throughout Europe as the taste for the
classical ideal spread. By the time of the
High Renaissance, appearance in the an-
cient style (all’antica in Italian) gave a
church, private home, or palace the stamp
of an aristocratic and intellectual elitism.
Giorgio Vasari, inThe Lives of the Most
Excellent Italian Painters, Sculptors, and Ar-
chitects, had the honor of coining the term
rinascita, or “re-birth,” a designation for
the entire age of returning to classical ide-
als.
Italian architects were the first to aban-
don the medieval Gothic manner of de-
signing sacred and secular buildings. The
Italians saw the Gothic style as a strange
and foreign importation, brought by
northern barbarians and imposed on the
heirs of the ancient Romans. Throwing off
the old style was a point of pride; the edu-
cation of many artists and architects in-
cluded a pilgrimage to Rome to investigate
and measure the remains of the ancient
city. The work of Filippo Brunelleschi in
Florence was an important harbinger of
the new architecture of the Renaissance.
Brunelleschi’s architectural masterpieces
included the Santo Spirito and San
Lorenzo in Florence, and the dome of the
city’s cathedral. In the next generation,
Donato Bramante, Giovanni Amadeo,
Leon Battista Alberti, Andrea Palladio, An-
tonio da Sangallo, Raphael, and Michelan-
gelo Buonarroti carried the classical ideal
throughout Italy.
Their new style emphasized symmetry,
the balance of different elements, and har-
monious proportions. Plain surfaces and
clear lines swept away the exuberant clut-
ter of Gothic spires and sculpture. The
classical arch and dome came into style;
columns in the three ancient orders—
Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian—gave the ap-
pearance of a classical temple, and revealed
the basic geometry of a building. The fa-
cade and the interior of the building
worked together, rather than being entirely
separate elements as in the Middle Ages.
Church architecture was more consis-
tent across the continent, with two major
plans dominating—the basilica in the
shape of a cross, with elongated nave and
short transept, and the Greek cross. The
Greek cross was admired for its balance
and perfect proportions of the square and
circle, but after the Catholic Reformation
the church, in its effort to echo the virtues
of the early Christians, returned to the tra-
ditional basilica plan.
Private architecture also assumed clas-
sical models. Roman homes, with severe
street fronts, individual rooms coming off
long corridors, and colonnaded interior
courtyards, were imitated in majestic Re-
naissance palaces, with the Farnese Palace
of Antonio da Sanagallo in Rome one of
the best-known examples. Facades were
regular and symmetrical, surmounted by a
cornice, and centered on immense door-
ways that advertised the owner’s wealth
and prestige. The rooms were decorated
with fresco paintings, another imitation of
Roman style. Country homes adopted Ro-
man features, such as grottoes, elaborate
gardens, fountains, pools, and open-air
courtyards.
Accompanying new ideas in architec-
ture was the new science and art of town
planning, which began to change Europe’s
urban landscape. Comprehensive plans
cleared away the organic web of medieval
streets and replaced it with logical grid
plans (borrowed from Roman colonies),
large and open public squares, and wide
boulevards that served as an axis of traffic
and commerce. Renaissance cities were also
decorated with classical features such as
columns, arches, and monumental statu-architecture