Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

LATER

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V23, Page 613 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

LATER DEVELOPMENT The transformation of See also:

Roman See also:architecture after the 16th See also:century was marked by the See also:abandonment of classical See also:models. The See also:works of See also:Michelangelo were too See also:grand to be accused of exceeding the extreme limits of See also:good See also:taste, but his scholars and imitators exaggerated his manner, and the barocco See also:style, 3 On Mino da See also:Fiesole, see Gnoli in Archivio Storico dell' Arte (189o-91) ; on Giovanni Dalmata, Fabriczy in Jahrb. der preuss-Kunstammlungen (1901); on See also:Andrea Bregno, Steinmann in the same periodical, vol. xx.; many of the monuments are See also:drawn in Tcsi, Raccotta di monumenti sacri e sepolcrati scolpiti a See also:Roma (1853). 4 These two churches were the first in See also:Rome built with domes after the classical See also:period. ' The upper See also:storey of the latter is varied by having See also:horizontal lintels instead of See also:arches on the columns. 6 See: Geymiiller, Projets primitifs pour le basilique de St See also:Pierre a Rome (See also:Paris, 1875–85). A valuable See also:account of See also:Raphael's architectural works is given by Geymuller, Raffaello come Architetto (See also:Milan, 1882). Drawings. of many of the finest palaces of Rome are given in the See also:fine See also:work by Letarouilly, Edifices de Rome moderne (See also:Brussels, 1856-66). Florentine and Lombard sculptors. which had its See also:cradle in.iRome; was soon adopted throughout See also:Italy. Vignola,, (rgot/–1573) had done his best to bind the , ,ef See also:building to strictly classic rules, but in spite See also:Aral iggge' ng, , rof hi ar s efforts the., degeneration made progress during his own lifetime and under Carlo Maderna (1556-1639), and proceeded still more rapidly under See also:Bernini (1598-1680). The characteristics of the barocco are the reckless abuse of curves and extravagantly broken lines, of contorted columns, See also:twisted tympanums and highly exaggerated ornaments; yet we must confess that many monuments of this period of See also:art exhibit such exuberant See also:life, such contrasts of See also:relief and See also:shadow, and such a wonderful See also:combination of variety and solidity as canvat fail to please the many, even now, by the magnificence of , their See also:general effect. In Rome, the numerous works of Bernini,, See also:Borromini, Maderna, Rainaldi, See also:Salvia Fuga, See also:Longhi and others See also:bear See also:witness to the gifted activity. of See also:Italian architects during that period, if See also:genius necessarily creates, those men showed more of it than their predecessors ' who adhered to the classic and revered the teachings of See also:Vitruvius.

Degeneration is tolerated and sometimes even pleases, under the name of transformation, but there is nothing to be said for the real decay which marks the 18th century. It was not universal at first, for it is by nature a slow See also:

