The tremendous vaults in the interior of Sant’Andrea suggest
that Alberti’s model may have been Constantine’s Basilica Nova (FIG.
10-78) in Rome—erroneously thought in the Middle Ages and Re-
naissance to be a Roman temple. Consistent with his belief that arches
should not be used with freestanding columns, Alberti abandoned the
medieval columned arcade Brunelleschi still used in Santo Spirito
(FIG. 21-31). Thick walls alternating with vaulted chapels, interrupted
by a massive dome over the crossing, support the huge coffered barrel
vault. Because Filippo Juvara (1678–1736) added the present dome in
the 18th century, the effect may be somewhat different from what Al-
berti planned. Regardless, the vault calls to mind the vast interior
spaces and dense enclosing masses of Roman architecture. In his trea-
tise, Alberti criticized the traditional basilican plan (with continuous
aisles flanking the central nave) as impractical because the colonnades
conceal the ceremonies from the faithful in the aisles. For this reason,
he designed a single huge hall (FIG. 21-46) with independent chapels
branching off at right angles. This break with a Christian building tra-
dition that had endured for a thousand years was extremely influential
in later Renaissance and Baroque church planning.ANDREA MANTEGNALike other princes, Ludovico Gon-
zaga believed an impressive palace was an important visual expres-574 Chapter 21 ITALY,1400 TO 150021-46Leon Battista Alberti, interior of
Sant’Andrea (looking northeast), Mantua, Italy,
designed 1470, begun 1472.
Alberti abandoned the medieval columnar arcade
for the nave of Sant’Andrea. The tremendous vaults
suggest that he may have been inspired by
Constantine’s Basilica Nova (FIG. 10-78) in Rome.sion of his authority. One of the most spectacular rooms in the
Palazzo Ducale (Ducal Palace) is the duke’s bedchamber and audi-
ence hall, the so-called Camera degli Sposi (Room of the Newly-
weds), originally the Camera Picta (Painted Room;FIGS. 21-47and
21-48). Andrea Mantegna (ca. 1431–1506) of Padua, near
Venice, took almost nine years to complete the extensive fresco pro-
gram in which he sought to aggrandize Ludovico Gonzaga and his
family. The particulars of each scene are still a matter of scholarly
debate, but any viewer standing in the Camera Picta surrounded by
the spectacle and majesty of courtly life cannot help but be thor-
oughly impressed by both the commanding presence and elevated
status of the patron and the dazzling artistic skills of Mantegna.
In the Camera Picta, Mantegna performed a triumphant feat
by producing the first completely consistent illusionistic decoration
of an entire room. By integrating real and painted architectural ele-
ments, Mantegna dissolved the room’s walls in a manner that fore-
told later Baroque decoration (see Chapter 24). It recalls the efforts
of Italian painters more than 15 centuries earlier at Pompeii and
elsewhere to merge mural painting and architecture in frescoes of
the so-called Second Style of Roman painting (FIGS. 10-18and
10-19). Mantegna’s trompe l’oeil (French, “deceives the eye”) design,
however, went far beyond anything preserved from ancient Italy.21-46A
Ca d’Oro,
Venice,
1421–1437.