Origins of the Roman Renaissance

       

        It was really interesting to see the transition from the Byzantine style to the Roman renaissance and how the return of the papacy to Rome brought back the revival of classical antiquity. Overall, I was very amazed with the grandiose structures we saw this week. I realized how advanced Roman society was, and I really loved how they emphasized harmonics and mathematical proportions as well as human emotion. Everything we saw was so beautiful and unreal. 

Architecture in Renaissance Italy is based on Classical Roman examples, in which they exemplify harmonious form and mathematical proportion, in addition to appealing to emotion and reason. 

       The Pantheon is an example of architecture in Roman antiquity. Built by the greek loving emperor Hadrian, the temple is dedicated to all the Roman gods. However, it is now a Christian church. Entering the perfect sphere is like entering a form of cosmos, where the oculus brings in light. The coffers reduce in size as they get closer to the oculus. The high renaissance ends with the death of Raphael, so he is buried in the Pantheon. 

The Tempietto was Dante Bramante’s first expression of the high Renaissance. It is a little temple, and it supposed to mark the spot of St. Peter’s matyrdom. A martyria in Roman antiquity contains a circular form, and Bramante makes a conscious choice to go back to ancient architectural language by creating a circular plan church with a central plan. It is also from the Tuscan order and contains doric columns (without flutes). Bramante strictly follows Vitruvius’s rules in order to create ideal geometries. It exhibits order, balance, and symmetry. The human body is a form of measurement, in which it is built on a human scale. The Tempietto has an ideal beauty connected to god, in which the body is synchronizing with god. The pure geometries are emphasized in the high Renaissance. In addition to containing Christian typography of the city, the Tempietto has symbols related to the church, papacy, and the Eucharist.

  Pietro Cavillini's mosaic at the apse of Santa Maria in Trastevere, created at the end of the 13th century. Santa Maria in Trastevere was a fourth century early Christian church. Cavillini worked in renovation of churches for popes. The mosaic contains iconography of the nativity of Christ, the nativity of Mary, the annunciation, and the dormition. Iconography reminds the viewer of the story, teaches a moral life, and excites devotion. Christ sits enthroned with Mary and the heavenly court as they reign in heaven. The mosaic is of the Byzantine style, in which the figures are flat, frontal, rigid, and elongated against a gold background. The mosaic contains tessarae at different angles. Mosaic is a method of painting that dates back to antiquity. 

 Pietro’s Cavallini’s last judgement is a fresco in the Benedictine nun monastery. A fresco is a wall painting, and it is a medium that goes back to ancient times. This work exhibits the hallmarks of the Renaissance in Rome.The fresco is one of the first examples of Roman naturalism, which is a Byzantine influence with naturalism. Three dimensionality, emotion, sense of space, and focus on the human body is emphasized. The figures are individualized, and the drapery is becoming more descriptive. The fresco does not employ a true linear perspective, but it is close. The last judgement is a form of Christian iconography, in which the image formula consists of Christ at the center judging, as he reigns in glory. He still has the wounds from crucifixion, with one hand up to rise, and the other hand to the damned. He is in between Mary and John, who are the traditional intercessors and the Deissus. They are surrounded by angels, and apostles. The figures are occupying space and moving into the wall. The work exhibits Roman naturalism, classicism, human animation, liveliness, corporeality, and movement. 

The renaissance is rooted in the revival of classical culture and the return of the papacy in Rome. Classicism was never lost in Roman culture, as the population would be reminded of classical antiquity with its remains and monuments still standing in Rome. Classical art is authoritative and is a way to exert power. Art in the Roman Renaissance was primarily religious, and its purpose was to recreate the Roman Empire as Christian and share the glory of the church. Rome became caput mundi, in which it was the capital of Christendom with the Popes as emperors. Classicism is typified by restraint, economy, order, balance, symmetry, and naturalism, and rationality.