perimposed pilasters on its façade. These examples of
early Renaissance architecture are characterized by a su-
perficial application of classical motifs. RAPHAEL’s design
for the Villa Madama (c. 1518) in Rome was a reinterpre-
tation of an antique villa based upon the writings of Pliny
the Younger (c. 61–c. 113 CE).
Pope JULIUS II’s ambitious building program, which in-
cluded the reconstruction of St. Peter’s and the Vatican
palace, as well as the development of new streets, moved
the focus of Renaissance art from Florence to Rome.
Working in the shadow of majestic classical monuments,
architects were compelled towards a new and archaeolog-
ically pure interpretation of the antique. In 1515 Raphael
was appointed superintendent of Roman antiquities,
which prompted his scheme to measure and draw Roman
remains. The newly uncovered Domus Aurea (Golden
House) of Nero, with its rich GROTESQUEinterior decora-
tion, inspired the all’antiqua decoration of Raphael’s Vati-
can Loggie (1518–19) and the facade of the Palazzo dell’
Aquila (now destroyed). An increasing desire for a
“Roman” quality in architecture, led to a greater monu-
mentality in the handling of space and a greater plasticity
in ornamentation. Bramante’s design for the internal
spaces of St. Peter’s shows apses and chapels scooped out
of the heavy wall mass. The Roman Palazzo Vidoni Ca-
farelli, perhaps by Raphael (c. 1525), has a grandly
sculpted façade with windows on the piano nobile set be-
tween paired columns. This rich and rhythmical façade
contrasts with the flat surface of the Palazzo Rucellai,
where the ornamentation is applied rather than organic.
The Palazzo FARNESE, begun in 1517 to designs by Anto-
nio da SANGALLOand modified by MICHELANGELO, VIG-
NOLA, and Giacomo DELLA PORTA, was the last great
Roman monument of the High Renaissance. The huge
wall expanse, enlivened by perfectly proportioned
aedicules and bold quoins, and the imposing central door-
way create a gravity and elegance that summarized the ar-
chitectural aims of the period. Henceforth the High
Renaissance buildings of Rome would combine with clas-
sical remains as a source for architects such as Palladio,
who would spread the new architectural vocabulary to
northern Italy and beyond.
The Italian Renaissance was exported to the north in
the wake of the French invasions of Italy, beginning in
1494 when the armies of Charles VIII marched into Lom-
bardy. The spread of Renaissance values depended upon
political and economic circumstances; after 1620, for in-
stance, the Thirty Years’ War precluded building on any
scale in Germany and Austria during the first half of the
17th century, and abruptly curtailed the output of those
architects, like Elias HOLL, who had transplanted the Ital-
ian ideals.
Without first-hand knowledge of remains of classical
antiquity, the northern architects’ response to Renaissance
principles was fundamentally derivative. In France and
England the Italian style of building was applied merely to
surface decoration. The 16th-century French châteaux of
CHAMBORD and CHENONCEAUX were sophisticated pas-
tiches of Italian palazzi, with antique motifs superim-
posed upon the medieval French fortress plan. In England
an extravagant expression of mainly medieval splendor
emerged during the Elizabethan age (see ELIZABETHAN
STYLE), 150 years after Brunelleschi initiated the Renais-
sance in Florence. The only country to employ a pure Ital-
ian style in the 16th century was Spain, although the
exuberant PLATERESQUEidiom was also in evidence at least
until mid-century. The ESCORIAL, built for Philip II, dis-
plays an austere classicism, the centralized plan of its
church recalling Bramante. However, by the 17th century
this Italianate style was eclipsed by the excesses of the
BAROQUE. Elsewhere the deeply rooted Gothic traditions
continued until the advent of Inigo Jones in England and
François Mansart and Louis Le Vau in France in the 17th
century.
Further reading: Peter Murray, Renaissance Archi-
tecture (London: Faber, 1986); Christine Smith, Archi-
tecture in the Culture of Early Humanism: Ethics, Aesthetics
and Eloquence, 1400–1470 (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1992); Rudolf Wittkower, Architectural Princi-
ples in the Age of Humanism (Chichester, U.K.: Academy
Editions, 5th ed. 1998) ENGLAND: Malcolm Airs, The
Making of the English Country House, 1500–1640 (London:
Architectural Press, 1975) FRANCE: Ian Dunlop, Royal
Palaces of France (London: Hamilton, 1985); Christiane
de Nicolay-Mazery and Jean-Bernard Naudin, The French
Chateau: Life—Style—Tradition (London: Thames & Hud-
son, 1991) GERMANY: Henry R. Hitchcock, German Re-
naissance Architecture (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1981) ITALY: Ludwig H. Heydenrich, Ar-
chitecture in Italy, 1400–1500 (New Haven, Conn. and
London: Yale University Press, rev. ed. 1996); Ludwig H.
Heydenrich and Wolfgang Lotz, Architecture in Italy:
1400–1600 (Harmondsworth, U.K.: Penguin, 1974; rev.
ed. 1995); Andrew Hopkins, Italian Architecture: From
Michelangelo to Borromini (London: Thames & Hudson,
2002); Wolfgang Lotz, Studies in Italian Renaissance Archi-
tecture (Cambridge, Mass. and London: MIT Press, 1977);
Peter Murray, The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance
(New York: Schocken, 1986).Arcimboldo, Giuseppe (c. 1527–1593) Italian painter
His early designs for stained-glass windows (1549–58) for
the cathedral in his native Milan gave little hint of the
bizarre later paintings for which he is best known. In 1562
he moved to the Hapsburg court in Prague, where he de-
signed court entertainments and ceremonies and painted
settings for the imperial theater. The volume of drawings
of designs for Hapsburg court festivities that Arcimboldo
presented to Emperor Rudolf II in 1585 (now in the Uffizi,
Florence) displayed to his patron the artist’s technicalAArrcciimmbboollddoo,, GGiiuusseeppppee 2277