Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/39

* RENAISSANCE ART. councils, rather tli:iu in voval palaces or in reli- •;ious biiililin{.'s. Imlecd, Saint Micliaers. Munich, is the only really inipdrtant church edifice of the sixteenth century in all Germany (1.582), Until the Palladian or ratlier the Italian liaroque style invaded Germany, late in the seventeenth cen- tury, the Germans retained in their Kenaissanco hjiildings unchanged many of tiieir national and niediipval features — high roofs, vast stepped gables of fanciful outline, dormers running through two or three stories, spiral stair-towers, oriels, the irregular plans of the feudal castles, and a predilection for old, fantastic, and pic- ture.sque combinations of form and detail. The orders apjiear rarely except in portals or in pilasters, and then treated with utter disregard of classic canons, and court arcades of the classic t.vpe are not to be found, the ticrmans preferring stumpy columns with segmental arches to the Italian type. The style appears, therefore, at its best in the smaller street fronts of narrow houses, or the picturesque masses of castles on the hillsides, as at Torgau. or in the highly ornate Otto Heinrichsbau (1.554) and Friedrichsbau ( 1601 ) of the great castle at Heidelberg, which are generally considered the masterpieces of the first period. The town halls of Altenburg, Danzig, Augsburg, Rothenburg. and Bremen (from 1562 to 1612) and others of less importance form an- other interesting group of examples of the style. In the later or Baroque period there were many palaces erected or enlarged of moderate archi- tectural interest, except in the case of the Zwin- ger at Dresden (1711). which is one of the finest and most consistent examples of the Ro- coco extant ; and there were also a number of interesting churches in this style (e.g. Marien- kirche at Dresden). Landscape architecture after the style of Versailles was highly developed in this period. Belgium , d Holland. In these closely re- lated countries Renaissance architecture devel- oped very different lyr though late in both. Bel- gium was strongly affected by both French and Spanish influences, as in the fantastic semi- Spanish episcopal palace at Li&ge by Borset (1508), and produced but one monumental edi- fice of classic type, the Antwerp town hall (1564). As in Germany, many of the most characteristic Renaissance works are guild halls and narrow street fronts, as on the great square at Brussels, the Boatmen's houses at Ghent, etc. Even more successful were many sumptuous choir screens, altars, and pulpits, both in Bel- gium and Holland. In the latter country the Renaissance produced almost no works of real importance, though some of the Dutch town halls are worthy of notice, as at The Hague (1565), Amsterdam (1655), and Leyden (1597). With these may be classed al.so the Amsterdam Bourse, and in Denmark the Exchange at Copenhagen. The use of brick, of stepped gables, and of a sim- ple and naif style of design gives a certain charm to many less important Dutch buildings. Spain. .Although the Renaissance in archi- tecture entered Spain largely through the work of Flemish artists, it developed more rapidly and produced more important works than in Flan- ders. The exuberant decorative spirit of Spanish late Gothic and Moresque art appears in the elegant detail of the Plateresque. as the early phase of the Renaissance in Spain is called, in such structures as the Santa Cruz Hospital at 25 RENAISSANCE ART. Toledo, the College at Alculi'i de Henares, and the Ayuntamiento at S<>villc, all between 15(10 and 1520. .About 1523 church architecture was radically modilicd by the new .style, us shown in the cathedrals of'.Iafn (1525) "and Granada (15211) and San Domingo at Salamanca. But hardly had this begun when Bi'rruguete returned from Italy and brought with him Ihc High Renaissance in the Palladian form, which was further developed by Herrera. This second phase of Spanish Ucnaissance is called the Greco- Roman, and it ruled until the close of the seven- teenth century. The palace of Charles V. at Granada is a noble structure by .Machuca and Berrugucte, rusticated below, colonnadcil above, of good proportions and well planned. One build- ing especially corresponds in its vastness to the greatness and character of Spanish power, viz. the Escorial (q.v.), a huge rectangle, simple and uninteresting except in its domical church, which is an impressive edifice of classic style. In such works as these Italian ideas are reproduced with greater fidelity and absence of local na- tional traits than in any other country. f)n the other hand, wlicn under the leadership of Chur- riguera an extreme form of Maroque or Rococo pervaded Spain, the national leaning toward elaborate detail and over-decorati<m of surfaces ran riot as never before. Some of the royal pal- aces (Madrid and San Ildefonso) built in the eighteenth century escape it, but with few ex- ceptions it prevailed. Portugal hardly holds any independent posi- tion. Its masterpiece of the sixteenth century, the group of momunents at Belem, is the comhic of luxuriant ex))i'ession of the mi.xed late Gothic and pseudo-Renaissance design. England. Latest of all countries to employ the Renaissance style was England. L'nder Eliz- abeth and .James I. (1558-1625) there were spo- radic examples and a sprinkling of tile new style of decoration in Tudor work. There were some Italian artists like Torrigiano and (Jiovanni of Padua, but they had to adapt themselves to Tudor requirements, except in a few cases such as the Caius Gate at Cambridge. Inigo .Tones changed the trend of architecture and led to the universal ado])fion of the pure Italian High Renaissance of the Palladian type before the middle of the seventeenth century, his happiest effort being the palace at Whitehall (q.v,). His work was carried forward by Wren, whose mas- terpiece. Saint Paul's Cathedral (q.v.). is one of the great buildings of IDurope. ft combined the Renaissance groups of domes with the typical ground plan of an English (Jothic cathedral. Wren's sobriety and consistency gave a char- acter of good taste to all contemporary English architecture, which continued throughout the eighteenth century under the leadership of men like Van Brugh. the designer of Blenheim, Hawksmoor. and Gibbs, who built Saint .Martins- in-the-Fields and the Radcliffe Library. Oxford. These men and their successors. Chambers, Adams, Taylor, and Dance, show a jnogrcssive degeneration in point of originality up to the close of the century, when the wave of purely Greek Renaissance struck England and was em- bodied in buildings like the Bank of England (see SoANE). the British Museum (q.v.), the Fitzwilliam Museum. Cambridge, and the fine Saint George's Hall, Liverpool (q.v.). BiBLioGHAPiiY. For Italy the most convenient