Page:The Building News and Engineering Journal, Volume 22, 1872.djvu/55

 Jan. 12, 1872. THE BUILDING NEWS. 39 CRITICAL NOTES ON GREAT ITALIAN ARCHITECTS. By J. B. Warne. LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI: BORN 1404, prep 1472. MONGST those students of ancient architecture who introduced system and order into an art which had fallen to the con- dition of a mere ‘‘mystery” or trade, and raised it to a real science, the labours of Alberti hold a most distinguished place. Up to his time the rules of proportion were purely arbitrary, andthe science of proportion, which is as distinctly and surely a science, having fixed laws, which can be no more neglected or set aside than those of numbers and music, had fallen into oblivion, every one selected such dimensions as seemed good in his own eyes, and the result was good or bad, accord- ing as the architect might or might not be naturally gifted with a sense of proportion. It was still a matter of haphazard, and great must have been the delight of men of mind to discover that there existed a set of rules by which they might unerringly proceed. For genius, though it frets and chafes at any un- necessary restraint, is always pleased with order and system, as opposed to irregularity and confusion. ‘To it, rules are rather guides than masters, of which it makes use inits own way, giving variety as well as harmony to all its productions in every branch of art. The object which Brunelleschi and Alberti had in their laborious, varied, and minute studies was not to make a pretty picture of a building, such as might catch the general eye by its quaintness or picturesqueness, nor to obtain such power of free-hand draw- ing as should captivate admiring friends ; but their object was to give consistency and order to the principles of architectural art, and to apply that motto which, later on, Sir Christopher Wren adopted, ‘‘ Numeré, pon- deré, mensura.” Nor was such a foolish and pernicious assertion ever made or thought of by these great masters as that which we have lately heard from one of our foremost architects, that an architect, like a poet, nascitur non fit, and that energy, zeal, and talent are quite enough alone, without regular and close study, to place an artist at the head of his profession. Although Alberti had not the same oppor- tunities as Brunelleschi of putting his ac- quired stores of knowledge into practice, yet his written works are of the highest order of excellence, and evince a mind of great re- search and of unusual power ; whilst enough remains to us of his building to enable us to judge of the style of art he affected, and to imagine what he might have done had fortune favoured him with opportunity. Leon Battista Alberti, of the noble Floren- tine family of the Alberti, was born at Venice in the year 1404. In due course he became a canon of the metropolitan church at Florence, appears to have been possessed of some for- tune, and as nephew of the Cardinal Alberto degli Alberti naturally held a dignified clerical position. In addition to these advantages, Nature had gifted him with uncommon intel- lectual powers, which he had ample oppor- tunity of exercising; and Vasari describes him, moreover, as ‘‘ a man of refined habits, a friend of distinguished men, liberal and cour- teous to all.” Besides numerous treatises on various subjects, and a comedy written in Latin called ‘ Philodoxeos” (published by Aldus Manutius, of Venice, as the work of a Classic author—Lepidus), he published in Latin a work on sculpture, ‘‘ Breve Compen- dium de Componendé Statua ;” two treatises “de Pictura,” the one entitled ‘‘ Rudimenta,” another and longer one, the ‘‘ Elementi,” dedicated to Brunelleschi; and finally his celebrated work, in ten books, ‘“ De Ré Qidificatoria,” not published till after his death, ‘.c., in 1481, edited by his brother Bertrand, and dedicated by his own desire to Lorenzo de Medici; a valuable treatise on mechanics, ‘ Piacevolezze Matematiche sh “‘ Opuscoli Morali,” translated by C. Bartoli ; and the ‘'Theogonio ;” besides other works of ‘(an amatory character,” according to Vasari, in prose and verse. Thus as an architect, a writer on the arts, a@ geometrician, mechanician, moralist, and poet, Alberti held a most distinguished place even amongst the great men of his own time ; but the work which most specially concerns us is his “De Ré (dificatoria.” This remarkable work, the first of its kind in modern times, consists of ten books, in which architecture is fully discussed, both as a science and an art. Masonry, carpentry, levelling, water supply, the selection of sites, styles of building, the orders, the method of forming the entasis of columns, are all fully treated of and illustrated. He also insists on utility and economy as among the chief aims of an architect, a rule much outraged at this day. His design for the elevation of buildings surrounding a market-place (Plate XX. of Ticozzi’s edition, 1833) is equal to the best works of Palladio; and his facade for a theatre, with three arcades, and Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian columns, on the plan of the Coliseum, is finely designed. His arches always spring from imposts, or immediately from the abacus of the capital, thus avoiding the stilted appearance of Brunelleschi’s arches, which generally spring from a block entabla- ture placed above the capital. An edition of Alberti’s works, in Italian and English, was published in London in 1726, by I. Leoni, architect. : The first we hear of Alberti asa practi- cal architect is that he was employed at Rome by Nicholas V. to assist and, accord- ing to Vasari, to advise on and superintend the great works of the Vatican, which were de- signed by Bernardo Rossellino, of Florence, an architect already distinguished for his many works in military architecture, and his brother Antonio, celebrated as a sculptor. Nicholas, who died in 1455, was one of the foremost patrons of the revival of ancient