The
villa holds a central place in the history of the Renaissance architecture. In
1518 Raphael was commanded by the cardinal Jules de Medici, cousin of pope Leon
X to Build the villa. The year 1518 is fall
right in the middle of the renaissance, period between 14th and 17th
centuries in different region of Europe. Originally, It started in Italy. Renaissance
style emphasizes on symmetry, proportion, geometry and the regularity of parts.
Renaissance architecture is essentially a revival of certain elements Greeks
and Roman usually in churches, cathedrals or temples.
While
the form of these structures changed over time and their location moved to
suburban or even urban houses in garden settings,
in villa Madama the core design principle remained an architectural setting for
learned pursuits and spiritual withdrawal into a domestic retreat from the
city. The idea of a house built away from the city in a natural setting
captured the imagination of wealthy patrons and architects.
The
Invention of the Villa: Renaissance Rome and Florence
The
imagined grandeur of the ancient Roman villa-estate depended not only on
written descriptions but developed from the rediscovery of painted frescoes
on the walls of antique ruins. The painter-architect Raphael (1483–1520)
reinterpreted the highly ornamental stucco details from their archaeological
studies for the monumental Villa Madama in Rome. To design the Villa, Raphael
had to study several existing building like the maritime Theater of Villa Hadrian, Tempietto and the roman villa
Rustica etc.
Inspired
by ancient precedent, Villa Madama integrated the concepts of the Roman garden
and villa. Within an invented form featuring a Rectangular courtyard.
As
constructed the, this villa only represent half of Raphael plan.If completed,
the central feature would have been an open rotunda, inspired by the island
enclosure at Hadrian’ s villa.
According
to Yvan Loskoutoff in his article about Villa Madama several part of the plan
is attributed to different architects. The first plan, a rectangular courtyard,
is attributed to Giovan Francesco. The second is attributed
to Antonio Da Sangallo. He introduced a circular central court partly design by
Raphael.
The
decorations of Villa are by Giulio Romano and Baldassare Peruzzi,
both major architects in their own right; Giovanni da Udine completed the stucco bas-reliefs
imitating work found in Nero's recently rediscovered Domus
Aurea; and finally, both Giovan Francesco Penni
("il Fattore") and the Florentine sculptor Baccio Bandinelli worked there too.
Aside from the Raphael loggia, the villa's greatest artistic element is the salone.
The villa
was to become a characteristic building type for the renaissance architects. In
contrast to the urban dwelling, it was a country retreat. The villa most
essential architectural attribute is the elevate porch, from which visitors
could view the garden.
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