Renaissance architecture originated in Italy and superseded the Gothic style over a period generally defined as 1400 to 1600. Features of Renaissance buildings include the use of the classical orders and mathematically precise ratios of height and width combined with a desire for symmetry, proportion, and harmony. Columns, pediments, arches and domes are imaginatively used in buildings of all types.
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Definition
Timeline
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1377 - 1446Life of the Italian Renaissance architect and sculptor Filippo Brunelleschi.
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1404 - 1472Life of the Italian Renaissance architect Leon Battista Alberti.
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1418 - 1428The Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo, Florence is built according to the design by Filippo Brunelleschi.
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c. 1419The Italian Renaissance architect Filippo Brunelleschi designs the influential Ospedale degli Innocenti in Florence.
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1436The Italian Renaissance architect Filippo Brunelleschi completes the dome of the cathedral of Florence.
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c. 1444 - 1514Life of the Italian Renaissance architect Donato Bramante.
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c. 1450The Italian Renaissance architect Leon Battista Alberti designs the facade for the Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini.
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c. 1450The Italian Renaissance architect Leon Battista Alberti designs the Palazzo Rucellai in Florence.
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1456The Italian Renaissance architect Leon Battista Alberti translates his treatise on architecture, On Building (De Re Aedificatoria) into the Tuscan vernacular.
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c. 1458The Italian Renaissance architect Leon Battista Alberti designs the new facade for the Santa Maria Novella church in Florence.
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1460The Italian Renaissance architect Leon Battista Alberti designs the San Sebastiano church in Mantua.
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c. 1470The Italian Renaissance architect Leon Battista Alberti designs the Basilica San Andrea in Mantua.
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1475 - 1554Life of the Italian Renaissance architect Sebastiano Serlio.
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1492 - 1494The Italian Renaissance architect Donato Bramante likely works on the rectangular piazza in Vigevano.
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1499The Italian Renaissance architect Donato Bramante moves to Rome.
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1500The Italian Renaissance architect Bramante designs the cloister for the Santa Maria della Pace church in Rome.
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1501The Italian Renaissance architect Donato Bramante designs the Palazzo Caprini in Rome, aka 'Raphael's House'.
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1502Leonardo da Vinci moves to Rome where he works for Cesare Borgia to sort out the city’s canals.
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1502Leonardo da Vinci produces his precise overhead view map of Imola, the first map of its kind.
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c. 1502The Italian Renaissance architect Donato Bramante designs the Tempietto of San Pietro in Montorio, Rome.
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1504The Italian Renaissance architect Donato Bramante redesigns the space between the Vatican Palace and the Villa Belvedere in Rome.
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c. 1506The Italian Renaissance architect Donato Bramante creates his design for the new Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.
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1508 - 1580Life of the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio.
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1512The Laurentian Library, San Lorenzo in Florence, designed by Michelangelo, is completed.
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c. 1517Antonio da Sangallo the Younger designs the High Renaissance Palazzo Farnese in Rome.n
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1517Leonardo da Vinci moves to France to work for Francis I of France.
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1519 - 1547The Chateau de Chambord in the Loire Valley of France is built.
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1537 - 1551The Italian Renaissance architect Sebastiano Serlio writes what would become known as his Seven Books on Architecture.
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1544 - 1546The Italian Renaissance architect Sebastiano Serlio works on his design of the Château d’Ancy-le-Franc in France.
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1544The Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo begins his redesign of the Capitoline Hill in Rome.
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1546The Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio designs the new facade for the town hall of Vicenza (the Basilica Palladiana).
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1547The Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo begins working on the soaring dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome (completed in 1590 CE).
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c. 1550The Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio designs the Palazzo Chiericati in Vicenza.
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c. 1551The Villa Valmarana, aka ‘La Rotonda’, near Vicenza and designed by Andrea Palladio, is built.
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1556The Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio provides a series of illustrations for a new edition of Vitruvius’ 'On Architecture'.
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1558The Mannerist Palazzo Marino courtyard in Milan, designed by Galeazzo Alessi, is completed.
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1565The Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio designs the San Giorgio Maggiore church in Venice.
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1570The Four Books of Architecture by Andrea Palladio is published.
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1576The Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio designs the church now commonly known as Il Redentore in Venice.
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c. 1580The Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza, is completed according to a design by Andrea Palladio.
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1626St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is completed.