the upper story of Sta. Maria
Novella (1456–70) in Florence in order to unify visually
the nave and aisles, and Brunelleschi, in designing the Os-
pedale degli Innocenti (1421), also in Florence, laid out
the plan on a grid system and ensured that the placement
of the exterior doors mirrored the disposition of the inte-
rior spaces.
Vitruvius regarded architecture as an imitation of na-
ture. For instance, he distinguished three column types,
Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian, whose proportions and sym-
bolism derived, respectively, from a man, matron, and
young girl. This anthropomorphic view of architecture
had a profound influence on Renaissance architects who
were working in an age that celebrated man’s individual-
ity. However, the correct use of the vocabulary of orders
was a High Renaissance phenomenon. BRAMANTE em-
ployed the Tuscan Doric order in the Tempietto in San
Pietro in Montorio, Rome, as befitting a martyrium com-
memorating St. Peter but FRANCESCO DI GIORGIO MARTINI,
the early Renaissance theorist, took anthropomorphism to
fanciful extremes in his sketches of young girls trapped
within the confines of a column shaft.
Nineteenth-century art historians castigated the Re-
naissance masters for their imitation of pagan antiquity,
but the Renaissance was not about imitation, rather the
application of the antique to provide a new architectural
vocabulary employed in a creative manner. Brunelleschi’s
Pazzi chapel in Florence, begun in 1429, has a portico car-
ried on columns and pilasters on the interior walls which
look as if they support an entablature, creating a visual
harmony of forms and colors which derive from, but do
not plagiarize, antique motifs. Alberti imposed a pedi-
mented triumphal arch on the façade of the Mantuan
church of Sant’ Andrea (c. 1470) and placed sarcophagi in
arches along the side of the TEMPIO MALATESTIANOin Rim-
ini in emulation of the antique. Pagan temples, such as
that of Minerva Medica in Rome, were to inspire a fasci-
nation with the circular form. Brunelleschi, Alberti,
LEONARDO DA VINCI, MICHELOZZOand Bramante all exper-
imented with circular forms in relation to church design.
Its association with pagan worship lent the circular plan
an air of controversy, although Alberti maintained that the
circle, according to Neoplatonic theory, was appropriate to
Christian piety, for it was the basis of divine harmony in
nature. The problem remained, however, that a centrally
planned church did not accommodate the need to separate
clergy and laity according to Roman liturgy. Thus, al-
though Bramante designed St. Peter’s, Rome, in the form
of a Greek cross, it was built in the traditional basilica
shape.
Secular architecture gave Renaissance architects far
more scope in the use of antique vocabulary. Designs for
THEATERSshow the gradual adaptation of classical plans to
the different dramatic circumstances of the Renaissance.
The urban palazzo emerged quite naturally from the clas-
sical insula, with its shops on the ground floor and living
quarters on the piano nobile. Michelozzo’s Palazzo Medici
Riccardi (1444), with its rusticated basement and airy
courtyard, has a massive classical cornice, and Alberti’s
Palazzo Rucellai (c. 1445–51) exhibits a network of su-2266 aarrcchheeuuss