Vitruvius (first century A.D.), a Roman engineer who admired the Ancient Greeks but failed to appreciate the building talents of his peers, is the author of a text that was to become the construction bible of the Renaissance. He gave the first account of architectural acoustics and explained that sound is caused by the vibration of air. Vitruvius, who also theorized on astronomy and waterwheels, wrote: The architect “must be educated, skillful with the pencil, instructed in geometry, know much history, have followed the philosophers with attention, understand music, have knowledge of medicine, know the opinion of the jurist, and be acquainted with astronomy and the theory of the heavens.” A tall order!
Roman scientists also took their cues from the Greeks. The astronomer Ptolemy (second century A.D.) drew maps of various countries presented in his Geographica and charted over 1,000 stars in his Almagest (Al Majisti as the Arabs respectfully named it). Their given positions would go unquestioned until late in the Renaissance.
Naval Games, Serge Strosberg, 1998
The Romans built an aqueduct to supply a large artificial lake for mock naval battles. They flooded amphitheaters such as the Colosseum. Its circular, richly decorated structure—each story designed according to one of the Greek orders—admitted and disgorged audiences through miles of interior stairways leading to seats around the arena.
Galen (second century A.D.), a famous Greek physician, was particularly interested in art and made reference to the canon of human proportions developed by the sculptor Polykleitos: “Beauty arises not in the commensurability of the elements, but in that of the parts, such as the finger to the finger, and of all the fingers to the palm and the wrist, and of these to the forearm, and of the forearm to the upper arm, and in fact from everything to everything else.”
From his dissections of monkeys and pigs, Galen extrapolated information on human anatomy that remained unchallenged until findings based on the dissection of human corpses were published over 1,000 years later. The Romans did a fine job of disseminating knowledge passed down from the Ancient Greeks, but they adopted their content without using the Greeks’ methodology. Despite their many achievements, the Romans are remembered as craftsmen and experts in technology. Their culture never attained the brilliance of the Ancient Greeks and Italians of the Renaissance who cultivated art and science with equal zeal.
Copy of a page of a botanical treatise, tenth century
Discorides, a physician of Greek origin who served in Nero’s army, described several hundred plants and their medicinal virtues. His work would be much discussed by Arab scholars.
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna
Model of a hospital for Roman troops
Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn
Faith transcending architectural logic
As the power of Rome declined, the pursuit of most forms of knowledge ground to a halt. Architecture, however, advanced as the rituals of the Christian Church required large gathering spaces. The emphasis was on the interior space, spiritually and architecturally. In Constantinople, which became the Christian capital, Hagia Sophia (sixth century) rose even higher than the Pantheon in Rome, yet it seemed weightless inside. Its construction was a brilliant feat, since the techniques of building with concrete had been lost.
An immense celestial sphere was tiled with scintillating mosaics which astounded visitors: “Without external sunshine … the rays of the sun emerged from inside.” The challenge of placing this dome over the world’s largest square building was entrusted to Anthemius of Tralles, a well-known author of treatises on geometry. Like the scientist-astronomer, Imhotep, Anthemius created a watershed in the history of architecture.
Interior of the Pantheon in Rome, Giovanni Paolo Pannini, c. 1734
The Pantheon in Rome, which served as an astronomical observatory, became the primary model for Christian and Islamic architecture. The construction was made by use of stacked concrete compartments, which permitted drying of huge volumes of material needed to sustain the ceiling; lighter material was used near the circular opening at the top. In the Paris Panthéon, built in the eighteenth century on the Roman model, Léon Foucault gave the first material demonstration of the rotation of the earth.
Oil on canvas, 503⁄8 × 39 in. (128 × 99 cm)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.24
Plan of the monastery of St. Gall, c. 825
This detailed medieval architectural drawing was made for a large beer-producing monastery which was never built. Monks were active as copyists, book illustrators and binders, experimenters in oil, enamel, glass and ceramics. Silk and carpet weaving and metal-casting were other monastery industries.
Red ink on parchment
Stiftsbibliothek Sankt Gallen, Switzerland; Cod. San. 1092
During the ninth century, Charlemagne’s taste for Roman splendor led to the development of the Romanesque style. Across his western empire, he blended the refinement of the Byzantine church with the architectural logic of Antiquity into a hybrid form that combined Roman arches and Greek columns.
Characterized by impressive masonry, Romanesque constructions rose up along pilgrimage roads between the ninth and twelfth centuries. Monasteries ran prosperous craft workshops and were successful in livestock-breeding, farming and forestry. Technical progress resulted in improved productivity. The horse collar made traction easier (placing the strain on the shoulders instead of the neck), and a more sophisticated plough lightened the farmer’s burden. During this agricultural transformation, 5,000 watermills were listed in the Domesday Book—an unprecedented large-scale census conducted in 1086 in England, at the request of William the Conqueror.
Romanesque style
Gothic style
Comparison of Romanesque and Gothic nave elevations, Mikiko Noguchi
The pointed arch, vaulted nave and flying buttress enabled architects to realize their boldest visions. It is said that between 1170 and 1270, a quarter of the gross national product was spent in labor and material for some eighty Gothic cathedrals in France.
In France, the Cistercians were one of the most technologically advanced religious communities. At Cluny, the Benedictine order was the cultural as well as the economic leader. At the height of its power, several hundred monasteries across Europe belonged to Cluny’s network.
One of Cluny’s anonymous architects believed that the visual arts revealed a link between music and the harmony of the universe. Liturgical music developed along with architecture. Monastic building also reflected the ongoing rediscovery of art and science.
Characterized by multiple arches and crowded polychromic sculpture, architecture often followed geometrical patterns. Audacious experimentation was taking place. In medieval buildings, the weight of the stone vault rested directly on the supporting lateral walls, thus limiting ceiling height and wall openings. Attempts were made to