"PERFECTION IN PLAY" :RR 7

I chose to focus on late Renaissance (or Mannerism), specifically the Medici chapel in San Lorenzo, because I LOVE it.  I remember in class we were asked "What happens when a set of rules are made?" and everyone replied "We break them," and I remember thinking that was funny.  

Mannerism basically does just that..it breaks the rules.  Once perfection, order and balance had been defined in the Renaissance buildings, certain architects wanted to deviate from the norm.
One architect who did just that was Michelangelo Buonarroti, who added the Medici Chapel to San Lorenzo in Florence. (1520-1526)

Outside view of San Lorenzo.  I find it interesting that certain parts of the building are celebrated through both material and artwork (sculptures) while other parts that are probably not the front are drab. <www.sandstead.com>

This is an example of a side that does not matter- a part that does not exist to show others the wealth of the building.  Mannerism must have focused on changes prominently on the inside structure and design. <www.sandstead.com>

The Medici chapel becomes amazing in it's stark contradictions to the set RULES of the Renaissance.  Structurally, the chapel is held by brackets rather than columns- and these brackets fit between stone and pilasters.  To me, the dark stone and the light walls are one of the prettiest elements of the design.  The contrast is incredible.  Vasari, Michelangelo's friend, agrees with me.  He says, "he did the ornamentation in a composite order, in a style more varied and more original than any other master...-He departed a great deal from the kind of architecture regulated by proportion, order, and rule.."

Aedicule frames.  The color and ornamentation of the chapel are aesthetically striking.  This picture also illustrates how layers, groves, and arches are still fundamental to design. <lib-art.com>

Deviation took place again with the staircase to the Library at San Lorenzo.  This is where Michelangelo completely devours my attention because he is taking something normal and UNNECESSARY and using it anyway.  He makes the staircase, which is actually three sets of stairs all leading to the same entrance, the major element of the space.  Roth says he is "in direct contradiction to Alberti's explicit instructions in his De re aedificatoria."  I strongly appreciate that Michelangelo chose to do something that did not quite make perfect sense because sometimes one longs to design something just because it looks awesome (does design ALWAYS have to have a specific purpose- what about our happy architecture?)

The irregular staircase, as well as a picture of the doric columns.  Although these doric columns seem rather Renaissance- they too have been manipulated.  The heavy columns are supported by what looks like a lighter base.  Another great feature of Mannerism (to me) are the illusions it creates.  This picture illustrates that through both the doric columns and the staircase that appears much longer than it actually is. <online.wsj.com>

Fascinatingly, even when one spots an element in design that looks like the old order- they are probably wrong.  Examine a little bit closer and they'll find that even those have been manipulated.  For example, the common circle became and OVAL, because it has two axis'.
I find it lovely that Mannerist architecture pushed so hard to defy order.  That is exactly how architecture develops and moves forward.  It is avant-garde, and it is what takes us to the incredible Baroque period.

I found this video and thought I would share it, because it is pretty much an exact summary of our last lecture.

I hope you enjoyed my blog about breaking rules as much as I enjoyed writing it :)