Architecture of Italy – Gothic period
Gothic style, placing great emphasis on light and verticality, also associated with the ogive, ribbed vault, a resistant arch and large tracery windows. he left France in the middle of the twelfth century, to become the dominant force of medieval European architecture. But although it was cultivated in Italy from the beginning of the 13th century to the beginning of the 15th century, its service life was much shorter here than in other countries, the forms also differed, which he took. Italy was not suitable soil for the Gothic, which remained essentially North European. Ostrołuk was something strange in a country steeped in classical tradition, and the hot climate meant, that only small windows could be used, otherwise the heat inside would be unbearable. For the same reasons, the huge North Gothic portals were inappropriate; what's more, a large number of statues placed on them was a sacrilege in a country brought up on relief ornaments.
In Italian Gothic architecture, the emphasis is still on the horizontal dimension: buildings rarely rise to great heights and often have wooden roofs instead of stone vaults. Color plays a much greater role than in any other country - the walls are clad in marble, mosaics and frescoes. A great role was attached to the facade, which, however, was purely decorative, not architecturally related to the structure glued to it. Many of the most distinctive features of Gothic, such as soaring towers and graceful pinnacles, Resistance gaps and extensive vaults are almost non-existent in Italy.
As in the rest of Europe, the simple early Gothic style is associated with the activity of the Cistercian Order. Their abbey in Fossanova. completed in the first decade of the 13th century, is an outstanding example of their architecture, as well as an extremely well-preserved example of a medieval monastery complex. The monastery of San Galgano near Siena was built in a similar fashion (currently in ruins) and the Collegiate Church of SantAndrea in Vercelli. However, the most outstanding early Gothic church in Italy is the Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi, built shortly after the death of St. 1226. It is completely original, symbolic design, with a dark and mysterious lower and illuminated church, light higher church; both have large areas of walls for frescoes, which were soon filled with cycles dedicated to the patron of the church.
San Francesco has remained incomparable, but the churches of the Franciscan and Dominican orders have become the dominant elements of town planning in many cities. According to the weight. which was attached to prayer, They were usually barn-shaped structures that could accommodate large crowds of the faithful. They were invariably built of brick, but the plans used differed greatly from one another. The most impressive are the churches of Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novella in Florence from the end of the 14th century and their 14th-century counterparts in Venice - I Frari and San Zanipolo.