History of St. Mark’s Basilica First established in 828 to hold the stolen remains of St. Mark, the Basilica of San Marco stands, in the Piazza of San Marco, Venice, today as one of the the prime examples of early Byzantine architecture. After a fire destroyed most of the church’s structure in 976, the quaint church that stood at the site was restored quickly over a two year period, but was then later commissioned by Doge Domenico Contarini to be re-reconstructed in 1063, by a Greek architect whose name is unknown. This third restoration would be elongated over a period of thirty years. During the restoration, the Venetians were inspired by the Greek-cross architectural plan that was found in the church of the Holy Apostles. Although the church of the Holy Apostles does not stand today, scholars can only assume the building did in fact have the Greek-cross plan based off excavation. The Greek-cross plan is shown below and is characterized by four 'arms' of equal length. St. Mark's Basilica, however, is not a perfect Greek-cross because of two previous standing buildings (an ancient castle to the south and the Church of St. Theodore to the north). Therefore, the longitudinal nave (vertical piece) of the cross is slightly larger than the transepts (horizontal piece). Another similarity of San Marco to the church of the Holy Apostles is the use of five domes. These domes, or cupolas, are said to signify God’s presence in the basilica. Comparable to the cathedral of St. Sophia at Kiev, the cupolas rest on four large vaults each supported by compound piers. This third restoration turns into what is now known as the Basilica of San Marco. Such reconstruction is incomplete and is said to be never-ending. The structure standin... ... middle of paper ... ...es the world’s greatest collection of gold and silverwork, of objects made from gems, semi-precious stones and rock crystal, of worked and painted glass. The treasury now holds 283 pieces after it was shaken by the fall of the Republic in 1797. Out of these 283 stands the Nicopeia, an image of the Theotokos and child. Since this object was considered to be made by Luke, the evangelist, it was seen as possessing good fortune. The Venetians would carry the image into battle in hopes that the icon would help them defeat their enemies. The Nicopeia is characterized by it’s gilded silver frame, cloisonné enamels and precious stones. Although the Nicopeia is the most venerated, it is not the most precious and refined treasure in the basilica’s collection. That title is reserved to the Pala D’oro (the Golden Altarpiece) used as a means for man to draw nearer to God.
once i had a huge ass dog but the mother fucker bit my fucking hand off
In the book the memory palace of Matteo Ricci, the author Jonathan Spence talks about the Italian preacher Matteo Ricci who spent almost his whole life in China. Spence tries to describe a person who was determined and underwent many difficulties in preaching but never lost his faith in establishing Christian faith among Chinese people by using the memory palace. He divided the book into nine chapters. Despite the preface and the summary of the memory palace, each chapter contains an image or picture which is used for introduction of each chapter. In this way, Spence uses these images and pictures to help the reader build their own memory palace of this book which also well-illustrated the memory method that Matteo Ricci had used – the memory palace. According to Brook (p.831), a memory palace is “a mnemonic method that was popular with sixteenth-century Jesuits for retaining in memory.”
The churches are built almost entirely of stone. Built on a symmetrical concept, they both have three portals as an entrance to the nave. Symmetrical towers rise several stories above the left and right portals. It is important for one to recognize that the stone ribbed vaulted ceilings were added on after the
As early as 526-530 the church of SS. Cosma e Damiano was converted from what had been the offices and audience hall of the city prefect (Krautheimer 71). This building of state was placed in the Roman Forum and had been completed by none other than Constantine...
When Emperor Constantine found the city of Constantinople, it was soon to become the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. But the Christin city needed a great church to represent it’s great value, so the Hagia Sophia was built (Krystek, Lee). The Hagia Sophia was built by the Byzantine Empire in 537 C.E., which was an Empire influenced greatly by the greek and roman styles (Krystek, Lee). It has a square base with a large dome on the top. Round arcs surrounded the large dome, adding mystical beauty to the Hagia Sophia (Krystek, Lee). Also, multiple colors of bricks were used to create patterns on the outside of the Hagia Sophia. On the inside, the walls are made of marble with glass panes which bring beautiful sunlight into the large museum (Krystek, Lee). The Hagia Sophia is very significant because it was rebuilt many times. The first church was built and then burnt down in 404 C.E. (Krystek, Lee). It was then rebuilt and burned down by riots in 502 C.E. (Krystek, Lee). Then the 3rd church was built by Justinian. After long periods of time, Sultan Mehmed conquered Constantinople and changed it to an islamic city, converting the church to a mosque (Krystek, Lee). In 1934, President Ataturk changed the mosque to a museum for the people and tourists, instead of a sacred place of worship (Krystek, Lee).
