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The Palazzo Ruccelai was one of the first works by Leon Battista Alberti. He
was an Italian architect, architectural theorist, and universal genius. Albert
was the most important early Renaissance architect after Filippo Brunelleschi (Gympel,
44). The Palazzo originated in Florence. The monumental private building is
derived from palatium.
This Latin word comes from the Roman hill which Emperor
Augustus and his successors lived. During the 13th and 14th centuries, many of
Italian towns were destroyed during the power struggles. This explains why the
exterior of the Early Renaissance palaces were dark, defensive, raw and
uninvited (Gympel, 44).
Construction on the Palazzo Ruccelai began somewhere
between 1455 and 1460. Leon Batista Alberti designed the original Palace to have
five bays, the center being where the door was located. Later on, two more bays
were added by someone else (class notes 1/19/00). There are three stories on
this building.
Each story is equal in height and rustication is uniform. This
evenness is what gives the Renaissance its name. Most buildings made at this
time have similar attributes. Each story has its own column capital to it. The
ground floor has the Tucson order, the middle floor has Alberti's own design,
and the top floor has the Corinthian order.
I thought in Leon Battista Alberti's
treaty, The Ten Books of Architecture, I would find out what each of the column
capitals meant to him, but all I could find is dimension requirements for each
order. The Colosseum has similarities with the Palazzo Ruccelai also. I believe
some of Alberti's ideas came from at least the columns. It has a similar
placement of the columns.
They both have the Tucson order on the ground story,
and the Corinthian on the top story. Where the Palazzo Ruccelai has the
composite though, the Colosseum has the Ionic (Kostof 207). I wish I could find
what was on the inside of this building. This could have some importance in the
placement of the columns, but I came up empty.
The exterior gives no
consideration to what is inside the Palazzo Ruccelai. Each window is the same,
except for the two over the doors, which I could only think are used to
emphasize the entry into the Palazzo. The Palazzo Ruccelai is a building that
can continue to grow, as it has. It started with the original five bays, and two
and a half more were added.
If there was enough space, even more could be added.
The last bay not being completed gives some indication of how this building can
continue to grow. The Palazzo Ruccelai is a very simply building. Everything is
equal. Measurements would be simple because everything is similar in design and
dimension. I wish there was more information on the Palazzo Ruccelai. I believe
this is a very interesting building. Even though the last bay is incomplete, I
believe it gives it a very unique quality.
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