renovatio urbis: Architecture, Urbanism and Ceremony in the Rome of Julius II (The Classical Tradition in Architecture)

366 Pages·2011·9.8 MB·English

by  Nicholas Temple

renovatio urbis
This unique study brings together a range of investigations that provide a
coherent overview of the urban, architectural and artistic projects during the
Pontificate of Julius II (1503–13). As one of the most important and pro-
ductive periods in the history of European culture, Julius II’s ten-year papacy
witnessed an unprecedented campaign of ambitious projects by Bramante,
Raphael and Michelangelo, as well as the commissioning of important humanist
and theological works by such key figures as Giles of Viterbo and Tommaso
Inghirami.
Driven by a desire to transform the city from its decaying state of neglected
medieval buildings and ancient ruins, this book argues that the scope of the
projects during Julius II’s papacy were directly inspired by a common ambition;
namely to realize a golden age of human piety and intellectual/artistic
achievement that could rival past ages in Biblical history. Six chapters each
focus on a particular urban, architectural or artistic work. These are examined
in the context of humanist texts, inscriptions, numismatic sources, antiquarian
studies and sermons, highlighting how the transformations of Rome were
conceived as part of a larger vision.
Copiously illustrated with plans, maps, illustrations and photographs, this
book gives the reader both detailed studies of notable projects, such as St Peter’s
Basilica, the Cortile del Belvedere, via Giulia and the Stanza della Segnatura,
and an examination of their inter-relationships, drawing upon the theolog-
ical, political and philosophical concerns of the day. The book is of particular
interest to academics in the fields of Renaissance studies, art history, architectural
history/theory, urban design, philosophy and religious/pontifical studies.
Nicholas Temple is Professor of Architecture at the University of Lincoln,
having previously taught at the University of Liverpool, Nottingham University,
the University of Pennsylvania and Leeds Metropolitan University. A Rome
Scholar (1986–88), his previous publications include Disclosing Horizons:
Architecture, Perspective and Redemptive Space and co-editor of The Humanities
in Architectural Design (Routledge 2006 and 2010).
The Classical Tradition in Architecture
Series Editor: Caroline van Eck
Leiden University, Netherlands
Classical architecture not only provided a repertoire of forms and building
types capable of endless transformation; it was also a cultural actor and provided
cultural capital, and was used to create political and religious identities. This
series provides a forum for its interdisciplinary study, from antiquity to the
present day. It aims to publish first-class and groundbreaking scholarship that
re-examines, reinterprets or revalues the classical tradition in the widest sense.
The series will deal with classicism as a cultural phenomenon, a formal language
of design, but also with its role in establishing the agenda, method and grammar
of inquiry in Western history of art and architecture and recent reconsiderations
of these roles.
Power and Virtue
Architecture and Intellectual Change in England 1660–1730
Li Shiqiao
Landscapes of Taste
The Art of Humphry Repton’s Red Books
André Rogger
The Picturesque
Architecture, Disgust and Other Irregularities
John Macarthur
The Florentine Villa
Architecture History Society
Grazia Gobbi Sica
Architecture, Print Culture, and the Public Sphere in Eighteenth
Century France
Richard Wittman
Festival Architecture
Edited by Sarah Bonnemaison and Christine Macy
The City Rehearsed
Object, Architecture, and Print in the Worlds of Hans Vredeman de Vries
Christopher Heuer
François Blondel
Architecture, Erudition, and the Scientific Revolution
Anthony Gerbino
renovatio urbis
Architecture, Urbanism and Ceremony in the Rome of Julius II
Nicholas Temple
Julien-David LeRoy
Architecture and Revolution
Christopher Drew Armstrong
renovatio urbis
Architecture, urbanism
and ceremony in the
Rome of Julius II
Nicholas Temple
First published 2011
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.
© 2011 Nicholas Temple
The right of Nicholas Temple to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Temple, Nicholas.
Renovatio urbis: architecture, urbanism, and ceremony in the
Rome of Julius II/Nicholas Temple.
p. cm.—(The classical tradition in architecture)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. City planning—Italy—Rome—History—16th century.
2. Architecture, Renaissance—Italy—Rome. 3. Architecture and
society—Italy—Rome—History—16th century. 4. Symbolism in city
planning—Italy—Rome—History—16th century. 5. Symbolism in
architecture—Italy—Rome—History—16th century. 6. Bramante,
Donato, 1444?–1514—Criticism and interpretation. 7. Julius II,
Pope, 1443–1513—Art patronage. 8. Rome (Italy)—Buildings,
structures, etc. I. Title. II. Title: Architecture, urbanism, and
ceremony in the Rome of Julius II.
NA9204.R7T46 2011
711′.4094563209031—dc22 2010043555
ISBN 0-203-81848-2 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN: 978–0–415–47385–9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978–0–203–81848–0 (ebk)
Agli amici di Antognano,
Roma (Accademia Britannica) e Lincoln