...ral (138 ½ feet), Michelangelo’s St. Peter’s (137 ½) and Wren’s St. Paul’s (109 feet). Until steel and concrete technology advanced in the 19th century, no single spaces were larger than these. Bibliography Dirimtekin, Feridun. [1964]. Saint Sophia Museum. Istanbul: Touring and Automobile Club of Turkey. Fossati, Gaspare. 1852. Aya Sofia, Constantinople : as recently restored by order of H. M. the sultan Abdul-Medjid. London: R. & C. Colnagni & Co. James Stevens Curl. Classical Architecture: an introduction to its vocabulary and essentials, with a select glossary of terms. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1992. ISBN 0-442-30896-5. NA260.C87. interior photo of circular space (photo of the prostyle octstyle portico of the Pantheon) William L. MacDonald. The Architecture of the Roman Empire I. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1982. ISBN 0-300-02818-0. LC 81-16513
Crivellari, Domenico, and Maria Da Villa Urbani, eds. Basilica di San Marco. Procuratoria di San Marco Venezia. 2003.
The Basilica of St. Denis was originally built in 500-599 AD, but was later reconstructed by Abbot Suger in c.1135-1144. Although its original architect is unknown, it is most famous for its reconstruction that was overseen by Abbot Suger (Panofsky). This basilica is also well known for its representation of Europe’s architectural shift from the Romanesque style to Gothic. The Gothic style brought new designs and was dubbed the “transformat...
Monuments such as the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and San Vitale in Ravenna, perform a great importance in Byzantine and Islamic architecture. Both of these structures did not exclusively represent the main place of worship, but most importantly as a symbol of achievement and growth within the current times of construction. Starting in 524, under the influence of Orthodox bishop Ecclesius, the development of San Vitale was to represent the achievements of the emperor Justinian. Julius Argentarius was the sponsor for this structure and it was dedicated by Bishop Maximian in 547. The Dome of the Rock is built on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in 692 with the help of Abd al-Malik with the suspected intention to symbolize Islams influence in Jerusalem and its involvement in a highly Jewish and Christian supremacy. Although separated by over 100 yrs, both of these domes share multiple similarity's including a projected confidence of their originating culture.
Thesis: Both St. John the Baptist Cathedral and Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Chartres are constructed in French Gothic style which means that architecturally they have many similarities. However, the 700 year gap between their construction offers St. John the Baptist more flexibility in design and style. Still, their likeness and variations extend far beyond the realm of their design.
The artists of the Baroque had a remarkably different style than artists of the Renaissance due to their different approach to form, space, and composition. This extreme differentiation in style resulted in a very different treatment of narrative. Perhaps this drastic stylistic difference between the Renaissance and Baroque in their treatment of form, space, and composition and how these characteristics effect the narrative of a painting cannot be seen more than in comparing Perugino’s Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter from the Early Renaissance to Caravaggio’s Conversion of St. Paul from the Baroque.Perugino was one of the greatest masters of the Early Renaissance whose style ischaracterized by the Renaissance ideals of purity, simplicity, and exceptional symmetry of composition. His approach to form in Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St.Peter was very linear. He outlined all the figures with a black line giving them a sense of stability, permanence, and power in their environment, but restricting the figures’ sense of movement. In fact, the figures seem to not move at all, but rather are merely locked at a specific moment in time by their rigid outline. Perugino’s approach to the figures’themselves is extremely humanistic and classical. He shines light on the figures in a clear, even way, keeping with the rational and uncluttered meaning of the work. His figures are all locked in a contrapposto pose engaging in intellectual conversation with their neighbor, giving a strong sense of classical rationality. The figures are repeated over and over such as this to convey a rational response and to show the viewer clarity. Perugino’s approach to space was also very rational and simple. He organizes space along three simple planes: foreground, middle ground, and background. Christ and Saint Peter occupy the center foreground and solemn choruses of saints and citizens occupy the rest of the foreground. The middle distance is filled with miscellaneous figures, which complement the front group, emphasizing its density and order, by their scattered arrangement. Buildings from the Renaissance and triumphal arches from Roman antiquity occupy the background, reinforcing the overall classical message to the
St Peter’s basilica which is built based on rational form of architecture is a Late Renaissance church located within Vatican City, designed by Donato Bramante. Its significant history is that according to the Catholic tradition this was the place that Saint Peter was buried. Not so far away...
Not only is the Pantheon one of the most amazing architectural structures of the Roman Empire, but it is also one of the most intriguing. It was built during the early second century under the rule of Emperor Hadrian to replace a temple built in 27 B.C. by Marcus Agrippa which had burned down in 80 A.D. Like the temple it replaced, the Pantheon was a dedication to the Roman gods. An intriguing fact about the Pantheon is that it was one of the first buildings where the focus is on the interior rather than the exterior. On the outside, the cella appears in the shape of a ...
St. Peters Basilica. (2009). Chapel of the Pieta. Retrieved April 15, 2011, from St. Peters
Originally a Gothic town hall, the Palazzo della Ragione or Basilica (commissioned in 1549), was on the verge of crumbling and Palladio won a competition to redesign it. His answer was to encase it on three sides with a two-storey loggia that provided reinforcement and transformed the exterior with classic columned arcades on two levels. Arches were placed between pilasters, Doric on the lower level, Ionic above, supporting entablatures. In each bay, the arch rests on small columns placed away from the larger pilasters with a rectangular gap in between - now known as the ‘Palladian motif’.