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Description
This is the third programme in the Third Level Arts Course A352."Art in Italy 1480-1580". The church of the Madonna di San Piagio, unlike Santa Maria del Popolo which we saw in the first ...programme, was built in a short period of time in one style, and is a splendid example of the Renaissance obsession with the centrally planned church. The idea derives from Roman temples and appears in the drawings of Leonardo, Filarete, Francesco di Giorgio, Giulano da Sangallo and Bramante. Catherine King looks at the reasons why patrons and architects were attracted to this particular form and how the contemporary viewer would have reacted to it. Detailed photography of the golden travertine stone explores the architecture of Antonio da Sangallo the Elder.
Metadata describing this Open University video programme
Module code and title: A352, Art in Italy 1480-1580
Item code: A352; 03
First transmission date: 11-04-1979
Published: 1979
Rights Statement:
Restrictions on use:
Duration: 00:24:29
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Producers: Edward Hayward; Nick Levinson
Contributor: Catherine King
Publisher: BBC Open University
Keyword(s): Church architecture; Church of Madonna di San Biagio; Renaissance architecture
Footage description: Shots of drawings of ideas for centrally planned churches in Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks, over which Catherine King comments on the geometric notions behind such ideas. Shots of Pemgino's version of the Temple at Jerusalem. Over Raphael's sketch of Ptolemy and a drawing of Vitruvian man, King describes the acceptance of Vitruvius' ideas in Renaissance Italy. Shots of the Pantheon. King explains why the Pantheon was considered an ideal building. Shots of the southern Tuscan church of the Madonna di San Biagio of Montepulciano. Over a variety of views of the exterior of the church King explains why it was built and points out the centrally planned shape of the church. Shot of nearby conventional churches with which San Biagio is compared. Further views of the exterior of the church, over which King contrasts the architectural style of the campanile with the rest of the work. Drawing of the columns of the Roman Basilica Aemilia by Giuliano da Sangallo over which King explains how the forms of classical architecture derived from wooden temples. Various views of San Biagio over which King comments on various classical elements in the exterior of the church. Various shots of the church's exterior that indicate the persistence of traditional architectural forms. Guliano's drawings of San Lorenzo in Florence are shown to illustrate the retention of medieval forms. The exterior of San Biagio is surveyed with King commenting on the use of various styles and on the way Sangallo solved a number of architectural difficulties. An animated diagram is used to show the plan of San Biagio. King considers the practicality of the design. Plan of a similar church at Todi. Leonardo's drawings of a church similar to that at Todi are shown. Shots of the Todi church, which is compared with Leonardo's ideal. More shots of San Biagio, exterior then interior. King comments on various aspects of the church's interior design. She is enthusiastic about the church.
Production number: FOUA032T
Videofinder number: 822
Available to public: no