Contents
List of figures ix
Figure credits xiv
Acknowledgements xv
Introduction 1
1 Signposting Peter and Paul 7
The Tiber’s sacred banks 7
Peripheral centres 9
“inter duas metas” 14
Papal rivalries 26
Chigi Chapel 28
2 Via Giulia and papal corporatism: the politics of order 34
The Julian lapide 34
Via Giulia 43
The legacy of Sixtus IV 47
Quartiere dei Banchi 52
Via Peregrinorum, Via Papalis and Via Recta 56
Solenne Possesso and Via Triumphalis 58
Papal corporatism 65
Pons Neronianus and Porta Triumphalis 74
Early Christian precedents 78
Meta Romuli and Serlio’s Scena Tragica 81
Crossing thresholds: Peter and Caesar 85
The papal ‘hieroglyph’ and the Festa di Agone 89
viii Contents
3 Palazzo dei Tribunali and the meaning of justice 94
sedes iustitiae 94
The four tribunals 97
The Capitol and Commune/Cardinal’s Palace 104
St Blaise and Justice 107
iustitia cosmica 116
Caesar and iustitia 120
Pax Romana 123
4 Cortile del Belvedere, Via della Lungara and
vita contemplativa 126
‘The beautiful view’ 126
via suburbana/via sanctus 151
Passage and salvation 159
5 St Peter’s Basilica: orientation and succession 162
Transformations from old to new 162
territorium triumphale 163
Sixtus IV and the Cappella del Coro 167
Julius II and Caesar’s ashes 184
Janus and Peter 189
Janus Quadrifrons 201
The Tegurium 207
6 The Stanza della Segnatura: a testimony to a Golden Age 214
Topographical and geographical connections 214
in facultatibus 215
Triune symbolism 220
Conversio 243
St Bonaventure and the Itinerarium Mentis in Deum 249
Justice and Poetry 251
Mapping the Golden Age 263
Conclusion: pons/facio: popes and bridges 264
The Julian ‘project’ 264
Pontifex Maximus 266
Corpus Mysticum 270
Raphael’s portrait 272
Notes 274
Bibliography 323
Index 341
Figures
1.1 Outline map of Rome 8
1.2 Outline map of Early Christian Rome 10
1.3 Schematic layout of the Lateran Complex (fourth century) 11
1.4 Raphael (school), Apparition of the Cross to Constantine (c.1520) 15
1.5 View of the Pyramid of Gaius Cestius, Rome 16
1.6 Giotto (1266–1336), The Crucifixion of St Peter 17
1.7 Antonio Averlino (Filarete) (1400–69), Crucifixion of St Peter 18
1.8 Schematic map of Rome 19
1.9 Donato Bramante (1444–1514), Tempietto of San Pietro in
Montorio (c.1502), Rome 21
1.10 Antonio Averlino (Filarete) (1400–69), Crucifixion of St Paul 22
1.11 Antonio Averlino (Filarete) (1400–69), detail of right-hand
bronze panel of the Crucifixion of St Peter 23
1.12 Antonio Tempesta (1555–1630), Map of Rome (1593) 25
1.13 Raphael (1483–1520), Chigi Chapel (begun c.1513), S. Maria
del Popolo, Rome 29
1.14 Raphael (1483–1520), Chigi Chapel (begun c.1513), S. Maria
del Popolo, Rome 31
2.1 View of the Julian lapide in Ponte rione, Rome (sixteenth
century) 35
2.2 Map of the western part of the Campo Marzio 37
2.3 Map of the Ponte rione 38
2.4 Arch of Titus, Roman Forum (first century AD) 39
2.5 Andrea Mantegna (1431–1506), Triumphs of Caesar (c.1486–94) 40
2.6 View of the Canale di Ponte 42
2.7 Plan of the area around Palazzo della Cancelleria/San Lorenzo
in Damaso and Campo dei Fiori 43
2.8 View of Via Giulia today looking south from San Giovanni dei
Fiorentini 44
2.9 Schematic map of Rome indicating principal urban and
architectural developments under Julius II 46