199-465: Sicilian Baroque is the distinctive form of Baroque architecture which evolved on the island of Sicily , off the southern coast of Italy, in the 17th and 18th centuries , when it was part of the Spanish Empire . The style is recognisable not only by its typical Baroque curves and flourishes, but also by distinctive grinning masks and putti and a particular flamboyance that has given Sicily
398-485: A base of stone which protected the more vulnerable elements from damp. The roofs were probably of thatch with eaves which overhung the permeable walls. Many larger houses, such as those at Delos, were built of stone and plastered. The roofing material for the substantial house was tile. Houses of the wealthy had mosaic floors and demonstrated the Classical style. Many houses centred on a wide passage or "pasta" which ran
597-479: A better light and a sunnier disposition. This example of town planning is directly attributable to a learned local aristocrat, Giovanni Battista Landolina ; helped by three local architects, he is credited with planning the new city himself. In these new towns, the aristocracy was allocated the higher areas, where the air was cooler and fresher and the views finest. The church was placed in the town centre (Illustration 8), both for convenience to all and to reflect
796-626: A building created by mass and shadow. The Baroque style in Sicily was largely confined to buildings erected by the church, and palazzi , the private residences for the Sicilian aristocracy. The earliest examples of this style in Sicily lacked individuality and were typically heavy-handed pastiches of buildings seen by Sicilian visitors to Rome, Florence, and Naples. However, even at this early stage, provincial architects had begun to incorporate certain vernacular features of Sicily's older architecture. By
995-418: A building in which each of these could be housed. This led to the development of temples. The ancient Greeks perceived order in the universe, and in turn, applied order and reason to their creations. Their humanist philosophy put mankind at the centre of things and promoted well-ordered societies and the development of democracy. At the same time, the respect for human intellect demanded a reason, and promoted
1194-506: A central element. The Early Baroque (1584–1625) was largely dominated by the work of Roman architects, notably the Church of the Gesù by Giacomo della Porta (consecrated 1584) façade and colonnade of St. Peter's Basilica by Carlo Maderno (completed 1612) and the lavish Barberini Palace interiors by Pietro da Cortona (1633–1639), and Santa Susanna (1603), by Carlo Maderno. In France,
1393-480: A deep ravine known as the "Valle dei Ponti": the older town of Ragusa Ibla, and the higher Ragusa Superiore. Ragusa Ibla, the lower city, boasts an impressive array of Baroque architecture, which includes the Duomo of San Giorgio by Rosario Gagliardi , designed in 1738 (Illustration 12). In the design of this church, Gagliardi exploited the difficult terrain of the hillside site. The church towers impressively over
1592-528: A design. Beginning in 1664, Bernini proposed several Baroque variants, but in the end the King selected a design by a French architect, Charles Perrault , in a more classical variant of Baroque. This gradually became the Louis XIV style . Louis was soon engaged in an even larger project, the construction of the new Palace of Versailles . The architects chosen were Louis Le Vau and Jules Hardouin-Mansart , and
1791-407: A distant European metropolis, was regarded as a special trophy and added social prestige. Hence the Sicilian aristocrat's home was seldom empty or quiet. The rooms of the piano nobile were entered formally from an external Baroque double staircase: they consisted of a suite of large and small salons, with one very large salon being the principal room of the house, often used as a ballroom. Sometimes
1990-662: A fusion of the concepts of Bernini and Borromini , and introduced to the island's architecture a unified movement and a play of curves, which would have been unacceptable in Rome itself. However, his works are considered of lesser quality than those which were to come. Notable works which date from this period are the 18th century wings of the Palazzo Biscari at Catania and Vaccarini's Cattedrale di Sant'Agata , also in Catania. On this building Vaccarini quite clearly copied
2189-514: A large number of sites around the Eastern Mediterranean , including Mainland Greece , Western Asia Minor , Southern and Central Italy . Being more expensive and labour-intensive to produce than thatch, their introduction has been explained by the fact that their fireproof quality would have given desired protection to the costly temples. As a side-effect, it has been assumed that the new stone and tile construction also ushered in
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#17327944176092388-406: A lavish exterior contrasting with a relatively simple interior and multiple spaces. They carefully planned lighting in the interior to give an impression of mystery. Early 18th century, Notable Spanish examples included the new west façade of Santiago de Compostela Cathedral , (1738–50), with its spectacular towers, by Fernando de Casas Novoa . In Seville , Leonardo de Figueroa was the creator of
2587-399: A lintel, which in a stone building limited the possible width of the opening. The distance between columns was similarly affected by the nature of the lintel, columns on the exterior of buildings and carrying stone lintels being closer together than those on the interior, which carried wooden lintels. Door and window openings narrowed towards the top. Temples were constructed without windows,
2786-473: A low pitched gable or pediment. The earliest temples, built to enshrine statues of deities, were probably of wooden construction, later replaced by the more durable stone temples many of which are still in evidence today. The signs of the original timber nature of the architecture were maintained in the stone buildings. A few of these temples are very large, with several, such as the Temple of Zeus Olympus and
2985-475: A massive marble staircase of some 250 steps, a Baroque feature, especially exploited in Sicily due to the island's topography . The tower seems to explode from the façade, accentuated by the columns and pilasters canted against the curved walls. Above the doorways and window apertures, pediments scroll and curve with a sense of freedom and movement which would have been unthinkable to those earlier architects inspired by Bernini and Borromini . The neoclassical dome
3184-401: A millennium of Greek pottery making, but also in the architecture that was to emerge in the 6th century. The major development that occurred was in the growing use of the human figure as the major decorative motif, and the increasing surety with which humanity, its mythology, activities and passions were depicted. The development in the depiction of the human form in pottery was accompanied by
3383-471: A monumental Renaissance church squeezed terrace-fashion between incongruous neighbours, in urban Baroque design one can step back and actually see the architecture in a more conducive setting in relation to its proportions and perspective. This is most notable in the largely rebuilt towns of Caltagirone , Militello in Val di Catania , Catania , Modica , Noto , Palazzolo Acreide , Ragusa , and Scicli . One of
3582-467: A more sophisticated style than those of the late 17th century: many had been trained in mainland Italy and had returned with a more detailed understanding of the Baroque idiom. Their work inspired less-travelled Sicilian designers. Very importantly, these architects were also assisted by the books of engravings by Domenico de' Rossi , who for the first time wrote down text with his engravings, giving
3781-406: A naturally occurring sloping site where people could sit, rather than a containing structure. Colonnades encircling buildings, or surrounding courtyards provided shelter from the sun and from sudden winter storms. The light of Greece may be another important factor in the development of the particular character of ancient Greek architecture. The light is often extremely bright, with both the sky and
3980-399: A passion for enquiry, logic, challenge, and problem-solving. The architecture of the ancient Greeks, and in particular, temple architecture, responds to these challenges with a passion for beauty, and for order and symmetry which is the product of a continual search for perfection, rather than a simple application of a set of working rules. There is a clear division between the architecture of
4179-435: A personalised and highly localised art form on the island. From the 1780s onwards, the style was gradually replaced by the newly fashionable neoclassicism . The highly decorative Sicilian Baroque period lasted barely fifty years, and perfectly reflected the social order of the island at a time when, nominally ruled by Spain, it was in fact governed by a wealthy and often extravagant aristocracy into whose hands ownership of
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#17327944176094378-431: A rectangular hall with a hearth in the centre, was the largest room in the palaces, and also larger houses. Sun-dried brick above rubble bases were the usual materials, with wooden columns and roof-beams. Rows of ashlar stone orthostats lined the base of walls in some prominent locations. The Minoan architecture of Crete was of the trabeated form like that of ancient Greece. It employed wooden columns with capitals, but
4577-597: A regular grid of paved streets and an agora or central market place surrounded by a colonnade or stoa . The completely restored Stoa of Attalos can be seen in Athens . Towns were also equipped with a public fountain where water could be collected for household use. The development of regular town plans is associated with Hippodamus of Miletus , a pupil of Pythagoras . Public buildings became "dignified and gracious structures", and were sited so that they related to each other architecturally. The propylon or porch, formed
4776-719: A result of Alexander's conquest of other lands, and later as a result of the rise of the Roman Empire, which adopted much of Greek culture. Before the Hellenic era, two major cultures had dominated the region: the Minoan ( c. 2800 – c. 1100 BC ), and the Mycenaean (c. 1500–1100 BC). Minoan is the name given by modern historians to the culture of the people of ancient Crete , known for its elaborate and richly decorated Minoan palaces , and for its pottery,
4975-936: A rich sequence of disparate cultures, which is reflected in the extraordinary diversity of architecture on the island. A form of decorated classical architecture peculiar to Sicily had begun to evolve from the 1530s. Inspired by the ruined Greek architecture and by the Norman cathedrals on the island, this often incorporated Greek architectural motifs such as the Greek key pattern into late Norman architecture with Gothic features such as pointed arches and window apertures. The Sicilian Norman architecture incorporated some Byzantine elements seldom found in Norman architecture elsewhere, and like other Romanesque architecture it went on to incorporate Gothic features. This early ornate architecture differs from that of mainland Europe in not having evolved from Renaissance architecture ; instead, it
