FREE ESSAY ON TEMPIETTO (BRAMANTE)

TEMPIETTO (BRAMANTE)

Tempietto
The Tempietto, or little chapel in Italian, was designed by Donato Bramante, who is
considered to be one of the greatest architects of the Renaissance. The Tempietto itself
is located in the courtyard of San Pietro in Montorio in Rome and was built in 1502. King
Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain ruled parts of southern Italy at this time and
commissioned Bramante to erect this monument. However, they most likely never realized
that it would become a symbol of the Renaissance.
The Tempietto was built to commemorate St. Peter's crucifixion and is believed to be the
site where St. Peter died. As a result, many Christians not only consider this a sacred
site because it is a place of worship, but also because of St. Peter's martyrdom.
Artistically, the small chapel is regarded as one of the first and finest examples of
architecture of the High Renaissance because of characteristics such as simplicity,
harmony, symmetry and classical antiquity found throughout the structure. The design of
this chapel was inspired by classical antique style temples, specifically Tivoli in Rome
and Sibyl in Vesta. Bramante is thought to have chosen a congruous and proportionate
style in the Tempietto because of his teacher Piero ella Francesca of Urbino who taught
him perfect harmony of all parts and fellow artist, Leonardo da Vinci, who was frequently
acquainted with Bramante in Milan and filled notebooks with sketches of the ideal church.

The Tempietto has a dominating circularity theme and was originally forty feet tall. The
exterior of the Tempietto is a colonnade of sixteen Doric columns which surround a small
cella, or enclosed interior sanctuary. The small chapel has two stories: the first story
in the center of the colonnade (the cella) and the second story directly above the first
which is surrounded by a circular balcony. Niches are cut out along the outside walls of
the second story which help emphasize the solidity and strength of the whole structure
because they provide a play of light and shadow on the walls. The original uppermost part
of the Tempietto was a semicircular dome. However, the dome now also has a crowning
ornament on top of it which was added at a later date and many critics object to this
intricate adornment because they believe it destroys the simplicity of the monument. The
Tempietto is also considered to be an imposing monument because it presents the effect of
alienation; it is elevated on a podium and separated by a small distance from the
surrounding environment. In Bramante's original designs, the Tempietto was to be
surrounded by a second colonnade and the chapel would be centralized and self-contained
in this colonnade. However, the colonnade was never erected for reasons unknown. 
The Tempietto today is thought to be very simple, harmonious and vital. The original
purpose of the Bramante's Tempietto was clearly religious because it is a chapel and the
site of St. Peter's death. However, nowadays the Tempietto is also noted for its
elegantly simple reinterpretation of classical forms and consequently is regarded as a
symbol of the great artistic time period, the Renaissance.
Bibliography
Millen, Ronald. Renaissance and Mannerist Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1968.
Murray, Peter. The Art of Renaissance. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1963.
Westpall, C.W. Bramante and his Roman Patrons.
http://viva.lib.virginia.edu/dic/colls/thumbs2www/arh102/html/nine/contact1.html