The century of ColumbusWalsh, James J. (James Joseph)
History
The century of Columbus
Walsh, James J. (James Joseph)
Renaissance
In England Renaissance architecture, that is the influence of the
classical, had very little, indeed almost no effect during Columbus'
Century. The genius, as well as the taste of the builders and
architects of the time, however, is well illustrated by the
development of Gothic architecture which took place in this period.
The Italians of the Renaissance decided that the interior of buildings
should be decorated by paintings. The English builders were yet in the
period in which they considered that the interior decoration, just as
the exterior decoration, should flow naturally from the construction
of the building. These two styles are very well illustrated in two
famous structures which were built within the same generation, though
separated by half the width of the European continent, and which are
triumphs of the respective styles of architecture. These are the
Sistine Chapel at Rome and King's College Chapel of Cambridge, the
plans of which, because of the inevitable contrast they suggest and
the supreme effectiveness of both of them, deserve study. Each has a
beauty of its own that advocates of either style cannot help but
admire, and both give magnificent testimony to the power of the men of
this time to express themselves nobly and beautifully in structural
work under the influence of religious ideas.
In Spain the architecture of the time is noteworthy, though it is
mainly of ecclesiastical character. All of the buildings erected by
Ferdinand and Isabella are in the Gothic style, and the famous Church
of St. John of the Kings at Toledo is as Gothic as the chapel of Henry
VII at Westminster. The Cathedral at Salamanca commenced in 1513 and
that of Segovia in 1525 are both thoroughly Gothic. These buildings
are so well known that the accomplishment of this period in
architecture need scarcely be emphasized. The first distinctively
Renaissance work in Spain is the Cathedral at {119} Granada, which,
though Gothic in certain ways, contains Renaissance suggestions and
modifications of form that have been adopted for many modern Churches.
[Illustration: ALBERTI, RUCELLAI PALACE (FLORENCE)]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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