5174-436: A sculptural entity within the landscape, most often raised on high ground so that the elegance of its proportions and the effects of light on its surfaces might be viewed from all angles. Nikolaus Pevsner refers to "the plastic shape of the [Greek] temple [...] placed before us with a physical presence more intense, more alive than that of any later building". The formal vocabulary of ancient Greek architecture, in particular
5373-409: A series of solid stone cylinders or "drums" that rest on each other without mortar, but were sometimes centred with a bronze pin. The columns are wider at the base than at the top, tapering with an outward curve known as entasis . Each column has a capital of two parts, the upper, on which rests the lintels, being square and called the abacus . The part of the capital that rises from the column itself
5572-598: A similar development in sculpture. The tiny stylised bronzes of the Geometric period gave way to life-sized highly formalised monolithic representation in the Archaic period. The Classical period was marked by a rapid development towards idealised but increasingly lifelike depictions of gods in human form. This development had a direct effect on the sculptural decoration of temples, as many of the greatest extant works of ancient Greek sculpture once adorned temples, and many of
5771-453: A source of decorative motifs employed by ancient Greek architects as particularly in evidence in the volutes of capitals of the Ionic and Corinthian Orders. The ancient Greek architects took a philosophic approach to the rules and proportions. The determining factor in the mathematics of any notable work of architecture was its ultimate appearance. The architects calculated for perspective, for
5970-494: A style which is almost a celebration of joie de vivre in stone, it is unlikely to be the reason for the choice. As with all architectural styles, the selection of style would have directly linked to current fashion. Versailles had been completed in 1688 in a far sterner Baroque style; Louis XIV 's new palace was immediately emulated across Europe by any aristocrat or sovereign in Europe aspiring to wealth, taste, or power. Thus, it
6169-583: A team of junior architects called in from Messina, which quickly began to rebuild, concentrating first on the Piazza del Duomo. Three palazzi are situated here, the Bishop's Palace, the Seminario and one other. The architects worked in complete harmony and it is impossible to distinguish di Benedetto's work from that of his junior colleagues. The work is competent but not remarkable, with decorated rustication in
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6368-409: A treasury or repository for trophies and gifts. The chambers were lit by a single large doorway, fitted with a wrought iron grill. Some rooms appear to have been illuminated by skylights. On the stylobate, often completely surrounding the naos, stand rows of columns. Each temple is defined as being of a particular type, with two terms: one describing the number of columns across the entrance front, and
6567-449: A triangular structure called the pediment. The tympanum is the triangular space framed by the cornices and the location of the most significant sculptural decoration on the exterior of the building. Every temple rested on a masonry base called the crepidoma , generally of three steps, of which the upper one which carried the columns was the stylobate . Masonry walls were employed for temples from about 600 BC onwards. Masonry of all types
6766-485: A unique architectural identity. The Sicilian Baroque style came to fruition during a major surge of rebuilding following the massive earthquake in 1693 . Previously, the Baroque style had been used on the island in a naïve and parochial manner, having evolved from hybrid native architecture rather than being derived from the great Baroque architects of Rome. After the earthquake, local architects, many of them trained in Rome, were given plentiful opportunities to recreate
6965-478: A wall, never in the later conversational style in the centre of a room, which in the Baroque era was always left empty: an arrangement which displayed the marble, or more often ceramic, patterned floor tiles. Baroque architecture Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the late 16th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by
7164-416: A wide popular audience. One of the first Baroque architects, Carlo Maderno , used Baroque effects of space and perspective in the new façade and colonnade of Saint Peter's Basilica , which was designed to contrast with and complement the gigantic dome built earlier by Michelangelo . Other influential early examples in Rome included the Church of the Gesù by Giacomo della Porta (consecrated 1584), with
7363-763: Is San Cristobal de las Casas in Mexico. A notable example in Brazil is the São Bento Monastery in Rio de Janeiro . begun in 1617, with additional decoration after 1668. The Metropolitan Tabernacle the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral , to the right of the main cathedral, built by Lorenzo Rodríguez between 1749 and 1760, to house the archives and vestments of the archbishop, and to receive visitors. Portuguese colonial architecture
7562-490: Is a second horizontal stage called the frieze . The frieze is one of the major decorative elements of the building and carries a sculptured relief. In the case of Ionic and Corinthian architecture, the relief decoration runs in a continuous band, but in the Doric order, it is divided into sections called metopes , which fill the spaces between vertical rectangular blocks called triglyphs . The triglyphs are vertically grooved like
7761-490: Is an example of these new cities rebuilt to a hexagonal plan. This concept was still very new in the 1690s, and few new cities had had reason to be built in Europe – Christopher Wren 's city plan after the Great Fire of London in 1666 having been turned down because of the complexities of land ownership there. There were some other examples such as Richelieu , and later Saint Petersburg . The prototype may well have been
7960-466: Is called the echinus. It differs according to the order, being plain in the Doric order, fluted in the Ionic and foliate in the Corinthian. Doric and usually Ionic capitals are cut with vertical grooves known as fluting . This fluting or grooving of the columns is a retention of an element of the original wooden architecture. The columns of a temple support a structure that rises in two main stages,
8159-422: Is not to say that Sicily was completely isolated from trends elsewhere in Europe. Architecture in the island's major cities was strongly influenced by the family of the sculptor Domenico Gagini , who arrived from Florence in 1463. This family of sculptors and painters decorated churches and buildings with ornate decorative and figurative sculpture. Less than a century after his family had begun to cautiously decorate
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8358-559: Is one of the more notable Baroque buildings of the city, its Corinthian columns supporting balconies of amazing wrought iron work, while supports of grotesques mock, shock or amuse the passerby. The palazzo was built in the second half of the 18th century by the Baron Melfi di San Antonio. It was later acquired by the Zacco family, after which it is named. The building has two street façades, each with six wide balconies bearing
8557-456: Is pleasing to the eye, as a scheme it is both out of proportion with the limited size of the piazza and, like most other examples of early Sicilian Baroque, can be considered provincial, naive and heavy-handed, compared with later developments. Whatever its merit, it is evident that during the 17th century the Baroque style in the hands of the local architects and sculptors was already deviating from that of mainland Italy. This localised variation on
8756-416: Is stone. Limestone was readily available and easily worked. There is an abundance of high quality white marble both on the mainland and islands, particularly Paros and Naxos . This finely grained material was a major contributing factor to precision of detail, both architectural and sculptural, that adorned ancient Greek architecture. Deposits of high-quality potter's clay were found throughout Greece and
8955-478: Is the coupling together which gives the Sicilian Baroque its distinctive air. Other Baroque characteristics, such as broken pediments over windows, the extravagant use of statuary, curved topped windows and doors and flights of external stairs are all emblematic of Baroque architecture, and can all be found on Baroque buildings all over Europe. Sicily, a volcanic island in the central Mediterranean , off
9154-733: The Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and the Wurzburg Residence (1749–51). These works were among the final expressions of the Rococo or the Late Baroque. By the early 18th century, Baroque buildings could be found in all parts of Italy, often with regional variations. Notable examples included the Basilica of Superga , overlooking Turin , by Filippo Juvarra (1717–1731), which was later used as model for
9353-545: The Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and the Würzburg Residence (1749–51). Baroque architecture first appeared in the late 16th and early 17th century in religious architecture in Rome as a means to counter the popular appeal of the Protestant Reformation . It was a reaction against the more severe and academic earlier style of earlier churches, it aimed to inspire the common people with
9552-471: The Catacombe dei Cappuccini , but were buried quite conventionally in vaults beneath their family churches. It has been said, though, that "the funeral of a Sicilian aristocrat was one of the great moments of his life, and the luxury he had enjoyed in this life was to lead him into the next". Funerals became tremendous shows of wealth; a result of this ostentation was that the stone memorial slabs covering
9751-780: The Catholic Church , particularly by the Jesuits , as a means to combat the Reformation and the Protestant church with a new architecture that inspired surprise and awe. It reached its peak in the High Baroque (1625–1675), when it was used in churches and palaces in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Bavaria and Austria. In the Late Baroque period (1675–1750), it reached as far as Russia, the Ottoman Empire and
9950-683: The Church of Saint Augustine, Antwerp . Other churches are for example the St. Charles Borromeo Church, Antwerp (1615-1621) and the St. Walburga Church (Bruges) (1619-1641), both built by Pieter Huyssens . Later, secular buildings, such as the Guildhalls on the Grand-Place in Brussels and several Belfries , were constructed too. The first example of early Baroque in Central Europe
