Maria Dunina
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
The typology of Renaissance palazzo arises and develops in the 15th century in various cities throughout Italy and has some unique features everywhere. In this respect, Rome provides a very interesting and exemplary evolution of this typology. Roman palace type is not so articulated as the ones at Florence and in other artistic centers. In the first half of Quattrocento, the Avignon Papacy was just over, so the Roman private architecture developed in a chaotic manner and had neither theoretical base nor consistent logic of artistic design.
In the middle of the 15th century the situation changes dramatically due to the shift of the general artistic agenda in Rome, and to the ruling of the pontiffs eager to create a new image of the Eternal City, including its architectural settings.
Exploring the initial stage of formation of a Renaissance palace in Rome, we will find the emergence of distinct typology in the Vatican Palace influenced by L. B. Alberti for humanist Pope Nicholas V (1447–1455). Vatican received a new type of palace brought by the combination of Alberti’s theory and the idea of the revival of Rome (renovatio Romae). Based on traditional elements of Roman palaces of the first half of the 15th century, it is organized along with the classical concept of forms into an unified monumental structure.
Senior ecclesiastical leaders, striving to show their loyalty to the papacy, copied the architecture of Vatican in their residences. The program of the Vatican Palace responded to the needs of the Pope and defined the development of the Roman palace type of the second half of the 15th century. The report depicts the influence of this program on the facades, and on the planimetry of the Roman palaces of the second half of the 15th century.