Donato Bramante

Bramante, Donato (1444-1514)

Bramante, Donato (1444-1514), is one of the leading architect of the High Renaissance in Italy.
He was often ranked with Michelangelo and Raphael as one of those who represented the full flowering of the Renaissance of Italy.

Born in Monte Andruvaldo, near Urbino as Donato d'Angelo, Bramante was trained as a painter. His architectural career began in Milan, where he settled in 1482. In his design for the Church of Santa Maria presso Santo Satiro (1488), he used false perspective in the painted apse to create a feeling of depth- the first time this device had been used in architecture.

Bramante left Milan in 1499 and settled in Rome, where, until the end of his life, he was
employed almost exclusively by Pope Julius II. Here, under the influence of classical antiquity, his style became more monumental and less ornamented. His two greatest projects, which he did not complete, were his plans for the rebuilding of Saint Peter's Church and the Vatican Palace. Bramante stands with Michelangelo and Raphael among the artistic giants of this period in Italy. Successfully fusing the ideals of classical antiquity with those of Christian inspiration, his sculptural, expressive grandeur paved the way for the more elaborate baroque architecture of the next century.

Bramante's main influence was perhaps in the classical ideas and the Renaissance principal of unity that he passed on to the many pupils he had taught in Rome.

Below here are some of Bramante's famous works. Read about them. Click on the links to see the picture.

The SM della Consolazione
The S. Maria della Consolazione, begun construction under the supervision of Cola da Caprarola, is a pilgrimage church of unclear authorship; it seems to be related to Bramante's S. Peter's, begun two years before, and also recalls Leonardo's 'ideal' church designs. The geometrically composed centrally-planned building is perhaps the most perfect and uncompromising example of its theoretically desirable type. A square crossing surmounted by a dome is abutted by four semi-domed apses, the one containing the altar being semicircular, the other three polygonal. The interior unusually
combines double storeys of pilasters with a giant order at the crossing."

S Pietro in Montorio Tempietto
Montorio, Rome
1502
Through this small and centrally planned church, Bramante expresses a sense of grandeur and elegant balance which moves the Renaissance into a new and high phase. The Tempietto is a martyrium. It stands gracefully and forcefully in the center of the cloister of S. Pietro in Montorio, supposedly on the spot where Saint Peter was crucified. Isolated on a high platform, it consists of a central cylinder crowned by a hemispherical dome. A revolving peristyle of Doric columns supports a frieze with alternating metopes and triglyphs. Bramante's model for the Tempietto, his first building
in Rome, was probably the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli.

S. Maria delle Grazie
[Picture 1] [Picture 2]
Originally constructed in austere Gothic style in 1490, the church and its adjoining convent are now a symbol of the glory of Renaissance Milan. Ludovico il Moro, in his quest to turn Milan into a beautiful rival of Florence,directed the architect Bramante to reconstruct the apse and lantern of his favourite church, St. Mary of Grace. Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned to paint the frescos - the most famous being the Cenacolo or
Last Supper, which graces the far wall of the adjacent Dominican dining hall.

A Cathedral by Bramante

The details of the Cortile del Belvedere arcading

Find out about other Architects of the Renaissance period.

Michelangelo Palladio Bramante Brunelleschi

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