The High Renaissance, Bramante

The drum and balustrade, which is not traditionally used in a tholoi from which this is based, add a modernist twist, making the whole building more harmonious. Unlike his contemporary Leonardo who designed a dome in the essence of Brunelleschi’s Florence dome, Bramante proposed a single larger cross with a slightly pointed dome. Murray argues pertinently that the centralized plan was not indicative of paganism as often assumed because early Roman basilicas were often round. Consequently, his designs do not follow the strict rules of classicism. Bramante creates a modernist building from classical ideals. Again, like the theoretical design for the Milan Cathedral Bramante expressed modernist and Christian ideals in his design through a scientific inquiry into form. Whilst his designs show influence from Brunelleschi, Alberti and Classical antiquity , in his article, Murray explores how Bramante designs were arguably influenced by Leonardo’s ideas of Modernism. Architecture to Leonardo was just one of his many pursuits, it took Bramante to interpret and develop these ideas to become one of the most influential architects of his time. Bramante used this scientific rational in his Architecture whilst also applying aesthetics from different parts of history to create an architecture that celebrated modernist ideals of the understanding of Nature through scientific inquiry, Humanism and Christianity. Indeed Bruschi argues, that the inter-dependence of strength and conformity expresses “a humanistic faith in the unity of the real . Arguably the understanding of nature through scientific inquiry, Classacisn and Christianity are celebrated in his design. By the time of the High Renaissance the expression of Humanistic and Christian ideals are clearly displayed in many Artists work of the time and in fact go beyond the original intents of Humanism and Christianity to develop a philosophy and style that is unique to the Renaissance. The dome drum and base sit neatly and relative to one another.