process; Such men as A. Galilei, Specchi, Peparelli, Marchionni, See also:Morelli, Camporese and See also:Piranesi See also:left works not altogether without value; but the outrageous abuse of See also:ornament increased with every See also:year, and was made more and more evident by the clumsy heaviness of. the pillars and pilasters that supported the whole. The refined purity of the See also:Renaissance disappeared as completely as the delicate See also:grace and exquisite ornamentation of the Cosmatesque period. Many works of the greatest beauty were destroyed outright, and many more were disfigured and often wholly hidden by horrible See also:stucco constructions and decorations; or, on a larger See also:scale, by the application of hideous See also:stone facades to churches of which the See also:simple good taste had delighted generations of mankind. The deformation of the See also:noble old Lateran See also:basilica is a conspicuous instance of such deeds; another is See also:Santa Maria See also:Maggiore, and the false fronts plastered upon See also:San See also:Marcello and Santa Maria in Via Lata, both in the Corso, give a very clear See also:idea of what was generally done. The interiors of old churches suffered quite as much, and even the frescoes of See also:early masters were not spared; those by See also:Pinturicchio in the third See also:chapel (See also:south) of S. Maria del Popolo were covered with wretched stucco _ ornaments, only removed in 1850, and numberless works. of art by See also:Giotto and other early painters were wilfully destroyed, The decline of architecture continued in the lgth century, notwithstanding the laudable efforts of Valadier and a, few other painstaking imitators, who produced the so-called " See also:academic neo-classic' reaction; among them may be noted the names of See also:Canina, Poletti, See also:Sarti and Azzurri. The futility of their works invited the feeble See also:eclecticism which soon after-wards became so general that the architecture of the period is wholly without individuality, good or See also:bad. The See also:chief architectural work of the 19th century was the. rebuilding of the See also:great basilica of S. See also:Paolo fuori le Mura, burnt in 1823, in a style of See also:cold splendour which is anything but devotional in its general effect. The pillars are huge monoliths of See also:grey See also:granite from the See also:Alps; the confessio and transepts are lined with rosso and verde antico from quarries then recently re-discovered in See also:Greece, and with See also:Egyptian See also:alabaster and • lapis lazuli and See also:malachite adorn the bases of the columns See also:round the high See also:altar in lavish profusion.

See also:

Thirty years were required for the rebuilding of the frigidly magnificent edifice, which was reconsecrated in 1854. The See also:east See also:facade displays a quantity of See also:gaudy mosaics, and the projected quadriportico is wanting. The See also:belfry is nothing but a See also:steeple, and has an unfortunate. resemblance to a lighthouse. In extenuation of the result it must be admitted that the See also:original building had been totally destroyed by See also:fire, but no such excuse can be found for the barbarous See also:assault on See also:Christian art which was perpetrated by See also:Francesco Vespignani in the See also:extension of the Lateran basilica.- This work was begun under See also:Pius IX. ' and finished ' under See also:Leo XIII.; it involved the destruction of the See also:ancient See also:tribune and its See also:ambulatory, the only parts of the See also:church which had so. far escaped See also:complete disfigurement, and the priceless mosaics (1290), among the most beautiful in Rome, were taken down and replaced in the new See also:apse in a sadly mutilated and restored See also:form. (For the interesting discoveries made in excavating for the new See also:foundations; see See also:Ann. Isl. 1877, p. 332.) The Vatican contains the largest collection in- the See also:world of See also:Greco-Roman and Roman See also:sculpture, with a•few specimens of true Hellenic art. It is also very See also:rich in See also:Greek vases and in See also:objects Galleries from See also:Etruscan tombs; this latter See also:division is called the and See also:col Museo Gregoriano. There is also an Egyptian museum lectloaa. which contains a few important curiosities. In the great library are preserved a number of early See also:glass chalices and other rare objects from the catacombs, as well as many fine -specimens of later Christian art—church See also:plate and jewels.

The picture See also:

gallery, though not as large as some of the private collections in Rome, contains few inferior pictures. The Lateran See also:palace, still, like the - Vatican, in the See also:possession, of the See also:pope, contains a fine collection of classical sculpture, but is most remarkable as a museum of Christian antiquities, The two capitoline museums are very rich in classical sculpture, bronzes, coins, pottery and 'the contents of early Etruscan and Latin tombs. A large See also:hall has been added, and is filled with sculptures found in Rome since 187o, of which the arrangement was completed on the occasion of See also:King See also:Edward VII.'s visit. The picture gallery contains a few masterpieces and a large number of inferior works. The new Museo delle Terme has been formed in the great See also:cloister of S. Maria degli See also:Angell, to hold the numerous fine examples of classical See also:painting and sculpture found along the See also:Tiber during the excavations for the new See also:embankment, and in other places in Rome. The university of Rome possesses fine collections of minerals, fossils and other See also:geological specimens, and examples of ancient See also:marbles used in the buildings of Rome. A Museo Artistico Industriale has been formed in a monastery in the See also:Capo le See also:Case, to contain See also:medieval works of art. It is, however, a See also:matter for . regret that the few medieval works which Rome possesses should be scattered in three small collections, namely, the one last mentioned, the Capitol and the See also:Castle of S., Angelo, where an See also:attempt is being made to form a real medieval museum; many objects, too, are dispersed throughout the See also:city, and will doubtless disappear unless they are better protected. The Museo Kircheriano contains an unrivalled collection of prehistoric objects of stone, See also:bronze, See also:iron and pottery, found in Italy and the Italian islands, and more particularly a number of ancient Latian urns, capantie and the like. The collection of aes See also:grave is the finest yet made; and the museum also contains a large quantity of interesting classical antiquities of various kinds. Another See also:branch is the Ethnological Museum.

