Bramante and Raphael at the Vatican: A loggia for Pope Julius
During the year 1505 Donato Bramante began work on three major commissions at the Vatican for Pope Julius II: a new St. Peter's church, a cortile to the papal villa and the modernization of the palace. A powerful pope needed a suitable backdrop to display his masterly leadership of the christian res publica. Basic to that aim was the need to give the tomb of St. Peter a notable church, so the architect proposed a central form with a massive dome. To retain a connection with Constantinian origins, the old nave would be retained as the entry into the new domed church. A double road, the cortile, would connect the palace with the villa while also providing parks in front of both structures. The east side of the cortile would be a battered defensive wall, but the inner construction would be three levels of open loggias. These would continue south to become a facade for the palace. Then they would extend as a facade for the Cortile of the Swiss and for the atrium of the church. The basic structure would be a series of square bays on piers and pilasters joined by arches, supporting domes, Bramante's breakthrough design for combining gothic statics with Roman vaults. His project was continued by Raphael and marked a successful advance in a new architectural technology which flowered in the next century.
Art History, History, General, Architecture
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign