Giulio Romano, Palazzo del Te, Mantua, 1524-35, Stucco and Stone

Giulio Romano, Palazzo del Te, Mantua, 1524-35, Stucco and Stone

1. Artists fled the Sack of Rome and spread the Mannerist style across Europe.

   • Architecture helps to define the Mannerist style, like Michelangelo - idiosyncratic.
     • Mannerist architecture referenced itself.
       • Treatment of the Mannerist style:
         • References the Classical idiom ironically Dropped triglyphs achieved in stucco for bizarre, illusioned effects Trabeated post and lintel used for a decorative purpose Rustication, taken from Palazzo Medici, 15th century, though used in an illogical way, references it No pattern of size or scale, rules of rustication applied randomly, size is irregular, does not match the pattern of the surrounding brick Engaged columns, uneavenly spaced Blind fenestration used to create asymmetry Sections for decor, for no logical reason Inter-columniation is irregular, cluttered Pediments are enlarged Combines curved and linear forms Inconsistent projection and recession Facade uses the systems that should be used on buildings of a monumental scale on a small building Perverse exaggeration Cluttered, lacking the clean lines of Renaissance harmony USED FOR AN AESTHETIC, NOT A FUNCTIONAL PURPOSE ARCHITECT THINKING LIKE A SCULPTOR brand new building that looks like the ruins of the forum, recalls delapidated buildings (ancient) and has a deconstructed look to it Combines arcuation with trabeation - Greek pediments with Roman arches String course ends very abruptly No sense of symmetry or a regular pattern Truncated first storey Massively overstated volute scrolls Projecting voussoirs
         • Roman Esedra gives framed views of the countryside
         • Cloistered courtyard taken from monastic architecture
           • A monastry wants to close itself off from the outside world in the same way as the Palazzo is a world of its own
           • Borrows the monastic style for an entirely secular use
         • COMBINES: ROMAN VILLA, MONASTIC CLOISTERS AND FLORENTINE PALAZZO IN A MANNERIST STYLE

2. Giulio Romano: was formerly a pupil and assistant of Raphael and was taught by Raphael, (the next generation of 16th century artists)

   • Vasari noted the same spirit of artistic licence as he noted in Michelangelo
   • Palazzo de Te was commissioned by the Duke of Mantua. Frederico Gonzago became the Duke of Mantua, he was the SON OF ISABEL D'ESTE, one of the greatest collectors of the High Renaissance. Sophisticated patron of the D'este family
     • The Duke would bring a party of artisocrats to Palazzo del Te for HEADY, EPICUREAN PARTIES It has been argued that there was nowhere to sleep
       • Designed as a 'pleasure palace', intended for aristocrats to be toured around it
         • INTERIOR: equine theme developed in frescos, attendants would have arrived by horseback.
           • Interior disorientates with apocolyptic frescos Coffered vaulted ceiling - seen in Raphael's School of Athens GROTTO LIKE EFFECT
         • FUNCTIONS: 1. entertainment pleasure palace, 2. monument to announce the Duke's influence in Rome AND 3. to announce Romano's style. 4. It was also a statement of the innovative Mannerist style 5. to be a treatment of the Villa style, 6.for aesthetic entertainment, 7. for a conversation starter, Mannerist architecture would have been a talking point. 8. Statement of status, linked to the Classical Age. The high status 'villa mentality' the Duke aspired to. Rumours would have spread about the great frescos. TO EVOKE A RESPONSE
           • The Doric Order conveys the masculinity of Mantua
     • It was designed and decorated by Romano. Romano over saw the design, it was a product of his vision
       • It took 18 months to construct the shell.
         • Stucco was used in the main for its theatrical effects and as it is lightweight
           • High relief allows for experimental facades
           • Unnamed artists did the reliefs
         • Composed of a square house around a cloistered courtyard.
           • Combines villa and palazzo style
           • Esedra (semicircular collonade)
     • The Palazzo engaged with its surroundings
     • Provincial Italians would have wanted Roman architects to do their work for them

3. CRITICS

   • 'Playful and careful disymmetry' 'Beauty through rebellion'   Spezatto A 'new building made to look old, made to look like ruins'