02 Hist Sample

8/4/2019 02 Hist Sample

1/4

2.32

extramural independent studies rhodec internationalUNIT RD 2 a history of interior design

even `classical detail in the 15th century sometimes

became Gothicized.

In many rooms of the Renaissance period, it was in thedetails that a room achieved its classical feel. Howeverplain the walls and ceiling of any room were, an elaboratechimneypiece or doorframes could transform it, andit was frequently on such carved decorations that thegreatest expense would be lavished. In particular, thechimneypiece lent itself to personal interpretations, asSebastiano Serlio already noted in Part One of his Treatiseon Architecture published in Venice in 1537. Although itharked back to medieval prototypes, the hooded varietycontinued in favour well beyond the 15th century andinto the next. Sometimes this had only small beams for

support, particularly in poorer homes, as is shown in PaoloUccellos painting Woman Redeeming her Cloak with theHostof the 1450s in the National Gallery in Urbino. Thiswas because it could thus project into a room withouttaking up space at the sides i f supported on brackets,and offered considerable opportunity for i ngeniousdecoration, sometimes including the family coat of arms.As early as the 1460s the type that was to dominate mostEuropean rooms from the later 17th century onwards,with the fireplace recessed well into the depth of the walland a simple moulded surround to the opening, made itsappearance in Mantuas Camera degli Sposi.

As the focal point of any room, as much for light as for

heat on dark nights, it was natural that artists should

Right: Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.The Studiolo of Francesco

I DeMedici (1570-72)Designed by Giorgio Vasari and Vincenzo

Borghini, with paintings by many artists.


2/4

rhodec international extramural independent studies UNIT RD 2 a history of

(see above), and rapidly developed his almost romantic

ideas of movement and variety in architecture from hisexperience of the Roman baths and palaces. Adam was abrilliant architect, and his external designs for EdinburghUniversity and Kedleston Hall are of European importance.But he excelled at interior design, to which he devotedhis greatest inventiveness, in his London business with hisbrother James.

In spite of the new feeling against Palladian heavinessthat had appeared in the mid-century, it was Adam whodeclared war on ponderous architectural features in interiordesign. Although he was brilliantly familiar with the entirevocabulary of Roman decorative art, he had the geniusto couple this with his study of other styles such as the

Italian Renaissance (notably 16th century artists includingMichelangelo and Giovanni da Udine); the result is bestseen in his Entrance Hall at Syon House, Middlesex, wherethe rich effect is the result of an amalgam of ancient andRenaissance Roman detail. Paramount also is Adamsimmaculate sense for colour, and the play of light andshade, again notably revealed at Syon where he has us passfrom whites and greys in the entrance, to sumptuous greensand gold in the famous Ante-Room, and then into a seriesof alternating paler and richly-coloured interiors which alsovary greatly in shape and size. Syons Long Gallery is one ofthe most satisfying rooms of the 18th century.

Similar contrasts are found in all his major country house

interiors, notably at Kedleston, Osterley Park, Harewood

Previous page left: Kedleston Derbyshire, England.The Alabaster Hall (1765)Architect: Robert Adam.An antique feel is clearly southe use of lavish material for thniches for statues and the mou

on the strongly shaped ceilingEnglish Life Publications Ltd.

Previous page right: CatherinePalace, Tsarksoe Selo, Lening(c. 1780)Architect: Charles Cameron. Thcarried out much Neo-Classicain the interior of Rastrellis earlirecognizable in idiom but unususing stronger colours than in European work.

Left: Syon House, Middlesex,

The Ante-Room (1761)


3/4

rhodec international extramural independent studies UNIT RD 2 a history of

In our age of i nternationalism and the rapid spread of

information through photography and television, it isdifficult for us to imagine the excitement felt by artistsand designers at the new accessibility of visual records ofhistorical styles increasingly encountered from the 18thcentury onwards. In the previous Lesson we saw how booksof engravings spread accurate archaeological informationnot only about Greece and Rome, but also about other,more exotic styles. The allure of classical architecture anddecoration could not sustain itself exclusively againstthe appeal of new styles, some of which made theirappearance in the midst of Neo-Classicism - the Egyptian,for example, first in the work of Piranesi, then in muchEmpire and Regency taste.

The transition in France from the Neo-Classicism of the18th century to the Empire style is arguably smootherthan the arrival of the contemporary English Regencystyle. Parallels are always drawn between the principalnational representatives of the styles, Charles Percier andPierre Franois Lonard Fontaine in France and ThomasHope in Britain. Both published their ideas in highlyinfluential engraved books, on the one hand the Recueil dedcorations intrieures(from 1801) and Hopes HouseholdFurniture and Interior Decoration of 1807. Percier andFontaine spent three years in Rome and knew Renaissanceand Baroque architecture at first hand; it seemsextraordinary that they noted how much more suitableRenaissance works were as sources of inspiration for their

day. This was a feature which linked them with Hope, since

Lesson HD 6Towards Stylistic Variety: from Empire and Regency to the Romantic Period and Historicism

Left: The Royal PavilionBrighton, England (1815-22).

The Banqueting Room


4/4

Documents

02 Hist Sample