Let’s forget about ice storms and head to the Roman Campagna, the hills to the northeast of Rome, where at the base of the mountains that rise up to Tivoli lies the ancient ruins of Hadrian’s Villa. I also realized it had been a long time since I had added to the Architectural History category,…
Category: Architectural History
Posts of Historically significant buildings and concepts
Spolia from the Imperial Fora
Acanthus leaves, rosettes, volutes, ogees, egg and darts, dentilated cornices: they all started back in the ancient world. This chunk of marble from the imperial Roman fora has been copied directly and indirectly thousands of times around St. Louis.
Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius
The Saint Louis Art Museum’s Sculpture Hall is influenced by the Baths of Caracalla, but it’s also inspired by the Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius, which is one of my favorite buildings in the Roman Forum. It is mostly collapsed from earthquakes, but still never fails to impress me when I see it.
Basilica of San Lorenzo Maggiore
The Basilica of Great Saint Lawrence is one of the most important churches in the world you’ve never heard of. It sits across what is now a plaza, but was once crowded with houses, from the Colonnade of St. Lawrence. It was once surrounded by houses and even a river and port on the other…
Colonnade of San Lorenzo, Milan
Urban renewal happens in Europe, as well, and the Colonnade of St. Lawrence is a perfect example of that. As the ancient world transitioned into the Early Christian, an old temple or bath house was torn down, and this colonnade was constructed with its Corinthian columns along the main street leading to the Ticino Gate….
Santa Maria presso San Satiro, Milan
Milan is a very crowded city, with very little space. So when it came time to build a new church, St. Mary Near (or as I translate presso, up against) St. Satirus, the architects needed to be creative. St. Satirus was the brother of St. Ambrose, the archbishop of Milan. In this photo by photographer…
The Basilica and Postern Gate of Saint Ambrose, Milan
Update: See a church in St. Louis based off architecture such as St. Ambrose’s. Here is the church of St. Ambrose in St. Louis. Located on the southwestern edge of the historic core of Milan, the Basilica of Saint Ambrose has foundations that go back to one of the Four Doctors of the Roman Catholic…
Sant’Andrea Delle Fratte, Rome
One of my favorite architects is Francesco Borromini, and when I was in Rome, I sought out the church of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte, famous for the architect’s designs for the campanile and tambour over the crossing. Try as I might, I realized that the urban fabric of the city around the church was far too…
Santo Stefano, Bologna, Italy
I had the opportunity to visit a truly spectacular religious and historic site in Bologna the last time I was in Italy, the Complex of St. Stephen, which is a series of seven churches meant to be a recreation of the churches of Jerusalem, with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre being the most prominent….
Baths of Caracalla
Read enough about St. Louis or American architecture in general, and eventually someone will make an offhand reference to a building being based off of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome. But what were the actual Baths, or Thermae, of Caracalla? They were begun by the Emperor Septimius Severus (thus some old maps called the…