1J8

HISTORY OF AllCHITECTUllE. 13ook 1

niercliants.tlio bridges, theatres, &c. This work appears to have been lost, the Ia^st posser-sor
ot" it knou'ii having been the prince Ferdinand of Tuscany. Though in the higher re-
finement of finislied details the Florentine school did not reach the extreme elegance of the
iiomau and Venetian schools, yet for bold imposing masses of architecture we think no
city ])resents such a collection of highly picturesque architectural examples as Florence.
The I'itti palace indeed, just mentioned, is more imposing by its broad parts than almost
any other building with which we are acquainted, though it becomes poor when translated
into French, as at the Luxembourg.
332. So late as 1454, we find in the Strozzi and other palaces semicircular-headed win-
dows, wherein are half columns at the sides, and a column in the middle, resembling those
in tiie Hyzantine or Uomanes(]ue edifices. Tiie two apertures thus formed are crowned by
.semicircular lieads, which are circumscribed by the outer semicircle, and the sijandrel formed
by tlie three curves is occupied by a patera.
333. The period of tlie Florentine school, which must be taken as commencing with
I'runelleschi, includes the names of Wichelozzo, Leo 15attista Alberti, I'ollaiuolo (who ob-
tained the soubri(]uet of Chronaca, from his constant recital of liis travels), tlie architect
of the Strozzi palace, Rafl'aelle Sanzio, 15enedetto da IMajano, Baccio d'Agnolo, ISaccio
IJandinelli, IJuontalenti, Ammanati, and others: it extends from a. n. 1400 to a. d. 1600.
The works of Michael Angelo, thougli a Florentine, do not belong to this school
;
neither
do those of San Gallo and some others, who have been improperly classed as Florentine
architects.
334. 2. liiiman Scliool. Thougli the city of Rome, during the period of the rise and
progress of the Roman school of architecture, was not altogether free from insurrectionary
troubles, its palatial style is far less massive than that of Florence. None of its buildings
present the fortress-like apj)earance of those in the last-named city. Indeed, the Roman
palaces, from their grace and ligiitness, indicate, on the part of the jieople, habits of a much
more pacific nature, and an advancing state of the art, arising from a more intimate ac-
(juaintance with the models of antiquity which were on every side. The introduction of
columns becomes a favourite and jileasing feature, and great care and study a])j)ear to have
been constantly bestowed on tlie far;ades of their buildings; so much so, indeed, in many,
that they are but masks to indifferent interiors. In them tlie entrance becomes a principal
object
; and though in a great number of cases the abuses which enter into its compo-
sition are manifold, yet the general effect is usually successful. The courts in these
])alaces are most frequently surrounded with arcades, whence a staircase of considerable
dimensions leads to the sala or principal room of the jjalace. The general character is that
of grandeur, but devoid altogether of the severity which so strongly marks the Florentine
scliool. The noblest example of a palace in the world is that of the Farnese family at
Rome, to which we shall afterwards have occasion to return.
335. Rramante, born in 1444 at some place, but which is still in doubt, in the duchy of
(Jrbino, must be considered the founder of the Roman school. Though educated as a
IKiiiiter under Fra I5artolonieo, and likely to have ranked in that occujiation as a master
of no ordinary jiowers, his great love of architecture induced him at an early period to
(]uit jiainting as a jirofession. In Lombardy he wandered from city to city for the
))uri)ose
of obtaining employment as an architect, but there is no evidence that his exertions in
that iiart of Italy were rewarded with great success. The dry style which afterwards cha-
racterised his works has been said to have had its origin in his protracted stay at INlilan,
*!iile the works of the Duomo were carrying on there under Bernardino di Trevi, a
builder of such skill as to have gained the esteem of Leonardo da Vinci. Be this as it
may, it was in this city his determination to follow our art became irrevocable. From
Milan he went straightway to Rome; where, however, he was obliged to make himself
known by some works in his first profession of a painter in the church of St. Giovanni
I^aterano. Naturally of liosjjitable and social disposition, and a lover of ex])cnse and
luxury, so intense was his ardour to become great in the art he adopted that he refrained
from all society, holding commerce only with the monuments of anti(]uit.y by which he
was surrounded, studying with the utmost diligence, and d.awing them for his futiue ap-
plication of the j)rinciples upon which they were founded, ile even extended his researches
to Najiles, losing no opportunity of noting all the ruins from whicli instruction in his art
could be drawn. Orafla (Cardinal of Na))les), who had remarked his zeal, gave him his
first commission in Rome, which was the construction of the cloister of the Convent della
Face
;
and this, from the intelligence and speed with which he executed the task, brought
\nm at once into rejiute. At this period Rome could boast but of few architects, and
those that were established tiiere were of small account. The Florentine school seems to
have sprung in the most decided manner from the habits of the people and the massiveness
of their materials, modified by some knowledge of the buildings of the ancients : that
of Rome seems to have been founded upon the princii)le of making the ancient architecture
of Rome suit the more modern habits of a very dillerent peojile, thougli living on the
same sjioU
To explain more immediately our meaning, we cite the small circui;r chapel