Brunelleschi Santo Spirito and Pazzi Chapel

7/17/2019 Brunelleschi Santo Spirito and Pazzi Chapel

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HUMANISM and the CLASSICAL TRADITIONAP Art History

Filippo Brunelleshi! Santo Spirito "Florene# $e%un ! &'()

1. “Brunelleschi’s mature style is best known from his last major commission-

namely, rebuilding the church of Santo Spirito, located to the south of the rno !i"er.lthough it was barely started before Brunelleschi’s death in 1##$, both the plan andthe e%isting na"e re"eal his intentions. &he plan is a uni'ed (atin cross with asymmetrical transept the same si)e and shape as the choir. *orty chapels along theaisles continue at the sides of the transept and the far end of the choir. +ad he li"ed,Brunelleschi planned to repeat the chapels on the entrance wall, creating a uniueand unifying border of chapels around the entire structure dams, ItalianRenaissance /0-/2.

0. s in the +ospital, Brunelleschi based the plan on the harmonious proportions of the suare. *rom the crossing, three arms of eual length e%tend- the choir and thetwo arms of the transept. &he fourth arm is the na"e, which consists of two suares,each the si)e of the suare crossing. &he height of the na"e is twice its width. &heaisles are de'ned by suare bays, the height of which is also twice their width /2.“Brunelleschi intended to con"ey a sense of dynamic tension between the 3at walland the hemispherical planes of the repeated chapels. 4n the na"e, as at San (oren)o,5orinthian columns with smooth shafts support round arches. long the aisle walls,engaged columns between each chapel echo those of the na"e colonnade, therebycreating a stronger plastic unity between wall and arcade than in either the hospitalof San (oren)o. &he last feature was new in its concreti)ation of space, re3ecting thephysical e%perience of the worshiper. s such, it corresponded to the !enaissanceconception of man in nature and his role as 6the measure of things’/-/#2.

. “&he lower stories of San (oren)o and Santo Spirito are na"e arcades supported onmonolithic 5orinthian columns of great height, simplicity, and beauty. &o achie"egreater height, Brunelleschi added impost blocks abo"e the capitals composed of suared sections of 5orinthian entablature, including the cornice, between the capitaland the arch. &he 3at ceilings are supported on a clerestory wall that is unbrokensa"e for round-arched windows. &he interior details are simple and light, withdelicate projections7 the 3at surfaces of the masonry are co"ered with stucco andpainted white, while the supporting elements are trim, including the columns, arches,and entablature, are made of gray stone the *lorentines call, appropriately, pietraserena. &he result is a cool, harmonious, and austere alternation of gray and whitethat emphasi)es the relationships between the parts of the structure. &his new two-tone system, de"ised by Brunelleschi, would be used to decorate the interiors of *lorentine churches and dwellings into the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. &he"aults of the side aisles ha"e the pendenti"e domes of the 4nnocenti loggia, while theceilings of the na"e are co8ered and car"ed and gilded moldings and rosettes at San(oren)o and painted decoration in the cheaper ceiling at Santo Spirito +artt and9ilkins 1:;, 1:02.

#. “&he suare formed by the crossing of na"e and transept2 pro"ides the module onwhich the church is based<4n ele"ation the height of the na"e arcade is eual to theheight of the wall abo"e. 4n short, the proportions are irreducibly simple- 1=1, 1=0<the emotional atmosphere is cool and rational, the space a place for contemplation&urner /$2.

Filippo Brunelleshi! Pa**i Chapel "Santa Croe+ Florene# $e%un ! &'',



1. “Brunelleschi’s chapter house of Santa 5roce was commissioned by the powerful>a))i family and is known as the >a))i 5hapel. lthough the structure may ha"e beendesigned c. 1#0-0#, construction did not start until 1##0 and it was only 'nished c.1#$?. &he portico itself is awkward, but the latest suggestion is that it followsBrunelleschi’s design with the substitution of dome o"er the entrance, the raisedheight of which led to the awkward, un'nished roof +artt and 9ilkins 1:2. “&he

plan and interior represent an ampli'cation and consolidation of the principlesannounced earlier in Brunelleschi’s Sacristy of San (oren)o7 it is a rectangularstructure of three stories, the second containing the arches and pendenti"es thatsupport the third, a star-"aulted dome culminating in a lantern. +ere theresemblance ceases. >robably because the *ranciscan chapter of Santa 5rocereuired a large meeting space, the central suare is e%tended on either side by half a suare. s a result, the building is twice as wide as it is deep7 the center is roofedby the twel"e-ribbed dome, the sides by barrel "aults 1:#2.

0. “&he side walls are articulated by 5orinthian pilasters upholding a decorati"e archand embraced by the barrel "ault7 this, in turn, is supported by uarter-widthpilasters, the remained of which is folded onto the adjoining wall. &he arched panelson the back and side walls match the si)e and shape of the windows on the entrancewall. &he distance between the outer edge of a uarter-width plaster and the inneredge of the ne%t pilaster on the side walls is the basic module for the interiorarticulation- but not for the total proportions- of the chapel. &he module is clearlyindicated by the architect’s use of corbels, and thus the space between the inneredges of the central pilasters is two modules wide. &he area of the altar space is ane%act suare, two modules wide and two deep. &he height of the order from its baseabo"e the bench2 to the top of the cornice is four modules7 three and one-half. @achshaft is three modules high and one-third module wide, each capital one-third modulehigh and one-half module wide at the abacus 1:#2.