Unfortunately all these museums are badly adapted for purposes of study, being neither well arranged nor well catalogued. The Museo Baracco, presented to the city in 1905 by the senator of that name, contains some ancient sculptures of great value. The Museum of Etruscan and Faliscan antiquities in the See also:

Villa Giulia, near Porta del Popolo, is of considerable importance, as is also the See also:Borgia Museum in the Propaganda palace, the latter for its ancient See also:geographical curiosities. The museum of See also:plaster casts in the Testaccio See also:quarter contains reproductions of the See also:principal ancient sculptures possessed by See also:foreign museums. Among the private collections of pictures the See also:Borghese is unrivalled. The next in importance is that in the rporia palace, which, however, like most Italian collections, contains a PrJvate large proportion of very inferior works. The See also:Corsini 'II' picture gallery, bought by the See also:government, is chiefly co . Hops. rich in the works of the Bolognese and- other third-See also:rate painters, but also possesses a fine collection of engravings, and etchings. There are a few fine paintings in the _Barberini palace, but the Sciarra gallery no longer exists. There are some good pictures by Raphael and Guido Reni in the See also:Academy of St See also:Luke;` the Galleria d'Arte Moderna is a collection of See also:modern paintings acquired- by the government. The largest private collection of sculpture is that of the Villa See also:Albani, which, among a large See also:mass of inferior Roman sculpture, contains a few gems of Greek art. The original Albani collection was stolen and brought to -Paris by-See also:Napoleon I., and' was there dispersed; one relief, the celebrated See also:Antinous, is the only piece of sculpture from the original collection which was sent back from Paris.

This is in the collection of See also:

Prince Torlonia, which contains several very fine works, but unfortunately the greater number are much injured and 'falsified by restorations. The' See also:casino in the Borghese gardens possesses a great quantity of sculpture, mostly third-rate Roman works, the most important of which, however, are executed in See also:precious marbles. The small collection which formerly existed in the Villa Ludovici has been bought by the government and removed to the Museo delle Terme; it contained a few works of Greek sculpture of great value, the most important being the Pergamean See also:group representing the See also:suicide of a Gaulish chief, a See also:Medusa's See also:head in relief and a male terminal figure. The See also:Giustiniani collection, which was considerable, is now dispersed, but many private residences, such as the See also:Colonna palace, still contain collections of sculpture and painting of a secondary See also:order. The principal See also:libraries in Rome are, for old and modern works,. the Biblioteca See also:Vittorio Emanuele and the library of the See also:German Libraries. Archaeological See also:Institute; for See also:manuscripts and early books, the See also:Angelica, the Casanatense, the Alessandrina and the Chigi libraries; but none of them can be compared with that of the Vatican, which now contains also the former library of the See also:Barberini. Mention must also be made of the Corsiniana, now belonging to the Accademia dei Lincei. The Biblioteca Sarti, beside the Academy of S. Luke, contains works on art.

End of Article: LATER

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
LATEEN (the Anglicized form of Fr. latine, i.e. voi... 		[next]
LATER WARES OF SPAIN AND

Site © 2006 - Net Industries