Quattrocento and Cinquecento Architecture: A Renaissance Overview

Quattrocento Architecture

The two architects of the Quattrocento who began the break with the Renaissance and earlier Gothic tradition were Brunelleschi and Alberti. Another important figure is Michelozzo.

Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446)

Born and died in Florence, where all his artistic production took place. Although he was destined by his father for a notary career, he was soon able to engage in the arts. He began working in a goldsmith shop in Rome and conducted studies on Classical Antiquity.

He represents the first example of the Renaissance ideal artist with a solid humanist education and science (architect, sculptor, painter, goldsmith, engineer...). His work constitutes the starting point of Renaissance architecture.

Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472)

Another great figure of the Quattrocento. Born in Genoa, he was educated in Padua and in his youth studied the art of antiquity in depth. In Rome, where he discovered the greatness of classical art, he received his true artistic training and spent most of his life.

The Architecture of Cinquecento

In the early sixteenth century, Rome became the great artistic center of Italy, and the popes exercised important artistic patronage that attracted many artists to the city. Renaissance architecture achieved its fullness. The architects who best represent this moment of fulfillment are Bramante and Michelangelo. Joining them are Vignola and Andrea Palladio.

Donato Bramante (1444-1514)

Born near Urbino, he began his career as an architect in Milan. In 1499 he moved to Rome, and from 1503 until his death, his main project was St. Peter's Basilica.

Michelangelo (1475-1564)

Architect, painter, and sculptor, he is undoubtedly the most important figure of the Cinquecento.

Andrea Palladio (1508-1580)

Born in Padua. His identification with the classical world led him to change his name to Palladio in honor of the goddess Athena. An important architect, he wrote the treatise The Four Books of Architecture (1570), a very influential work. One of his main concerns was the harmony of the building with its natural surroundings, and this is reflected in his villa designs, which later became the model for typical houses in the southern United States.