10149-891: The Churrigueresque style. The Baroque style was imported into Latin America in the 17th century by the Spanish and the Portuguese, particularly by the Jesuits for the construction of churches. The style was sometimes called Churrigueresque , after the family of Baroque architects in Salamanca . A particularly fine example is Zacatecas Cathedral in Zacatecas City , in north-central Mexico, with its lavishly sculpted façade and twin bell towers. Another important example
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#173279441760910348-459: The Duke of Camastra , aware of new trends in town planning, decreed that rather than rebuilding in the medieval plan of cramped narrow streets, the new rebuilding would offer piazze and wider main streets, often on a rational grid plan . The whole plan was often to take a geometric shape such as a perfect square or a hexagon , typical of Renaissance and Baroque town planning. The city of Grammichele
10547-685: The Greeks , or Hellenes, whose culture flourished on the Greek mainland, the Peloponnese , the Aegean Islands , and in colonies in Anatolia and Italy for a period from about 900 BC until the 1st century AD, with the earliest remaining architectural works dating from around 600 BC. Ancient Greek architecture is best known for its temples , many of which are found throughout the region, with
10746-1111: The Italian peninsula , was colonised by the Greeks , and then ruled by the Romans , the Byzantines , the Ostrogoths , the Muslims , the Normans , the Hohenstaufen , the Angevins , and the Aragonese . It then became a province of the Spanish Empire and later was part of the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies , before finally being absorbed into the Kingdom of Italy in 1860. Thus, Sicilians have been exposed to
10945-529: The Luxembourg Palace (1615–1624) by architect Salomon de Brosse , and for a new wing of the Château of Blois by François Mansard (1635–38). Nicolas Fouquet , the superintendent of finances for the young King Louis XIV , chose the new style for his château at Vaux-le-Vicomte (1612–1670) by Louis Le Vau . He was later imprisoned by the King because of the extravagant cost of the palace. In
11144-595: The Luxembourg Palace (1615–45) built by Salomon de Brosse for Marie de' Medici was an early example of the style. The High Baroque (1625–1675) produced major works in Rome by Pietro da Cortona, including the (Church of Santi Luca e Martina ) (1635–50); by Francesco Borromini ( San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1634–1646)); and by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (The colonnade of St. Peter's Square ) (1656–57). In Venice , High Baroque works included Santa Maria della Salute by Baldassare Longhena . Examples in France included
11343-530: The Norman conquest of 1071 . Thus, the Sicilian aristocracy had at their command not only wealth but vast manpower, something that had by this time declined in many other parts of Europe. As in Southern Spain, the huge rural estates remained almost as concentrated as when they had been Roman latifundi . The Sicilian economy, though very largely agriculturally based, was very strong, and became more so during
11542-682: The Palacio de San Telmo , with a façade inspired by the Italian Baroque. The most ornate works of the Spanish Baroque were made by Jose Benito de Churriguera in Madrid and Salamanca. In his work, the buildings are nearly overwhelmed by the ornament of gilded wood, gigantic twisting columns, and sculpted vegetation. His two brothers, Joaquin and Alberto, also made important, if less ornamented, contributions to what became known simply as
11741-534: The Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, which seats 45,000 people, was restored in the 19th century and was used in the 1896, 1906 and 2004 Olympic Games . The architecture of ancient Greece is of a trabeated or " post and lintel " form, i.e. it is composed of upright beams (posts) supporting horizontal beams (lintels). Although the existent buildings of the era are constructed in stone, it is clear that
11940-790: The Panthéon in Paris. The Stupinigi Palace (1729–31) was a hunting lodge and one of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy near Turin. It was also built Filippo Juvarra . The Late Baroque period in France saw the evolving decoration of the Palace of Versailles , including the Hall of Mirrors and the Chapel . Later in the period, during the reign of Louis XV , a new, more ornate variant,
12139-401: The Parthenon regarded, now as in ancient times, as the prime example. Most remains are very incomplete ruins, but a number survive substantially intact, mostly outside modern Greece. The second important type of building that survives all over the Hellenic world is the open-air theatre , with the earliest dating from around 525–480 BC. Other architectural forms that are still in evidence are
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#173279441760912338-405: The Parthenon , are between 60 and 80 metres (approx. 200–260 feet) in length. The largest temples, mainly Ionic and Corinthian, but including the Doric Temple of the Olympian Zeus, Agrigento , were between 90 and 120 metres (approx. 300–390 feet) in length. The temple rises from a stepped base or stylobate , which elevates the structure above the ground on which it stands. Early examples, such as
12537-444: The Pavillon de l’Horloge of the Louvre Palace by Jacques Lemercier (1624–1645), the Chapel of the Sorbonne by Jacques Lemercier (1626–35) and the Château de Maisons by François Mansart (1630–1651). The Late Baroque (1675–1750) saw the style spread to all parts of Europe, and to the colonies of Spain and Portugal in the New World. National styles became more varied and distinct. The Late Baroque in France, under Louis XIV ,
12736-402: The Philippines and the Spanish administrations there gave their expertise and input to the Spanish and Sicilians in the construction of Sicilian Baroque. Once the palazzi in devastated Catania were rebuilt in the new fashion, the palazzi in Palermo seemed antiquated by comparison, so they too were eventually rebuilt. Following this, from the middle of the 18th century, villas to retire to in
12935-414: The Rocaille style, or French Rococo, appeared in Paris and flourished between about 1723 and 1759. The most prominent example was the salon of the Princess in Hôtel de Soubise in Paris, designed by Germain Boffrand and Charles-Joseph Natoire (1735–40). Christopher Wren was the leading figure of the late Baroque in England, with his reconstruction of St. Paul's Cathedral (1675–1711) inspired by
13134-399: The Southern Netherlands , the Baroque architecture was introduced by the Catholic Church in the context of the Counter-Reformation and the Eighty Years' War . After the separation of the Netherlands Baroque churches were set up across the country. One of the first architects was Wenceslas Cobergher (1560-1634), who built the Basilica of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel from 1609 until 1627 and
13333-403: The Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Latin America. In about 1730, an even more elaborately decorative variant called Rococo appeared and flourished in Central Europe. Baroque architects took the basic elements of Renaissance architecture , including domes and colonnades , and made them higher, grander, more decorated, and more dramatic. The interior effects were often achieved with
13532-402: The Villa Spedalotto at Bagheria . Often a fusion of the two styles is found, as in the ballroom wing of the Palazzo Ajutamicristo in Palermo, built by Andrea Giganti in 1763, where the ballroom ceiling was frescoed by Giuseppe Crestadoro with allegorical scenes framed by Baroque gilded motifs in plaster . This ceiling was already old-fashioned when it was finished, and the rest of
13731-409: The capitals from Guarino Guarini 's Architettura Civile . It is this frequent copying of established designs that causes the architecture from this period, while opulent, also to be disciplined and almost reined in. The style of Vaccarini, appointed City Architect in 1736, was to dominate Catania for the next decades. A second hindrance to Sicilian architects' fully achieving their potential earlier
13930-404: The entablature and the pediment . The entablature is the major horizontal structural element supporting the roof and encircling the entire building. It is composed of three parts. Resting on the columns is the architrave made of a series of stone "lintels" that spanned the space between the columns, and meet each other at a joint directly above the centre of each column. Above the architrave
14129-496: The 17th-century Sicilian style, but often the decoration on the upper floors is superficial. This is typical of the Baroque of this period immediately after the earthquake. In 1730, Vaccarini arrived in Catania as the appointed city architect and immediately impressed on the architecture the Roman Baroque style. The pilasters lose their rustication and support Roman type cornices and entablatures, or curved pediments, and free-standing columns support balconies. Vaccarini also exploited
14328-501: The 18th century as shipping became more efficient and the threat of Muslim piracy died away. The export markets for lemons (for the great 18th century fashion for lemonade) and wines increased greatly, and Sicilian wheat remained, as it had been since Roman times, the backbone of the economy. The disaster that was to give Sicily its modern reputation of poverty, namely the opening-up of the American Midwest to wheat-farming,
14527-520: The 6th century BC, where the rows of columns supporting the roof the cella rise higher than the outer walls, unnecessary if roof trusses are employed as an integral part of the wooden roof. The indication is that initially all the rafters were supported directly by the entablature, walls and hypostyle, rather than on a trussed wooden frame, which came into use in Greek architecture only in the 3rd century BC. Ancient Greek buildings of timber, clay and plaster construction were probably roofed with thatch. With
14726-463: The Baroque era was in keeping with the style: ornate, gilded and frequently with marble used for tabletops. The furniture was transient within the house, frequently moved between rooms as required, while leaving other rooms unfurnished. Sometimes furniture was specifically commissioned for a certain room, for example to match a silk wall panel within a gilt frame. For the greater part of the 18th century furniture would always be left arranged against
14925-530: The Baroque of Naples and Rome, they now adapted their designs for the local needs and traditions. Their use of resources and exploitation of the sites was often wildly inventive. Napoli and then Vaccarini had promoted the use of the external staircase, which was now taken to a new dimension: hilltop churches would be reached by fantastical flights of steps evoking Vaccarini's mentor Francesco de Sanctis 's Spanish Steps in Rome. Façades of churches often came to resemble wedding cakes rather than places of worship as
15124-718: The Dorian people who lived on the Greek mainland. Following these events, there was a period from which only a village level of culture seems to have existed. This period is thus often referred to as the Greek Dark Age . The art history of the Hellenic era is generally subdivided into four periods: the Protogeometric (1100–900 BC), the Geometric (900–700 BC), the Archaic (700–500 BC) and the Classical (500–323 BC) with sculpture being further divided into Severe Classical, High Classical and Late Classical. The first signs of