. “&he proportions of the three stories- architectural order, arches, and dome- arenot identical, as they were in the San (oren)o Sacristy. +ere they diminish as theyrise. &he amount by which these stories are decreased is in each case one-half module. &he result of this controlled diminution is that the 5orinthian order, usedthroughout the chapel, gains in importance and dominates the interior to an e%tentimpossible in the San (oren)o Sacristy. s in Brunelleschi’s other works, the clear-cutdecorati"e details are set out in pietra serena against white stucco walls, "aults, anddome. &he only color is pro"ided by the stained-glass window o"er the altar and thegla)ed terra-cotta reliefs in the medallions- predominantly the sky blue of theirbackgrounds- and by the >a))i coat of arms in the pendenti"es 1:#2.

#. “t this juncture one might bear in mind the admonition of the contemporary*lorentine humanist Aianno))o anetti, who stated in his book On the Dignity andExcellency of Man that the truths of the 5hristian religion are as clear and self-e"ident as the a%ioms of mathematics. &he rational, ordered clarity of Brunelleschi’sreligious buildings may disappoint those who, like !uskin, the nineteenth-centuryBritish critic, are fascinated by Aothic architectural idioms, which still epitomi)e the

sacred among 5hristian building types. Cet Brunelleschi’s churches are religiousstructures of the highest order. &he *lorentine humanists thought that geometricprinciples could unlock mysteries at the heart of the uni"erse and re"eal theintentions of a Aod who was, if one only knew how to go about it, eminentlyunderstandable and had created the uni"erse for human enjoyment. las,Brunelleschi’s "ision of architectural harmony and perfection, re3ecting the order of the cosmos, was doomed to incompletion 1:?2.



?. “4n the >a))i 5hapel there are no mysterious depths or soaring heights, no sense of the beyond. Space is precisely de'ned in cubes, half-cubes and hemispheres.+ori)ontal and "ertical a%es are held in balance and the e8ect is supremely simple,lucid and static. 4t is almost se"erely tectonic, a construct without any suggestions of organic growth. +uman 'gures in the gla)ed terracotta reliefs by (uca della !obbiaare con'ned within circles so that temporal life seems to be set in the pure and

eternal geometry of the spheres +onour and *leming #1/2. “!enaissance churchesare sometimes thought to be unspiritual. But the attitude to 5hristianity which theyembodied was no less intensely de"out for being predominantly cerebral. Di"inity isre"ealed in them by euilibrium and the harmonious relationship of the parts to oneanother and to the whole- as in the human body, created by Aod in his own likeness-rather than by mystery and aspiration towards the otherworldly. &he >a))i 5hapel isascetic and spiritual in its renunciation of super3uous ornament and in itsconcentration on the purity of geometrical "olumes. Simple proportionalrelationships, mathematically determined and emphasi)ed by the articulation of thewalls and e"en the grid of the inlaid marble 3oor, ha"e metaphysical signi'cance,relfecting the perfection of Aod and the di"inely ordered cosmos. s one of Brunelleschi’s *lorentine contemporaries, Aiano))o anetti 1:$-1#?:2, declared,the truths of the 5hristian religion are as self-e"ident as the laws of mathematics#1E2.

Brunelleshi-s Soures

1. “&he issue of Brunelleschi’s historical sources has been much debated by scholar. &he dome of *lorence cathedral, for e%ample, has been called both a re"i"al of 5lassical precedents and a continuation of Aothic "aulting, while the brick-work andthe use of the double-shell ha"e been identi'ed as >ersian dams, ItalianRenaissance /?2. “4n the case of Santa aria degli ngeli, the situation iscomplicated by e%tensi"e restoration. Fn the one hand, the rotunda is strikinglysimilar to ancient buildings that Brunelleschi would ha"e seen in !ome. But it wasalso reminiscent of 5harlemagne’s ninth-century palace chapel at achen, itself theproduct of a 5lassical re"i"al. 4n the @arly 5hristian period, By)antine churchesconstructed on the plan of the Areek cross, such as San Gitale in !a"enna, were alsocentrali)ed. Some scholars belie"e that the oratory’s plan was deri"ed from circularAothic apses, which argues for medie"al inspiration. 4t is likely, gi"en the syntheticgenius of humanism and of Brunelleschi himself, that, as in his earlier buildings, hecombined "arious historical precedents to arri"e at new architectural solutions /?2.

0. “&he roots of Brunelleschi’s early architecture can be traced to 5lassicalprecedents. 5ompared with the comple%ity of bbot Suger’s search for perfectmathematical ratios based on musical harmonies, Brunelleschi’s concept ofarchitectural beauty lay in simpler ratios and shapes. +e also preferred simple toirrational numbers, and ratios of 1=0 and 1=. Shapes such as the circle and thesuare formed the basis of his building plans, and he constructed round, rather thanpointed, arches, which were supported by 5lassical columns rather than Aothic piersdams, Art Across Time #E$2.

.or/s Cited0

Adams, Laurie Schneider. Art Across Time. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1999.

Adams, Laurie Schneider. Italian Renaissance Art . Boulder: Westview Press, 2001.

Hartt, Frederick and David G. Wilkins. History of Italian Art . 5th ed. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.,

2003.



Honour, Hugh, and John Fleming. The Visual Arts: A History. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson

Prentice-Hall, 2005.

Turner, A. Richard. Renaissance Florence: The Invention of a New Art . New York: Harry N. Abrams,

1997.

Brunelleschi Santo Spirito and Pazzi Chapel

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