Early Renaissance: The Revival of Classical Art and Innovative

ArchitectureBy: Drake Wootton, Patrick Hood,

Connor Prince

Brunelleschi and the Pazzi ChapelA large movement during the Early Renaissance was the revival of classical art.

Brunelleschi had studied classical Greek and Roman architecture and used his own interpretation in the shapes of the Pazzi Chapel. The round arches and patterns of rectangles and squares throughout the interior hold geometric shapes inspired by classical buildings, the dominate shape being the circle in this instance

Exterior of Pazzi Chapel

The Renaissance was innovative for its employment of linear perspective and creating artwork with correct mathematical proportions.

Brunelleschi's Pazzi Chapel was revolutionary in its design based on perfect geometric proportions. The ratios used throughout the interior of the building are representative of the fundamental laws of God and nature. The building is a square with a rib vaulted dome.

Interior of Pazzi Chapel

Brunelleschi’s final work: Santo Spirito Basilica

The Santo Spirito Basilica in Florence is another great example of Early Renaissance architecture. It was designed by Brunelleschi, though he was not alive to see it be fully constructed.

In fact its facade was never actually built and was instead left blank.

It was designed in the traditional cross shape like many other churches before and after it, but showed Early Renaissance ideas by being rigidly spaced in geometry and perfect modulation on the inside, which was a departure from the less strict spacing of architecture in the middle ages.

These provided outlets for many different statues (in the niches) and frescoes (in the chapels) by different artists to be displayed.

This showed the new Renaissance focus on the individual and giving credit to the artist himself. It also allowed for merchants and guilds to give patronage to the churches by paying artists to make pieces for these different niches and chapels. This stresses the Early Renaissance focus on the merchant and working class rather than royalty. Exterior Interior