15323-399: The Doric columns, and retain the form of the wooden beams that would once have supported the roof. The upper band of the entablature is called the cornice , which is generally ornately decorated on its lower edge. The cornice retains the shape of the beams that would once have supported the wooden roof at each end of the building. At the front and rear of each temple, the entablature supports
15522-460: The Golden Book of the Sicilian nobility (last published in 1926) lists even more. In addition to these were the younger scions of the families, with their courtesy titles of nobile or baron . Architecture was not the only legacy of the Normans . Rule over the peasants (there was no established middle class) was also enforced by a feudal system , unchanged since its introduction following
15721-534: The Islands, with major deposits near Athens. It was used not only for pottery vessels but also roof tiles and architectural decoration. The climate of Greece is maritime, with both the coldness of winter and the heat of summer tempered by sea breezes. This led to a lifestyle where many activities took place outdoors. Hence temples were placed on hilltops, their exteriors designed as a visual focus of gatherings and processions, while theatres were often an enhancement of
15920-540: The Italian Jesuit architect Giovanni Maria Bernardoni . Pope Urban VIII , who occupied the Papacy from 1623 to 1644, became the most influential patron of the Baroque style. After the death of Carlo Maderno in 1629, Urban named the architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini as the chief Papal architect. Bernini created not only Baroque buildings, but also Baroque interiors, squares and fountains, transforming
16119-484: The King, in charge of all royal architectural projects. The Académie royale d'architecture was founded in 1671, with the mission of making Paris, not Rome, the artistic and architectural model for the world. The first architectural project of Louis XIV was a proposed reconstruction of the façade of the east wing of the Louvre Palace. Bernini , then Europe's most famous architect, was summoned to Paris to submit
16318-464: The Olympians at Athens being well over 300 feet in length, but most were less than half this size. It appears that some of the large temples began as wooden constructions in which the columns were replaced piecemeal as stone became available. This, at least was the interpretation of the historian Pausanias looking at the Temple of Hera at Olympia in the 2nd century AD. The stone columns are made of
16517-475: The Temple of Zeus at Olympus, have two steps, but the majority, like the Parthenon, have three, with the exceptional example of the Temple of Apollo at Didyma having six. The core of the building is a masonry-built "naos" within which is a cella, a windowless room originally housing the statue of the god. The cella generally has a porch or "pronaos" before it, and perhaps a second chamber or "antenaos" serving as
16716-516: The altar dais are characteristically curving between concave and convex and in many cases decorated with inlaid coloured marbles. An example of this is in the church of St Zita in Palermo. The building of Sicily's churches would typically be funded not just by individual religious orders but also by an aristocratic family. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of Sicily's nobility did not choose to have their mortal remains displayed for eternity in
16915-702: The architect Jacques Lemercier to Rome between 1607 and 1614 to study the new style. On his return to France, he designed the Pavillon de l’Horloge of the Louvre Palace (beginning 1626), and, more importantly, the Sorbonne Chapel , the first church dome in Paris. It was designed in 1626, and construction began in 1635. The next important French Baroque project was a much larger dome for the church of Val-de-Grâce begun in 1645 by Lemercier and François Mansart , and finished in 1715. A third Baroque dome
17114-519: The architect Polykleitos the Younger . Greek towns of substantial size also had a palaestra or a gymnasium , the social centre for male citizens which included spectator areas, baths, toilets and club rooms. Other buildings associated with sports include the hippodrome for horse racing, of which only remnants have survived, and the stadium for foot racing, 600 feet in length, of which examples exist at Olympia, Delphi, Epidaurus and Ephesus, while
17313-464: The architects grew in confidence, competence, and stature. Church interiors, which until this date had been slightly pedestrian, came especially in Palermo to be decorated in a riot of inlaid marbles of a wide variety of colours. Anthony Blunt has described this decoration as "either fascinating or repulsive, but however the individual spectator may react to it, this style is a characteristic manifestation of Sicilian exuberance, and must be classed amongst
17512-480: The aristocracy. The wealth of the Church in Sicily was further enhanced by the tradition of pressing younger children of the aristocracy to enter monasteries and convents , in order to preserve the family estates from division; however, this was seldom a cheap option as expenses and an ongoing "onerous maintenance" had to be paid to the Church. Thus, the wealth of certain religious orders grew out of all proportion to
17711-484: The autumn, essentially status symbols, were built at the fashionable enclave at Bagheria . This pattern was repeated, on a smaller scale, throughout the lesser cities of Sicily, each city providing a more entertaining social life and a magnetic draw for the provincial aristocrat than their country estate. The country estate also did not escape the building mania. Often Baroque wings or new façades were added to ancient castles, or country villas were completely rebuilt. Thus,
17910-422: The burial vaults today provide an accurate barometer of the development of Baroque and marble inlay techniques at any specific time. For instance, those from the first half of the 17th century are of simple white marble decorated with an incised armorial bearing, name, date, etc. From c. 1650 , small quantities of coloured marble inlay appear, forming patterns, and this can be seen developing until, by
18109-498: The ceiling hung huge coloured chandeliers of Murano glass , while further light came from gilded sconces flanking the mirrors adorning the walls. One of the most notable rooms in this style is the Gallery of Mirrors in Palermo's Palazzo Valguarnera-Gangi (Illustration 16), a building described as "Sicily's most famous palazzo". This room with its frescoed ceiling by Gaspare Fumagalli [ it ] is, however, one of
18308-589: The center of Rome into an enormous theater. Bernini rebuilt the Church of Santa Bibiana and the Church of San Sebastiano al Palatino on the Palatine Hill into Baroque landmarks, planned the Fontana del Tritone in the Piazza Barberini , and created the soaring baldacchino as the centerpiece of St Peter's Basilica . The High Baroque spread gradually across Italy, beyond Rome. The period saw
18507-486: The central shield that crowns the pediment. This ornate pediment, although still unbroken, was one of the first signs that Sicily was forming its own style of decorative architecture. Similar in style is the Chiesa del Gesù (Illustration 14), constructed between 1564 and 1633, which also shows early signs of the Sicilian Baroque. Thus, a particular brand of Baroque architecture had begun to evolve in Sicily long before
18706-530: The central bay only emphasised by a balcony and an arch to the inner garden. This very Portuguese style, probably designed to minimise damage in future earthquakes, is very different from the palazzi in Ragusa Ibla, which are in true Sicilian style. Unusually, Baroque lingered on here until the early 19th century. The last palazzo built here was in the Baroque form but with columns of Roman Doric and neoclassical balconies. Sicily's second city, Catania ,
18905-411: The church's global and central position; round the pairing of cathedral and episcopal palazzo vescovile were built the convents. The merchants and storekeepers chose their lots on the planned wider streets leading from the main piazza. Finally, the poor were allowed to erect their simple brick huts and houses in the areas nobody else wanted. Lawyers, doctors, and members of the few professions including
19104-486: The circus. These four great buildings dominating the circus are each enhanced by a fountain, reminiscent of those of Pope Sixtus V 's Quattro Fontane in Rome. However, in Palermo the Baroque theme continues up three storeys of the buildings, which are adorned with statues in recessed niches depicting the four seasons, the four Spanish kings of Sicily , and the four patronesses of Palermo: Saints Cristina , Ninfa , Olivia , and Agata . While each façade of Quattro Canti
19303-404: The city is Stefano Ittar 's Basilica della Collegiata , built around 1768, and an example of Sicilian Baroque at its most stylistically simple. Sicilian church exteriors had been decorated in elaborate styles from the first quarter of the 17th century, with ample use of sculpture , stucco , frescoes , and marble (Illustration 14). As the post-earthquake churches were becoming completed in
19502-606: The coat of arms of the Melfi family, a frame of acanthus leaves from which a putto leans. The balconies, a feature of the palazzo, are notable for the differing corbels which support them, ranging from putti to musicians and grotesques. The focal points of the principal façade are the three central balconies, divided by columns with Corinthian capitals . Here the balconies are supported by images of musicians with grotesque faces. The Ragusa Cathedral in Ragusa Superiore
19701-625: The colonies of Spain and Portugal in the New World and the Philippines. It often took different names, and the regional variations became more distinct. A particularly ornate variant appeared in the early 18th century, called Rocaille in France and Rococo in Spain and Central Europe. The sculpted and painted decoration covering every space on the walls and ceiling. The most prominent architects of this style included Balthasar Neumann , noted for
19900-515: The complete human form, and very human behaviour. The home of the gods was thought to be Olympus , the highest mountain in Greece. The most important deities were: Zeus , the supreme god and ruler of the sky; Hera , his wife and goddess of marriage; Athena , goddess of wisdom; Poseidon , the god of the sea; Demeter , goddess of the harvest; Apollo , the god of the sun, law, healing, plague, reason, music and poetry; Artemis , goddess of chastity,
20099-578: The complex design of their external staircases. One villa, his Villa Palagonia in Bagheria , begun in 1705, is the most complex and ingenious of any constructed in Sicily's Baroque era: its double staircase of straight flights, frequently changing direction, was to be the prototype of a distinguishing feature of Sicilian Baroque. Later, a new wave of architects who would master the Baroque sentiments, aware of Rococo interior styles beginning elsewhere to gain an ascendancy over Baroque, would go on to develop
