Gardners Art through the Ages A Global History

High and Late Renaissance 597

Architecture: Rome

The Sistine Chapel was but a small part of the vast Vatican palace
complex on the west side of the Tiber River (MAPS22-1and 24-1),
construction of which began under Constantine with the erection of
a church over the site of Saint Peter’s burial place (Old Saint Peter’s,
FIG. 11-9). By the 15th century, it was obvious that the millennium-
old basilica was insufficient for the needs and aspirations of the
Renaissance papacy. Rebuilding the fourth-century church would oc-
cupy some of the leading architects of Italy for more than a century.

BRAMANTEThe first in the distinguished line of architects of
the new Saint Peter’s was Donato d’Angelo Bramante(1444–1514).
Born in Urbino and trained as a painter (perhaps by Piero della
Francesca), Bramante went to Milan in 1481 and, like Leonardo,
stayed there until the French arrived in 1499. In Milan, he aban-
doned painting to become one of his generation’s most renowned
architects. Under the influence of Filippo Brunelleschi, Leon Battista
Alberti, and perhaps Leonardo, all of whom strongly favored the art

and architecture of classical antiquity, Bramante developed the High

Renaissance form of the central-plan church.

TEMPIETTOThe architectural style Bramante championed was,

consistent with the humanistic values of the day, based on ancient

Roman models. This style is on display in the small architectural

gem known as the Tempietto (FIG. 22-22) on the Janiculum hill

overlooking the Vatican. The building received its name because, to

contemporaries, it had the look of a small ancient temple. “Little

Temple” is, in fact, a perfect nickname for the structure, because the

round temples of Roman Italy (FIG. 10-4) directly inspired Bra-

mante’s design. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain com-

missioned the Tempietto to mark the presumed location of Saint Pe-

ter’s crucifixion. The patrons asked Bramante to undertake the

project in 1502, but work may not have commenced until the end of

the decade. Today the Tempietto stands inside the rectangular clois-

ter alongside the church of San Pietro in Montorio, but Bramante

planned, although never executed, a circular colonnaded courtyard

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