Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/503

 RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE IN EUROPE. 445 RENAISSANCE. GOTHIC. as in the Sistine Chapel, Rome, for its reception (Nos. 124 e, 133, by Michael Angelo. 153 b and 175). " Sgraffito " decoration, i.e., Color for exteriors was dependent scratched and colored plaster, on the actnal material, as in was sometimes' applied to the colored marbles of central exteriors, as in the Palazzo del Italy (see No. 181, Florence Coiisiglio by Fra Giocondo Cathedral), (page 490) at Verona. Great efficiency in the crafts is Carving was often grotesque and noticeable in the work of the rudely executed (Nos. 165, 174 early Renaissance architects and 190), butinthe best examples, (Nos. 194, 206, 214 and 218), possesses a decorative character who were often painters and inharmony with the architecture, sculptors, e.g., Donatello, Ghi- Thiswaseffectedby theconstruc- berti, and Delia Robbia,examples five features, such as pinnacles, of their work being in the buttresses, and arches, them- Victoria and Albert Museum. selves being enriched. 5. REFERENCE BOOKS (refer to each style). Note. — It is now necessary to glance briefly through the chief peculiarities of the Renaissance style or manner in each country, noticing the influence of climate and race, and, where possible, the social and political causes which were at work. As about this period the names of architects begin to be prominently mentioned in connection with their own designs, it will sometimes be convenient to group them into schools for that purpose. In this respect much information may be derived from reading " The History of the Lives and Works of the most celebrated Architects," by Quatremere de Quincy, and the biographies of G. Vasari, Milizia, and others, transla- tions of which are published, and will be found in the R.I.B.A. Library. Interest in their works will be much increased by reading of the influences which directed these master-minds, and the various incidents in their lives which tended to influence their work. The student should study many excellent examples which have been collected in the architectural courts of the Crystal Palace, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and elsewhere, for it is only by a close study of the details themselves that the style can be thoroughly grasped.