ITALIAN ARCHITECTURE. 1 — IV.
the middle ages. — (Continued. )
B
EFORE entering Tuscany, where the Gothic style found its tomb, our attention is claimed by the church of San Petronio, at Bologna; it was begun by Antonio of Vincenzo (t 1405) in 1390, when already the Renaissance was beginning to eclipse the Gothic school. Maestro Antonio must have been a very bold and imaginative artist. In San Petronio he essayed to build a church larger than any that had hitherto been reared. The arms of the cross were to be of extraordinary size; there was to be a dome 510 feet in height and nearly 165 feet in diameter; the four angles of the transept were to be flanked by four towers, in short, the building was to be colossal in its proportions. But Maestro Antonio’s plan was entirely set aside in 1561. His name deserves, however, to be much better known than it is. He was likewise the architect of the magnificent spire of Saint Francis’ at Bologna.
In Tuscany it should be observed that there are some remarkable Gothic structures, especially in Florence. Such are Santa Maria del Fiore and the tower of Giotto. The Gothic exhibited here is, nevertheless, wholly unlike that of which we have been speaking; it is a Gothic of unique character, based on a polychrome system of decoration, on a constant tendency to horizontalism, on the tabernacle-form of the doors and windows, and on the use of terminal galleries with modillions and of openwork balustrades (Figure 12). How can
this style of exterior be rigorously termed Gothic! And how about the interior, with its massive pillars and its grave and majestic vaults resembling those of a Roman edifice!
The tradition which attributes the erection of Santa Maria del Fiore to Arnolfo di Cambio (1240-1301), architect of the Col de Valdelsa, is not borne out by the facts. The church was founded in 1296 by Arnolfo, who, as architect of Santa Reparata, was exempted from taxation [Santa Reparata, was the name under which Santa Maria del Fiore was reared, the latter appellation having been adopted in 1412]. Arnolfo died in 1301; it has been insisted that he left a design or model of
the church (cf. Frey, “Die Loggia dei Lanzi zu Florenz, ” p. 69; and Guasti, “Santa Maria del Fiore, La Ghiesa e il Cam
panile, ” p. xl) and even a model of the façade (Guasti, loc cit., p. lxv). The fact is that in 1334 after a suspension of the work, Giotto was chosen architect of the church — from 1334 to 1337; 1334 is the date of the foundation of the celebrated tower to which he mainly devoted himself. After Giotto, we find Andrea Pisano occupied on the tower from 1337 to 1348; then comes a long gap in the documents. Finally about 1350, Francesco Talenti was made architect or capomœstro (chief mason) as the head architect was then termed. His work on the tower and even that on the church, which
was resumed with
activity in 1357, was of prime importance. He was succeeded by Giovanni de Lapo Ghini, a learned but somewhat unscrupulous artist, who had been engaged for a good while in directing some part of the work on the duomo, even in Talenti’s time. We find later the name of Talenti’s son, Simon de Francesco Talenti, and that of Benci di Cione, and still other artists. It can, however, be said that the changes that were successively made in Arnolfo’s original idea did not so alter the character of the monument as to exclude him wholly from among the architects of the cathedral. Naturally, a work of such great importance must have been a collaboration.
As for Giotto’s tower, it must be remarked that only a portion of the basement is due to Giotto; the rest was by Andrea Pisano and Francesco Talenti — a really excellent artist who is becoming better and better appreciated.
An Arnolfo style did, however, according to certain writers, exist at Florence, forming a part of the Gothic school; but careful students are now inclined to treat the style of Arnolfo as somewhat apocryphal.
Gothic art took a surprising start at Sienna, where it assumed an original character in the combination of the pointed arch with the elliptical (Figure 13). See the facade of the beautiful town-hall, with its boldly soaring tower.
From Sienna, Orvieto is soon reached, where Siennese artists long held sway, although the inspiration of the cathedral is attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio, and the execution to a monk of Perugia, Fra de Benvignate. The façade surmounted, like that of the Sienna cathedral, by three great
1 From the French of Alfredo Melani, in Planat’s Encyclopèdie de l’Architecture et de la Construction. Continued from No. 831, page 130.
