Introduction

01 Colonialism

Introduction

Renaissance architecture is European architecture between the early 14th and early 16th centuries demonstrating a development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman material culture. During the Renaissance, architecture became not only a question of practice, but also a matter for abstract discussion. The Classical orders were analyzed and reconstructed to serve new ways of expressing their architecture. While the features of Classical Roman architecture were adopted by Renaissance architects, the forms and purposes of buildings had changed over time, as had the structure of cities. Among

https://artincontext.org/renaissance-architecture/ the buildings of the past, reborn Classicism were the type of churches that the Romans had never constructed.

North South Protestant Divide [Nick Moraes, Alex Rithiphong, Luc Thorington]

In 1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral. By 1520, Luther had been excommunicated and began a protest movement against the Catholic church. This protest movement would later be called Protestantism. During the 1700s, Europe was divided into Protestant and Catholics. As they are very similar due to their religion, they show different traits to express their beliefs. The fundamental difference between Protestant Baroque and Catholic Baroque is that Protestant Baroque painters carry subjects in ways that portray the artist’s personal expression. As for Catholic Baroque painters, they carry visually entertaining and captivating imagery in order to evoke emotions from the person viewing the image. Catholic churches are very well known for being decorative and eye appealing. As for the Protestant churches, they focus more on getting the message out on reading the Bible. Even though Catholic and Protestant churches have their similarities on religion, Catholics have more beliefs to their religion which causes their service to be a lot longer than the Protestant Churches. (Nick Moraes) Europe was fairly divided between north and south protestants as far as architectural design. For the most part, Catholic churches preferred to be undecorated buildings but each country in the north and south depicted their own style of church designs. The north carried a more “classical” style of architecture. Churches were designed with large domes and barrelvaulted ceilings. These churches were more common in England than anywhere else. St Paul’s Cathedral, located in London, boasts a large dome in the center, and implements columns around the building (see Figure 2). This style was adopted by many countries of the north of Europe. The south represented a gothic style of architecture. Spain, as well as many other countries surrounding it, used estimates and columns as a design element for their Catholic churches. Comparing churches in the south and the north, the south had more seemingly complex and detailed facades on churches compared to those in the north. One great example of a gothic cathedral is the Santiago de Compostela located in Spain. The cathedral had a grand appearance and details to make it elegant. Churches in the southern region of Europe generally were more detailed and elegant than churches in the northern region. The difference in architectural styles continues to form a clear boundary between the north and south of Europe. (Alex Rithiphong)

Figure 1: Giovanni Battista Gaulli, also known as il Baciccio,The Triumph of the Name of Jesus, Il, Gesù ceiling fresco, 1672-1685

Figure 2: St. Paul’s Cathedral, designed by Christopher Wren, Nicholas Hawksmoor, Robert Hooke, 1675.