literature and art, and _ succeeded to the Pontificate in 1447; consequently Al- berti could have remained in Rome but a comparatively short time from this date, since we find him, about the middle of the century, engaged by Sigismundo Malatesta to remodel the Gothic church of San Francesco at Rimini. The church still remains unfinished, but bears on the facade the date 1450. Within itis a chapel dedicated to San Geronimo, contain- ing the sarcophagus of Sigismundo and his celebrated wife, Isotta, also dated 1450, and which, according to Vasari, contains a por- “trait of Malatesta and of Alberti himself. Sigismundo did not die until 1468. Some years before this Alberti appears to have returned to Florence, and was commissioned by Giovanni Rucellai to complete the facade of S. M. Novella in marble at his own cost. This work appears to have been carried out more speedily than most Italian designs for church facades, for it was finished in 1477, “to the great satisfaction of all the city,” the principal door, on which Alberti bestowed great attention, being particularly admired. For Cosimo Rucellai he designed a palace at Florence, ‘‘in the street called La Vigna,” and ‘the Loggia (now walled up) which stands opposite to it,” of which latter Vasari speaks disparagingly. ‘The palace _ still belongs, we believe, to the Rucellai family, and is one of his finest works. Another palace for the same family, in the Via della Scala, said to be from Alberti’s design, appears somewhat apocryphal. But the chapel which Alberti built for the Rucellai family in the church of San Pancrazio, a.p. 1467, Vasari considers to be ‘‘ among the best works pro- duced by this architect.” It is now known as the Oratory of the Holy Sepulchre, the church itself being suppressed. Valery speaks of it in terms of high praise. About the same time Alberti was invited by Ludovico Gonzaga to visit Mantua, where he designed the ‘* chapel in the Nunziata,” now the chapel ‘‘ Della Madonna Incoronata” in the cathedral. Gaye states that the works of this chapel were executed by the Florentine architect, Antonio Manetti, who also com- pleted and altered Brunelleschi’s designs for San Lorenzo, Florence, after the great masters death. He prepared a model for the church of Sant Andrea in 1472, the year of his death ; and subsequently carried out, so far as the body of the church goes, by Luca, of Florence. Earlier still, or about the year 1460, Alberti had designed the church of 8. Sebastian, at Mantua (now suppressed), its imperfections being attributed to those who carried out his design without due care. Vasari also mentions certain churches: on the road leading from Mantua to Padua as having been ‘‘ erected” after the manner of this architect, but he makes no mention of the cupola of 8. Annunziata, at Florence, a large and remarkable dome of the Pantheon class, and which is usually described as one of Alberti’s earliest works. The choir, now modernised, was also originally from his design, but Vasari speaks slightingly of the apse or tribune of the church, though he describes it subsequently as ‘‘fanci- ful and beautiful.” As a practical sculptor and painter Alberti does not appear to have produced any works of great value. The ornamental sculpture of San Francesco, at Rimini, was almost certainly not his handiwork ; and the Malatesta Chapel, of which Vasari speaks in terms of praise, we find to have been executed by Antonio Filarete, as stated by Vasari in his life of that excellent artist ; and, moreoyer, he says in his life of Luca della Robbia, that he also was employed as a sculptor on this monument. As regards the style adopted by Alberti, it is characterised by largeness of parts and minuteness of ornament, which is less in har- mony with the mass than could be wished ; his walls are furnished with large pilasters or engaged columns, between which he places a single arch with an archivolt springing from an impost, and the triumphal arches of the Romans, especially that of Rimini, have beer justly remarked by d’Agincourt as having entered largely into his architectural com- positions. Though living so near to Brunelleschi’s: time, his style differs widely from that of his great predecessor, and is more essentially antique in its nature. The two examples of his art on whichhis fame principally rests are: the vestibule and nave of S. Andrea at Mantua, and the Church of San Francesco at Rimini. There is a breadth and majesty about his treatment of the last, both in the front and sides of the building, which command great admiration : on the south side especially, the arched recesses, containing sarcophagi dedi- catedto the great poets and artists of the time, form anoble feature, founded on a noble idea ; the sculptured band running at the base of the columns is effectively ornamented, though in rather low relief, with the monograms and, insignia of the Malatesta family, of original character, yet harmonising agreeably with the whole mass. We can hardly extend the same favourable criticism to his introduction of coloured marbles over the entrance-doorway ; they can scarcely be called tasteful, and are out of keeping with the great mass of the build- ing. He pursued the same system of surface decoration onthe facade of the Holy Sepulchre chapel at Florence. The exterior has, unfortunately, never been completed ; but from a representation of the temple on a medal of Sigismund Malatesta, dated 1450, it isshown as having curved roof- lines, something like those of 8. M. Novella at Florence, with a high central compartment, backed by a plain dome. Internally the walls are much cut up with small pilasters. Of S. Andrea at Mantua, it is more difficult to speak, for although the main body of the naye may be of his design, yet subsequent alterations and ornament have greatly injured its original character. ‘The facade of the vestibule to the church, however, may be considered to be his own design, and it exhibits such an advance in regard to its