20298-590: The construction of Santa Maria della Salute by Baldassare Longhena in Venice (1630–31). Churches were not the only buildings to use the Baroque style. One of the finest monuments of the early Baroque is the Barberini Palace (1626–1629), the residence of the family of Urban VIII, begun by Carlo Maderno, and completed and decorated by Bernini and Francesco Borromini . The outside of the Pope's family residence,
20497-441: The cramped housing and streets had caused buildings to collapse together like dominoes. Although after the earthquake the avenues were broadened and the density of housing was lowered overall, cramped and narrow areas of housing still remained, posing a hazard for the poor. Architecturally and aesthetically, the big advantage of the new order of town planning was that unlike many Italian towns and cities, where one frequently encounters
20696-401: The disaster was offshore, although the exact position remains unknown. Towns which suffered severely were Ragusa , Modica , Scicli , and Ispica . Rebuilding began almost immediately. The lavishness of the architecture that was to arise from this disaster is connected with the politics of Sicily at the time: Sicily was still officially under Spanish rule, but rule was effectively delegated to
20895-650: The division of architectural style into three defined orders: the Doric Order , the Ionic Order and the Corinthian Order , was to have a profound effect on Western architecture of later periods. The architecture of ancient Rome grew out of that of Greece and maintained its influence in Italy unbroken until the present day. From the Renaissance , revivals of Classicism have kept alive not only
21094-470: The earlier mudbrick and wood walls, were strong enough to support the weight of a tiled roof. The earliest finds of roof tiles of the Archaic period in Greece are documented from a very restricted area around Corinth , where fired tiles began to replace thatched roofs at the temples of Apollo and Poseidon between 700 and 650 BC. Spreading rapidly, roof tiles were within fifty years in evidence for
21293-445: The early 19th century. Later, many other Sicilian towns and cities which had been either little damaged or completely untouched by the earthquake, such as Palermo, were also transformed by the Baroque style, as the fashion spread and aristocrats with a palazzo in Catania came to wish their palazzo in the capital were as opulent as that in the second city. In Palermo the Church of Santa Caterina [ it ] , began in 1566,
21492-559: The earthquake of 1693. While the majority of those buildings that can be clearly classified as Baroque in style date from around 1650, the scarcity of these isolated, surviving examples of Sicily's 17th-century architectural history makes it hard to fully and accurately evaluate the architecture immediately before the natural disaster: the earthquake destroyed not only most of the buildings, but also most of their documentation. Yet more has been lost in subsequent earthquakes and severe bombing during World War II. The earliest example of Baroque on
21691-460: The economic growth of any other group at this time. This is one of the reasons that so many of the Sicilian Baroque churches and monasteries, such as San Martino delle Scale, were rebuilt after 1693 on such a lavish scale. Once rebuilding began, the poor rebuilt their basic housing in the same primitive fashion as before. By contrast, the wealthiest residents, both secular and spiritual, became caught in an almost manic orgy of building. Most members of
21890-506: The effects of surprise, emotion and awe. To achieve this, it used a combination of contrast, movement, trompe-l'œil and other dramatic and theatrical effects, such as quadratura —the use of painted ceilings that gave the illusion that one was looking up directly at the sky. The new style was particularly favored by the new religious orders, including the Theatines and the Jesuits , who built new churches designed to attract and inspire
22089-714: The end of overhanging eaves in Greek architecture, as they made the need for an extended roof as rain protection for the mudbrick walls obsolete. Vaults and arches were not generally used, but begin to appear in tombs (in a "beehive" or cantilevered form such as used in Mycenaea) and occasionally, as an external feature, exedrae of voussoired construction from the 5th century BC. The dome and vault never became significant structural features, as they were to become in ancient Roman architecture . Most ancient Greek temples were rectangular, and were approximately twice as long as they were wide, with some notable exceptions such as
22288-448: The end of the century, the coats of arms and calligraphy are entirely of inset coloured marble, with decorative patterned borders. Long after Baroque began to fall from fashion in the 1780s, Baroque decor was still deemed more suitable for Catholic ritual than the new, pagan-based neoclassicism. The Church of San Benedetto in Catania (Illustration 15) is a fine example of a Sicilian Baroque interior, decorated between 1726 and 1762,
22487-460: The enormous Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens with a length of nearly 2 1 ⁄ 2 times its width. A number of surviving temple-like structures are circular, and are referred to as tholos . The smallest temples are less than 25 metres (approx. 75 feet) in length, or in the case of the circular tholos , in diameter. The great majority of temples are between 30 and 60 metres (approx. 100–200 feet) in length. A small group of Doric temples, including
22686-654: The entrance to temple sanctuaries and other significant sites with the best-surviving example being the Propylaea on the Acropolis of Athens . The bouleuterion was a large public building with a hypostyle hall that served as a court house and as a meeting place for the town council ( boule ). Remnants of bouleuterion survive at Athens, Olympia and Miletus, the latter having held up to 1,200 people. Every Greek town had an open-air theatre . These were used for both public meetings as well as dramatic performances. The theatre
22885-468: The extended households of their patrons. In this way Baroque town planning came to symbolise and reflect political authority, and later its style and philosophy spread as far as Annapolis and Savannah in English America, and most notably Haussmann's 19th century re-designing of Paris . The stage was now set for the explosion of Baroque architecture, which was to predominate in Sicily until
23084-429: The façade's completion in 1760, There were also other influences at work at this time. Between 1718 and 1734 Sicily was ruled personally by Charles VI from Vienna , and as a result close ties with Austrian architecture can be perceived. Several buildings on the island are shameless imitations of the works of Fischer von Erlach , who had begun to rebuild Schönbrunn Palace in 1686 in a simple form of Baroque; this form
23283-468: The façades of the new palace were constructed around the earlier Marble Court between 1668 and 1678. The Baroque grandeur of Versailles, particularly the façade facing the garden and the Hall of Mirrors by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, became models for other palaces across Europe. During the period of the Late Baroque (1675–1750), the style appeared across Europe, from England and France to Central Europe and Russia, from Spain and Portugal to Scandinavia, and in
23482-401: The few Baroque rooms in this Baroque palazzo, which was (from 1750) extended and transformed by its owner Marianna Valguarnera , mostly in the later neoclassical style. Baroque interior decoration eventually reached such an exuberance that it became known as Rococo: this is exemplified by the internal staircase (Illustration 17) at the Palazzo Biscari , completed in 1763. Furniture during
23681-438: The finest examples of this new urban planning can be seen at Noto (Illustration 9), the town rebuilt approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) from its original site on Mount Alveria . The old ruined town now known as "Noto Antica" can still be viewed in its ruinous state. The new site chosen was flatter than the old to better facilitate a linear grid-like plan. The principal streets run east to west so they would benefit from
23880-439: The first Baroque façade and a highly ornate interior, and Santa Susanna (1603), by Carlo Maderno. The Jesuits soon imported the style to Paris. The Church of St-Gervais-et-St-Protais in Paris (1615–1621) had the first Baroque façade in France, featuring, like the Italian Baroque façades, the three superimposed classical orders. The Italian style of palaces was also imported to Paris by Marie de' Medici for her new residence,
24079-640: The first half of the 18th century a distinctive Vilnian Baroque architectural style of the Late Baroque was formed in capital Vilnius (in which architecture was taught at Vilnius Jesuit Academy , Jesuits colleges , Dominican schools ) and spread throughout Lithuania. The most distinctive features of churches built in the Vilnian Baroque style are very tall and slender towers of the main façades with differently decorated compartments, undulation of cornices and walls, decorativeness in bright colors, and multi-colored marble and stucco altars in
24278-423: The flamboyance and "elastic conceptions of space" that today are synonymous with the term Sicilian Baroque. Around 1730, the Baroque style gradually began to break away from the defined Roman style of Baroque and gain an even stronger individuality, for two reasons: the rush to rebuild was subsiding and construction was becoming more leisurely and thoughtful; and a new clutch of home-grown Sicilian architects came to
24477-503: The forefront. This new generation had watched the rebuilding in the Baroque, and studied the engravings and architectural books and treatises arriving ever more frequently from the mainland. However, they were not like their predecessors (the former students of the Romans), and consequently were able to formulate strong individual styles of their own. They included Andrea Palma , Rosario Gagliardi and Tommaso Napoli . While taking account of
24676-443: The frenzy of building gained momentum until the increasingly fantastical Baroque architecture demanded by these hedonistic patrons reached its zenith in the mid-18th century. Following the earthquake, a program of rebuilding was rapidly put into action, but before it began in earnest some important decisions were made that would permanently differentiate many Sicilian cities and towns from other European urban developments. The Viceroy,
24875-457: The guest bedrooms were sited here too, but by the end of the 18th century they were more often on a secondary floor above. If decorated during the Baroque era, the rooms would be profusely ornamented. Walls were frequently mirrored, the mirrors inset into gilded frames in the walls, often alternating with paintings similarly framed, while moulded nymphs and shepherdesses decorated the spaces between. Ceilings were high and frescoed , and from
25074-436: The house. Moreover, there were paid employees, often including a private chaplain or confessor, a majordomo , governesses, secretary, archivist, accountant, librarian, and innumerable lower servants, such as a porter to ring a bell a prescribed number of times according to the rank of an approaching guest. Often the servants' extended families, especially if elderly, also lived in the palazzo. Thus, many rooms were needed to house
25273-579: The household. These everyday living quarters, even the bedrooms of "Maestro and Maestra di Casa", were often simply decorated and furnished. Gérard Gefen states in his book Sicily, Land of the Leopard Princes that bedrooms were kept austere as they were rooms for fighting off temptation and sin as much as for sleeping. Further rooms were required by the Sicilian tradition that it was a sign of poor breeding to permit even mere acquaintances to stay in local inns. Any visiting foreigner, especially from
25472-406: The hunt and the wilderness; Aphrodite , goddess of love; Ares , God of war; Hermes , the god of commerce and travellers, Hephaestus , the god of fire and metalwork; and Dionysus , the god of wine and fruit-bearing plants. Worship, like many other activities, was done in the community, in the open. However, by 600 BC, the gods were often represented by large statues and it was necessary to provide
25671-688: The interior of large monumental tombs such as the Lion Tomb at Knidos (c. 350 BC). The Greek word for the family or household, oikos , is also the name for the house. Houses followed several different types. It is probable that many of the earliest houses were simple structures of two rooms, with an open porch or pronaos , above which rose a low pitched gable or pediment . This form is thought to have contributed to temple architecture. The construction of many houses employed walls of sun-dried clay bricks or wooden framework filled with fibrous material such as straw or seaweed covered with clay or plaster, on
25870-730: The interiors. The Lithuanian nobility funded renovations and constructions of Late Baroque churches, monasteries (e.g. Pažaislis Monastery ) and their personal palaces (e.g. Sapieha Palace , Slushko Palace , Minor Radvilos Palace ). Notable architects who built buildings in a Late Baroque style in Lithuania are Johann Christoph Glaubitz , Thomas Zebrowski , Pietro Perti (cooperated with painters Michelangelo Palloni , Giovanni Maria Galli ), Giambattista Frediani, Pietro Puttini, Carlo Puttini, Jan Zaor , G. Lenkiewicz, Abraham Würtzner, Jan Valentinus Tobias Dyderszteyn, P. I. Hofer, Paolo Fontana [ it ] , etc. Many of
26069-400: The island is Giulio Lasso 's Quattro Canti , an octagonal piazza , or circus, constructed around 1610 at the intersection of the city's two principal streets. Around this intersection are four open sides, being the streets, and four matching buildings with identical canted corners. The sides of the four buildings are curved, further heightening the Baroque design of the buildings lining
26268-418: The island's churches (1531–1537), Antonello Gagini completed the proscenium -like arch of the "Capella della Madonna" in the "Santuario dell'Annunziata" at Trapani . This pedimented arch to the sanctuary has pilasters – not fluted , but decorated heavily with relief busts of the saints; and, most importantly in terms of architecture, the pediment is adorned by reclining saints supporting swags linked to
26467-487: The landmarks of the high Baroque. Another important monument of the period was the Church of Santi Luca e Martina in Rome by Pietro da Cortona (1635–50), in the form of a Greek cross with an elegant dome. After the death or Urban VIII and the brief reign of his successor, the Papacy of Pope Alexander VII from 1666 until 1667 saw more construction of Baroque churches, squares and fountains in Rome by Carlo Rainaldi , Bernini and Carlo Fontana . King Louis XIII had sent
26666-498: The largest recorded statues of the age, such as the lost chryselephantine statues of Zeus at the Temple of Zeus at Olympia and Athena at the Parthenon, Athens, both over 40 feet high, were once housed in them. The religion of ancient Greece was a form of nature worship that grew out of the beliefs of earlier cultures. However, unlike earlier cultures, man was no longer perceived as being threatened by nature, but as its sublime product. The natural elements were personified as gods of
26865-409: The late 1720s, interiors also began to reflect this external decoration, becoming lighter and less intense (compare illustration 14 to the later interior of illustration 15), with profuse sculpted ornamentation of pillars, cornices, and pediments, often in the form of putti, flora, and fauna. Inlaid coloured marbles on floors and walls in complex patterns are one of the most defining features of
27064-401: The leading Baroque architect was Christoph Dientzenhofer , whose building featured complex curves and counter-curves and elliptical forms, making Prague , like Vienna, a capital of the late Baroque. Political and economic crises in the 17th century largely delayed the arrival of the Baroque in Spain until the late period, though the Jesuits strongly promoted it. Its early characteristics were
27263-449: The length of the house and opened at one side onto a small courtyard which admitted light and air. Larger houses had a fully developed peristyle (courtyard) at the centre, with the rooms arranged around it. Some houses had an upper floor which appears to have been reserved for the use of the women of the family. City houses were built with adjoining walls and were divided into small blocks by narrow streets. Shops were sometimes located in
27462-702: The less spiritual world outside. Frequently the interiors of the palazzi are less elaborate than those of Sicily's Baroque churches. Many were finished with little ornate interior decoration because they took so long to build: by the time they were completed, Baroque had passed from fashion; in these cases, the principal rooms were frequently decorated in a neoclassical style influenced by the late 18th century Sicilian Anglomania and particularly an admiration of Robert Adam and Wedgwood pottery . However, in true Sicilian style, even this more chaste style would often be embellished with Baroque trompe-l'œil figures and colourful Sicilian tiled floors, such as can be found at
27661-522: The light to the naos entering through the door. It has been suggested that some temples were lit from openings in the roof. A door of the Ionic Order at the Erechtheion (17 feet high and 7.5 feet wide at the top) retains many of its features intact, including mouldings, and an entablature supported on console brackets. (See Architectural Decoration, below) The widest span of a temple roof
27860-521: The local black lava stone as a decorative feature rather than a general building material, using it intermittently with other materials, and spectacularly for an obelisk supported on the back of the Catanian heraldic elephant, for a fountain in the style of Bernini in front of the new Town hall. Vaccarini's principal façade to Catania's cathedral, dedicated to Santa Agata, shows strong Spanish influences even at this late stage of Sicilian Baroque. Also in
28059-402: The longer sides. A slightly greater adjustment has been made to the entablature. The columns at the ends of the building are not vertical but are inclined towards the centre, with those at the corners being out of plumb by about 65 mm (2.6 in). These outer columns are both slightly wider than their neighbours and are slightly closer than any of the others. Ancient Greek architecture of
28258-410: The mainstream Baroque was not peculiar to Sicily, but occurred as far afield as Bavaria and Russia, where Naryshkin Baroque would be just as eccentric as its Sicilian cousin. The great Sicilian earthquake of 11 January 1693 destroyed at least 45 towns and cities, affecting an area of 5,600 square kilometres (2,200 sq mi) and causing the deaths of about 60,000 people. The epicentre of
28457-399: The middle of the 18th century, when Sicily's Baroque architecture was noticeably different from that of the mainland, it typically included at least two or three of the following features, coupled with a unique freedom of design that is more difficult to characterise in words: While these characteristics never occur all together in the same building, and none are unique to Sicilian Baroque, it
28656-534: The model of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, his plan for Greenwich Hospital (begun 1695), and Hampton Court Palace (1690–96). Other British figures of the late Baroque included Inigo Jones for Wilton House (1632–1647 and two pupils of Wren, John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor , for Castle Howard (1699–1712) and Blenheim Palace (1705–1724). In the 17th century Late Baroque style buildings in Lithuania were built in an Italian Baroque style , however in
28855-413: The more skilled artisans – those who fell between the strictly defined upper and lower class – and were able to afford building plots, often lived on the periphery of the commercial and upper class residential sectors, but equally often these people just lived in a larger or grander house than their neighbours in the poorer areas. However, many of the skilled artists working on the rebuilding lived as part of
29054-401: The more sophisticated Baroque architecture that had become popular in mainland Italy; the work of these local architects – and the new genre of architectural engravings that they pioneered – inspired more local architects to follow their lead. Around 1730, Sicilian architects had developed a confidence in their use of the Baroque style. Their particular interpretation led to further evolution to
29253-492: The most common, is that most rooms were never intended for public view and, therefore, expensive decoration. Many of the palazzi were vast; the Palazzo Biscari has 700 rooms. This was necessary because the household of a Sicilian aristocrat, beginning with himself, his wife and many children, would typically also contain a collection of poorer relatives and other extended family members, all of whom had minor apartments in
29452-764: The most extraordinary buildings of the Late Baroque were constructed in Austria, Germany, and Czechia. In Austria, the leading figure was Fischer von Erlach , who built the Karlskirche , the largest church of Vienna , to glorify the Habsburg emperors. These works sometimes borrowed elements from Versailles combined with elements of the Italian Baroque to create grandiose new effects, as in the Schwarzenberg Palace (1715). Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt used grand stairways and ellipses to achieve his effects at
29651-525: The most famous of which painted with floral and motifs of sea life . The Mycenaean culture, which flourished on the Peloponnesus , was different in character. Its people built citadels, fortifications and tombs, and decorated their pottery with bands of marching soldiers rather than octopus and seaweed. Both these civilizations came to an end around 1100 BC, that of Crete possibly because of volcanic devastation, and that of Mycenae because of an invasion by
