Early Experiments in Renaissance
Architecture in the Low Countries. Introduction
Krista
De Jonge (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) and Jean
Guillaume (Centre d'Etudes SupA(C)rieures de la Renaissance,
Tours)
With the international
conference, 'Les dA(C)buts dela Renaissance' (Centre
d'Etudes SupA(C)rieures de la Renaissance, Tours, June
1994), Jean Guillaume raised a most important issue
which remains relevant for the Low Countries, most
of all because the use of the dichotomy 'gothic,renaissance'
in the characterization of Netherlandish architecture
of the first half of the sixteenth century remains
extremely problematic.
From the early 1520's
to the 1560's, many parts of Europe shared a strong
preference for an 'antique' repertory of forms, based
on the diffusion of engraved models (mainly of Northern
Italian origin), not yet subject to Vitruvian rule.
Attempts to integrate some of its elements A? baluster,
'ringed' column shaft A? into Vitruvian theory gave
rise to original interpretations, as seen in Sagredo's Medidas del romano (1526) or Cesarino's Vitruvius
edition (1521). In the sophisticated urban context
of the Low Countries, this 'antique' repretory was
mostly the province of the sculptors and not of the
traditional building crafts, which in due time gave
rise to court cases in which the process of designing
architecture was discussed in modern terms for the
first time. Within this milieu originated some of
the finest 'anticse wercken' still known.
This session would
discuss this 'Early Renaissance' production within
a European context. No form of 'architecture' will
be excluded, be it three-dimensional or imaginary
(two-dimensional illusion). Issues to be addressed
include: Coexistence with the 'gothic; the us eof
model books; relation with other non-Italian 'Renaissance.'
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