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St. Peter's Basilica Essay

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St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome along with the churches of San Lorenzo and Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, all have their own stories that tell much about political power, artistic taste, and sources of patronage in Renaissance Italy. They all share some similarities but there are also quite a few differences that affected the construction of these three well-known churches. St. Peter’s Basilica was a lengthy project that underwent many changes including who commissioned it, the architect, and the actual construction of the building. It was Pope Julius II who decided a new St. Peter’s needed to be built in 1506. He hired Bramante to come up with the floor plan and construction idea. Bramante came up with a fairly modest design, which was in the shape of a Greek Cross. In 1513, Leo X took over and hired Raphael to continue on with Bramante’s plans, and in 1546 Paul III was …show more content…

After awhile, Giotto took over the construction to bring it to realization in 1334 and then Brunelleschi in 1420. After studying the construction of the Pantheon Brunelleschi was able to come up with a way to get the massive dome on top of Santa Maria del Fiore. The church was in the shape of a cross just like the other two churches previously mentioned, but it was of the Gothic style. Gothic style meant that the cathedral rose high above other structures within the city, contained pointed arches, and the floor plan was in the shape of a Latin Cross usually. The inside of the church was not made very colorful and decorations were kept to a bare minimum. The church was plan and unlike other churches built during this time period, there were not individual chapels within it for families and such because it was meant to belong to the entire city not private families. Santa Maria del Fiore was built to beautify the city, thank God for their blessings, and to show civic

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