29850-627: The most formal type, for temples and other public buildings, is divided stylistically into three Classical orders , first described by the Roman architectural writer Vitruvius . These are: the Doric order , the Ionic order , and the Corinthian order , the names reflecting their regional origins within the Greek world. While the three orders are most easily recognizable by their capitals, they also governed
30049-467: The most important and original creations of Baroque art on the island". This is the key to Sicilian Baroque: it was ideally matched to the Sicilian personality, and this was the reason it evolved so dramatically on the island. Nowhere in Sicily is the development of the new Baroque style more evident than in Ragusa and Catania . Ragusa was very badly damaged in 1693. The town is in two halves, divided by
30248-537: The narrowing is not regular, but gently curved so that each column appears to have a slight swelling, called entasis below the middle. The entasis is never sufficiently pronounced as to make the swelling wider than the base; it is controlled by a slight reduction in the rate of decrease of diameter. The Parthenon , the Temple to the Goddess Athena on the Acropolis in Athens, is referred to by many as
30447-469: The native aristocracy. This was led by the Duke of Camastra , whom the Spanish had appointed viceroy to appease the aristocracy, who were numerous. The aristocracy was relatively concentrated compared to most of Europe, and a gentry class was missing. In the 18th century, one estimate held that there were 228 noble families, who provided Sicily with a ruling class consisting of 58 princes, 27 dukes, 37 marquesses, 26 counts, one viscount and 79 barons;
30646-643: The new city of Terra del Sole , constructed in 1564. Another of the first towns to be planned using symmetry and order rather than an evolution of small alleys and streets was Alessandria in southern Piedmont . A little later, from 1711, this Baroque form of planning was favoured in the Hispanic colonies of South America, especially by the Portuguese in Brazil. In other parts of Europe, lack of finance, complex land ownership and divided public opinion made radical replanning after disaster too difficult: after 1666, London
30845-456: The nobility had several homes in Sicily. For one thing, the Spanish viceroy spent six months of the year in Palermo and six in Catania , holding court in each city, and hence members of the aristocracy needed a town palazzo in each city. A parallel Baroque style adapted to earthquake conditions, called Earthquake Baroque , also developed in the earthquake-prone Spanish colonies of Guatemala and
31044-433: The optical illusions that make edges of objects appear concave and for the fact that columns that are viewed against the sky look different from those adjacent that are viewed against a shadowed wall. Because of these factors, the architects adjusted the plans so that the major lines of any significant building are rarely straight. The most obvious adjustment is to the profile of columns, which narrow from base to top. However,
31243-475: The origin of the style lies in simple wooden structures, with vertical posts supporting beams which carried a ridged roof. The posts and beams divided the walls into regular compartments which could be left as openings, or filled with sun dried bricks, lathes or straw and covered with clay daub or plaster. Alternately, the spaces might be filled with rubble. It is likely that many early houses and temples were constructed with an open porch or "pronaos" above which rose
31442-472: The other defining their distribution. Examples: The ideal of proportion that was used by ancient Greek architects in designing temples was not a simple mathematical progression using a square module. The math involved a more complex geometrical progression, the so-called golden mean . The ratio is similar to that of the growth patterns of many spiral forms that occur in nature such as rams' horns, nautilus shells, fern fronds, and vine tendrils and which were
31641-518: The particular artistic character that defines ancient Greek architecture are to be seen in the pottery of the Dorian Greeks from the 10th century BC. Already at this period it is created with a sense of proportion, symmetry and balance not apparent in similar pottery from Crete and Mycenae. The decoration is precisely geometric, and ordered neatly into zones on defined areas of each vessel. These qualities were to manifest themselves not only through
31840-426: The period when Sicilian Baroque was at the height of its fashion and individuality. The ceilings were frescoed by the artist Giovanni Tuccari . The most spectacular part of the church's decoration is the nuns' choir (Illustration 15), created c. 1750 , which was designed in such a way that the nuns' voices could be heard during services, but the nuns themselves were still quite separate from and unseen by
32039-442: The pinnacle of ancient Greek architecture. Helen Gardner refers to its "unsurpassable excellence", to be surveyed, studied and emulated by architects of later ages. Yet, as Gardner points out, there is hardly a straight line in the building. Banister Fletcher calculated that the stylobate curves upward so that its centres at either end rise about 65 millimetres (2.6 inches) above the outer corners, and 110 mm (4.3 in) on
32238-403: The preceding Mycenaean and Minoan cultures and that of the ancient Greeks, with much of the techniques and an understanding of their style being lost when these civilisations fell. Mycenaean architecture is marked by massive fortifications, typically surrounding a citadel with a royal palace, much smaller than the rambling Minoan "palaces", and relatively few other buildings. The megaron ,
32437-485: The precise dimensions and measurements of many of the principal Renaissance and Baroque façades in Rome. In this way, the Renaissance finally came late to Sicily by proxy. At this stage of its development, Sicilian Baroque still lacked the freedom of style that it was later to acquire. Giovanni Battista Vaccarini was the leading Sicilian architect during this period. He arrived on the island in 1730 bringing with him
32636-461: The precise forms and ordered details of Greek architecture, but also its concept of architectural beauty based on balance and proportion. The successive styles of Neoclassical architecture and Greek Revival architecture followed and adapted ancient Greek styles closely. The mainland and islands of Greece are very rocky, with deeply indented coastline, and rugged mountain ranges with few substantial forests. The most freely available building material
32835-423: The primarily agricultural economy was highly concentrated . Its Baroque architecture gives the island an architectural character that has lasted into the 21st century. Baroque architecture is a European phenomenon originating in 17th-century Italy; it is flamboyant and theatrical, and richly ornamented by architectural sculpture and an effect known as chiaroscuro , the strategic use of light and shade on
33034-461: The processional gateway ( propylon ), the public square ( agora ) surrounded by storied colonnade ( stoa ), the town council building ( bouleuterion ), the public monument, the monumental tomb ( mausoleum ) and the stadium . Ancient Greek architecture is distinguished by its highly formalised characteristics, both of structure and decoration. This is particularly so in the case of temples where each building appears to have been conceived as
33233-433: The reason that Renaissance style never became popular in Sicily, it was certainly not ignorance. Antonello Gagini was midway through constructing the Church of Santa Maria di Porto Salvo [ it ] in 1536 in the Renaissance style when he died; he was superseded by the architect Antonio Scaglione , who completed the building in a Norman style. This style seems to have influenced Sicilian architecture almost up to
33432-426: The rise of stone architecture came the appearance of fired ceramic roof tiles . These early roof tiles showed an S-shape, with the pan and cover tile forming one piece. They were much larger than modern roof tiles, being up to 90 cm (35.43 in) long, 70 cm (27.56 in) wide, 3–4 cm (1.18–1.57 in ) thick and weighing around 30 kg (66 lb) apiece. Only stone walls, which were replacing
33631-437: The room was decorated in a far simpler mode. When Baroque interior decoration did occur, as elsewhere in Italy, the finest and most decorated rooms were those on the piano nobile , reserved for guests and entertaining. Occasionally, however, the late date of completion means that the decoration can be described as Rococo – the flamboyant swan song of the Baroque era. A further reason for the absence of Baroque decoration, and
33830-468: The rooms towards the street. City houses were inward-facing, with major openings looking onto the central courtyard, rather than the street. The rectangular temple is the most common and best-known form of Greek public architecture. This rectilinear structure borrows from the Late Helladic, Mycenaean megaron , which contained a central throne room, vestibule, and porch. The temple did not serve
34029-492: The same function as a modern church, since the altar stood under the open sky in the temenos or sacred precinct, often directly before the temple. Temples served as the location of a cult image and as a storage place or strong room for the treasury associated with the cult of the god in question, and as a place for devotees of the god to leave their votive offerings , such as statues, helmets and weapons. Some Greek temples appear to have been oriented astronomically. The temple
34228-452: The sea vividly blue. The clear light and sharp shadows give a precision to the details of the landscape, pale rocky outcrops and seashore. This clarity is alternated with periods of haze that varies in colour to the light on it. In this characteristic environment, the ancient Greek architects constructed buildings that were marked by the precision of detail. The gleaming marble surfaces were smooth, curved, fluted, or ornately sculpted to reflect
34427-439: The style. These patterns with their roundels of porphyry are often derived from designs found in the Norman cathedrals of Europe, again demonstrating the Norman origins of Sicilian architecture. The high altar is usually the pièce de resistance : in many instances a single block of coloured marble, decorated with gilt scrolls and festoons , and frequently inset with other stones such as lapis lazuli and agate . Steps leading to
34626-558: The sun, cast graded shadows and change in colour with the ever-changing light of day. Historians divide ancient Greek civilization into two eras, the Hellenic period (from around 900 BC to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC), and the Hellenistic period (323 BC – 30 AD). During the earlier Hellenic period, substantial works of architecture began to appear around 600 BC. During the later (Hellenistic) period, Greek culture spread as
34825-460: The time of the 1693 earthquake. Even Mannerism passed the island by. Only in the architecture of Messina could a Renaissance influence be discerned, partly for geographical reasons: within sight of mainland Italy and the most important port in Sicily, Messina was always more amenable to the prevailing tides of fashion outside the island. The town's aristocratic patrons would often call on Florence or Rome to provide them with an architect; one example
