Bramante and Aesthetics of High Renaissance

Introduction

Bramante, Donato an Italian Renaissance architect and painter of the 1444-1514 era; whose architecture was regarded as the greatest example of High Renaissance as cited in the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. In the year 1477, he designed mural on the palaces in Bergamo. He painted most of the churches in Santa Maria presso and San Satiro in Milan; they were worth seeing as they give an illusion of great deepness but actually they are not deep but shallow. He also has designed the east end of Santa Maria delle Grazie, a large arched add-on to an ancient Gothic Church. By the end of 1499 he came into Rome, where he made the plain but decent Monastery for Santa Maria della Pace and the elegantly balanced circular Tempietto in the courtyard of San Pietro in Montorio. His works in Rome include the Belvedere courtyard at the Vatican, designed for a huge Palace of the Tribunals, the choir of Santa Maria del Popolo and other churches. His significant artwork, however, was his design for St. Peter's. He preferred central plans and a sense of noble sternness, specifically, in the Roman era. Bramante was regarded as the indispensable scope of the east end, and his designs have been taken for the appearance of many smaller churches till the 16th Century.

Discussion

The pioneer and leading architect of High Renaissance constructions was Bramante. His accomplishments include his masterpiece work is the Tempietto, a Doric memorial which is conventionally held to spot the place of St Peter's martyrdom. In spite of its its undersized dimension, the Tempietto is usually taken as the pinnacle of the High Renaissance Architecture.

It is the art of architecture that represents the true model of the Renaissances. The well known Italian architect Sebastiano Serlion (1475-1554) stated that geometrical sense is necessitated for every architecture (Patrick, 2007). However, Plato has affirmed circle as the most ideal shape; so the architects including Bramante and Alberti had used circular structures in their architects. For instance, Bramante's Tempietto was settled on circular platform and his model for Basilica, in Rome was also a central model under a semi-circular arena.

The High Renaissance in the 16th century followed the oriental models and was much inspired by the circular plans (Patrick, 2007). In the church of Rapel in Rome, devised by Bramante, the front elevation is deep but the inlet was designed in lines which was held on rusticated platform reaching to the height of the first floor.that was designed inside the wall and it looked that is was standing free.

During the period of the High Renaissance, the focal point of the architecture was transferred from Florence to Rome and Venice. As a matter of fact, Bramante transmitted the Renaissance in Rome. The city was ruled by Pop Julius II, who desired to construct the city as the central city of the Christian World. (Patrick, 2007).The cloister of the Church of Santa Maria Della pace (1500-1504) was his first architectural work in ...