This is a video of my ‘in house’ office lecture about the Italian Renaissance. Several colleagues have voiced an interest in knowing more about the history of classical architecture. I am therefore doing a series of talks about the most significant periods of the style. This lecture covers one of the greatest outbursts of creativity in the history of western art and architecture. In a short period, Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling, Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa and Raphael painted the School of Athens. In architecture, Julius II bought together some of the most brilliant architects of all time to rebuild the Basilica of Saint Peters in the Vatican. Following the Sack of Rome, these architects moved to various parts of Italy, spreading their knowledge of classical architecture far and wide. These events led to the production of the great architectural treatises by Serlio, Vignola and Palladio, which have all had a huge influence on the practice of classical architecture right up to the present day. This lecture is a brief introduction to this period and my intention is to give the listener a broad understanding of the main ideas of the Renaissance and knowledge of critical buildings. This is not an academic study, it is for anyone interested in the period or about to go to Rome on holiday and wanting some basic facts to inform their site seeing.

Francis Terry

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