Fig. 12. Side Entrance of the Duomo of Florence.
the middle ages. — (Continued. )
B
EFORE entering Tuscany, where the Gothic style found its tomb, our attention is claimed by the church of San Petronio, at Bologna; it was begun by Antonio of Vincenzo (t 1405) in 1390, when already the Renaissance was beginning to eclipse the Gothic school. Maestro Antonio must have been a very bold and imaginative artist. In San Petronio he essayed to build a church larger than any that had hitherto been reared. The arms of the cross were to be of extraordinary size; there was to be a dome 510 feet in height and nearly 165 feet in diameter; the four angles of the transept were to be flanked by four towers, in short, the building was to be colossal in its proportions. But Maestro Antonio’s plan was entirely set aside in 1561. His name deserves, however, to be much better known than it is. He was likewise the architect of the magnificent spire of Saint Francis’ at Bologna.
In Tuscany it should be observed that there are some remarkable Gothic structures, especially in Florence. Such are Santa Maria del Fiore and the tower of Giotto. The Gothic exhibited here is, nevertheless, wholly unlike that of which we have been speaking; it is a Gothic of unique character, based on a polychrome system of decoration, on a constant tendency to horizontalism, on the tabernacle-form of the doors and windows, and on the use of terminal galleries with modillions and of openwork balustrades (Figure 12). How can
this style of exterior be rigorously termed Gothic! And how about the interior, with its massive pillars and its grave and majestic vaults resembling those of a Roman edifice!
The tradition which attributes the erection of Santa Maria del Fiore to Arnolfo di Cambio (1240-1301), architect of the Col de Valdelsa, is not borne out by the facts. The church was founded in 1296 by Arnolfo, who, as architect of Santa Reparata, was exempted from taxation [Santa Reparata, was the name under which Santa Maria del Fiore was reared, the latter appellation having been adopted in 1412]. Arnolfo died in 1301; it has been insisted that he left a design or model of
the church (cf. Frey, “Die Loggia dei Lanzi zu Florenz, ” p. 69; and Guasti, “Santa Maria del Fiore, La Ghiesa e il Cam
panile, ” p. xl) and even a model of the façade (Guasti, loc cit., p. lxv). The fact is that in 1334 after a suspension of the work, Giotto was chosen architect of the church — from 1334 to 1337; 1334 is the date of the foundation of the celebrated tower to which he mainly devoted himself. After Giotto, we find Andrea Pisano occupied on the tower from 1337 to 1348; then comes a long gap in the documents. Finally about 1350, Francesco Talenti was made architect or capomœstro (chief mason) as the head architect was then termed. His work on the tower and even that on the church, which
was resumed with
activity in 1357, was of prime importance. He was succeeded by Giovanni de Lapo Ghini, a learned but somewhat unscrupulous artist, who had been engaged for a good while in directing some part of the work on the duomo, even in Talenti’s time. We find later the name of Talenti’s son, Simon de Francesco Talenti, and that of Benci di Cione, and still other artists. It can, however, be said that the changes that were successively made in Arnolfo’s original idea did not so alter the character of the monument as to exclude him wholly from among the architects of the cathedral. Naturally, a work of such great importance must have been a collaboration.
As for Giotto’s tower, it must be remarked that only a portion of the basement is due to Giotto; the rest was by Andrea Pisano and Francesco Talenti — a really excellent artist who is becoming better and better appreciated.
An Arnolfo style did, however, according to certain writers, exist at Florence, forming a part of the Gothic school; but careful students are now inclined to treat the style of Arnolfo as somewhat apocryphal.
Gothic art took a surprising start at Sienna, where it assumed an original character in the combination of the pointed arch with the elliptical (Figure 13). See the facade of the beautiful town-hall, with its boldly soaring tower.
From Sienna, Orvieto is soon reached, where Siennese artists long held sway, although the inspiration of the cathedral is attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio, and the execution to a monk of Perugia, Fra de Benvignate. The façade surmounted, like that of the Sienna cathedral, by three great
1 From the French of Alfredo Melani, in Planat’s Encyclopèdie de l’Architecture et de la Construction. Continued from No. 831, page 130.
Fig. 12. Side Entrance of the Duomo of Florence.