Did you know?

One of Italy's best-known groups of structures has a marble exterior and sits on a grassy piazza. Its cathedral, baptistry, and tower are fine examples of Romanesque architecture, but its major claim to fame among tourists is its campanile, whose angle continues to amaze viewers. What could this awesome piece of architecture be? ANSWER: The Cathedral at Pisa (begun in 1063) with its startling leaning bell tower (campanile).

Unit 10

Gothic

A style employed in Europe in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries characterized by pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and buttresses to support its heavy stone construction.

words in context: In addition to the cathedral of Notre-Dame, the magnificent cathedral at Chartres, also in France, is a High Gothic masterpiece (begun after 1194).

Renaissance

This European style of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries began in Italy. Symmetry, simplicity, and precise mathematical relationships of the ancient Romans (and especially the concepts of the architect Vitruvius) were adapted for contemporary use.

words in context: The rebirth (renaissance) of classical architecture began in Italy and spread through Europe, virtually ending the dominance of the Gothic style. Brunelleschi was the first great architect of the Renaissance, bringing back the domes, vaults, and arches used in Roman antiquity.

Baroque

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Europe and Latin America, architecture as well as art was produced on a grand scale, emphasizing drama, energy, and mobility of form. Baroque buildings (Versailles, for example, and the churches of Christopher Wren) imposed order on many different forms such as complex ground plans, fountains, waterfalls, and facades that appeared to change in the light.

words in context: Baroque architecture took on the plastic aspects of sculpture and was enhanced by the chiaroscuro effects of painting to emphasize unity and balance of diverse artistic parts.

Georgian

The prevailing style of architecture in England during the reigns of George I, II, and III (1714-1830). Architects looked back to the principles of Andrea Palladio, the Italian Renaissance architect, whose formally classic buildings were primarily palaces and villas near Venice. His country houses employed a classic temple front; inside was a central hall surrounded by rooms laid out symmetrically.

words in context: The Georgian architect, Palladio, was influenced by the Italian Vitruvius; Palladio later influenced the English architect Inigo Jones.

After studying the definitions above, use these new words in the sentences below:

1. Architecture on a grand scale employing dramatic forms and diverse components is called .

2. architecture was the result of a rebirth of interest in classical

Roman forms, and it revived domes, vaults, and other features of antiquity.

3. A classical style characterized by a symmetrical floor plan with a central hall was architecture.

4. architecture incorporated ribbed vaults, pointed arches, and buttresses — some of them flying.

Test Yourself: Write the letter next to the number to match word and meaning.

1. Gothic a. placed order on fountains, waterfalls, and diverse forms

2. Georgian b. looked back on the classical forms of antiquity with favor

3. Baroque c. influenced the architects of Versailles

4. Renaissance d. palaces and villas with temple fronts and formal floor plans

On a separate sheet of paper, write a sentence using each of these new words.