35024-568: The upper and lower Belvedere Palace in Vienna (1714–1722). In The Abbey of Melk , Jakob Prandtauer used an abundance of polychrome marble and stucco, statuary and ceiling paintings to achieve harmonious and highly theatrical effects. Another important figure of German Baroque was Balthasar Neumann (1687–1753), whose works included the Würzburg Residence for the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg , with its famous staircase. In Bohemia ,
35223-558: The use of quadratura (i.e. trompe-l'œil painting combined with sculpture): the eye is drawn upward, giving the illusion that one is looking into the heavens. Clusters of sculpted angels and painted figures crowd the ceiling. Light was also used for dramatic effect; it streamed down from cupolas , and was reflected from an abundance of gilding . Twisted columns were also often used, to give an illusion of upwards motion, and cartouches and other decorative elements occupied every available space. In Baroque palaces, grand stairways became
35422-455: The wooden columns were of a very different form to Doric columns, being narrow at the base and splaying upward. The earliest forms of columns in Greece seem to have developed independently. As with Minoan architecture, ancient Greek domestic architecture centred on open spaces or courtyards surrounded by colonnades . This form was adapted to the construction of hypostyle halls within the larger temples. The evolution that occurred in architecture
35621-581: Was a century away. When it came, this permanently cut the price of wheat to less than half, and destroyed the old economy forever. The aristocracy shared their power only with the Roman Catholic Church . The Church ruled by fear of damnation in the next life and of the Inquisition in the present, and consequently both upper and lower classes gave as generously as they could on all major saints' days. Many priests and bishops were members of
35820-412: Was across the cella , or inner chamber. In a large building, this space contains columns to support the roof, the architectural form being known as hypostyle . It appears that, although the architecture of ancient Greece was initially of wooden construction, the early builders did not have the concept of the diagonal truss as a stabilising member. This is evidenced by the nature of temple construction in
36019-446: Was built between 1718 and 1778. Its principal façade is pure Baroque, containing fine carvings and sculptures. The cathedral has a high Sicilian belfry in the same style. The ornate Baroque interior is separated into three colonnaded aisles. Ragusa Superiore was replanned following 1693 around the cathedral and displays an unusual phenomenon of Sicilian Baroque: the palazzi here are peculiar to this town, of only two storeys and long, with
36218-535: Was developed from Norman styles. Renaissance architecture hardly touched Sicily; in the capital city of Palermo , the only remnant of the High Renaissance is the Fontana Pretoria , a water fountain originally made for Don Pietro di Toleda by Florentine artists Franscesco Cammilliani and Michelangelo Naccerino and brought to Sicily when it was already 20 years old (Illustration 5). Whatever
36417-544: Was generally part of a religious precinct known as the acropolis . According to Aristotle , "the site should be a spot seen far and wide, which gives good elevation to virtue and towers over the neighbourhood". Small circular temples, tholoi were also constructed, as well as small temple-like buildings that served as treasuries for specific groups of donors. During the late 5th and 4th centuries BC, town planning became an important consideration of Greek builders, with towns such as Paestum and Priene being laid out with
36616-462: Was later to be reproduced in Sicily in the final years of its Baroque era. The palace also had an external staircase (removed in 1746) similar to those that later evolved in Sicily. One Sicilian architect, Tommaso Napoli , a monk, visited Vienna twice early in the century, returning with a store of engraving and drawings. He was later the architect of two country villas of the early Sicilian Baroque period, remarkable for their concave and convex walls and
36815-463: Was modeled after the architecture of Lisbon , different from the Spanish style. The most notable architect in Brazil was Aleijadinho , who was native of Brazil, half-Portuguese, and self-taught. His most famous work is the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi (Ouro Preto) . Baroque architecture often used visual and theatrical effects, designed to surprise and awe the viewer: Architecture of Ancient Greece Ancient Greek architecture came from
37014-433: Was more ordered and classical; examples included the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles and the dome of Les Invalides . An especially ornate variant, appeared in the early 18th century; it was first called Rocaille in France; then Rococo in Spain and Central Europe. The sculpted and painted decoration covered every space on the walls and ceiling. Its most celebrated architect was Balthasar Neumann , noted for
37213-403: Was not added until 1820. In an alley connecting Ragusa Ibla with Ragusa Superiore is the church of Santa Maria delle Scale . This church is interesting, though badly damaged in the earthquake. Only half the church was rebuilt in Baroque style, while the surviving half was kept in the original Norman (with Gothic features), thus demonstrating the evolution of Sicilian Baroque. The Palazzo Zacco
37412-403: Was one of many in the city to be redecorated inside in the 18th century in the Baroque style, with coloured marbles . Of Sicily's own form of Baroque, post-1693, it has been said, "The buildings conceived in the wake of this disaster expressed a light-hearted freedom of decoration whose incongruous gaiety was intended, perhaps, to assuage the horror". While this is an accurate description of
37611-470: Was rebuilt on its ancient plan, though new extensions to the west were partially on a grid system. In Sicily, public opinion (that of anyone outside the ruling class) counted for nothing, and hence these seemingly revolutionary new concepts of town planning could be freely executed. In Sicily, the decision was taken not just for fashion and appearance but also because it would minimise the damage to property and life likely to be caused in future quakes. In 1693,
37810-524: Was relatively restrained, but the interiors, and especially the immense fresco on the ceiling of the salon, the Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power painted by Pietro da Cortona , are considered masterpieces of Baroque art and decoration. Curving façades and the illusion of movement were a speciality of Francesco Borromini, most notably in San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1634–1646), one of
38009-594: Was soon added for the Collège des Quatre-Nations (now the Institut de France ). In 1661, following the death of Cardinal Mazarin , the young Louis XIV took direct charge of the government. The arts were put under the direction of his Controller-General of Finances , Jean-Baptiste Colbert . Charles Le Brun , director of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture , was named Superintendent of Buildings of
38208-466: Was that frequently they were only rebuilding a damaged structure, and as a consequence having to match their designs to what had been before, or remained. The Cathedral of San Giorgio at Modica (Illustration 10) is an example. It was badly damaged in an earthquake of 1613, rebuilt in 1643 in a Baroque style while keeping the medieval layout, then damaged again in 1693. Rebuilding again began in 1702, by an unknown architect; Rosario Gagliardi oversaw
38407-808: Was the Corpus Christi Church, Nesvizh in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , built by the Jesuits on the Roman model between 1586 and 1593 in Nieśwież (after 1945 Niasvizh in Belarus). The church also holds a distinction of being the first domed basilica with a Baroque façade in the Commonwealth and Eastern Europe. Another early example in Poland is the Church of Saints Peter and Paul Church, Kraków , built between 1597 and 1619 by
38606-565: Was the Florentine Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli , who established the Tuscan styles of architecture and sculpture there in the mid-16th century. However, these influences remained largely confined to Messina and the surrounding district. The patronage of the Roman Catholic Church , removed from the influences of Roman fashion, remained conservative in architectural taste and far-reaching in its power. This
38805-593: Was the most damaged of all the larger cities in 1693, with only the medieval Castello Ursino and three tribunes of the cathedral remaining; thus it was replanned and rebuilt. The new design separated the city into quarters, divided by two roads meeting at an intersection known as the Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square). Rebuilding was supervised by the Bishop of Catania , and the city's only surviving architect, Alonzo di Benedetto [ it ] . Di Benedetto headed
39004-467: Was the obvious choice for the "homeless rich" of Sicily, of whom there were hundreds. The excesses of the Baroque-style palazzi and country villas to be constructed in Sicily, however, were soon to make Versailles seem a model of restraint. As the 18th century dawned, Sicilian architects were employed to create the new palazzi and churches. These architects, often local, were able to design in
39203-551: Was towards the public building, first and foremost the temple, rather than towards grand domestic architecture such as had evolved in Crete, if the Cretan "palaces" were indeed domestic, which remains uncertain. Some Mycenaean tombs are marked by circular structures and tapered domes with flat-bedded, cantilevered courses. This architectural form did not carry over into the architecture of ancient Greece, but reappeared about 400 BC in
39402-574: Was used for ancient Greek buildings, including rubble, but the finest ashlar masonry was usually employed for temple walls, in regular courses and large sizes to minimise the joints. The blocks were rough hewn and hauled from quarries to be cut and bedded very precisely, with mortar hardly ever being used. Blocks, particularly those of columns and parts of the building bearing loads were sometimes fixed in place or reinforced with iron clamps, dowels and rods of wood, bronze or iron fixed in lead to minimise corrosion. Door and window openings were spanned with
39601-420: Was usually set in a hillside outside the town, and had rows of tiered seating set in a semicircle around the central performance area, the orchestra . Behind the orchestra was a low building called the skênê , which served as a store-room, a dressing room, and also as a backdrop to the action taking place in the orchestra. A number of Greek theatres survive almost intact, the best known being at Epidaurus by
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