Sebastiano Serlio (1475-1554) was a relevant Italian architect and painter for having been the one who brought the Roman style to France after Francis I commissioned the construction of the Palace of Fontainebleau.
Serlio was called to be part of the group of architects who would be in charge of the construction, being very taken into account when applying the style of his nation of origin.
Serlio's influence on the architectural movement did not end there. His writings were a very important contribution among the architects of the time. In addition, he was the first person to publish about arches in buildings, which is why one of these elements was named in his honor as the Serlian arch.
Source: Bartolomeo Passerotti (1529-1592), via Wikimedia Commons.
He published works in which he discussed basic aspects of architecture and delved into details about the perspective and geometry of buildings. His works were published in Italy, but did not take long to reach other nations, especially France.
Serlio's books had a great impact among architects of the time because they featured many images of works that had not been previously seen. It also served to disseminate details about the architecture of Rome.
Biography
Sebastiano Serlio was born in Italy, in the city of Bologna, in the 15th century. Art was always present in his life since his father, Bartolomeo Serlio, was also a painter, although not widely recognized by his contemporaries.
Serlio's first steps in the art world came when he moved to Rome and witnessed the works being carried out to rebuild the Cathedral of Saint Paul.
One of the first jobs Serlio did was to copy all the plans and drawings he got from the most important artists of the moment. Works by Rafael, Peruzzi or Bramante could study and replicate them on paper, which allowed him to have a large archive of drawings of Roman art of the time. He also paid special attention to studying the ruins of Roman temples.
Its importance lay in the works it published. He was a very important influence for a large number of architects. In 1537 he brought to light five basic treatises on architecture in which he delved into different elements such as geometric figures, forms of construction and spoke of several important works.
With that book, he became the most influential author of the time by expressing the theoretical concepts of this branch of study. His treatises were copied by many other authors, such as Giacomo Barozzi, better known as Vignola, or the Italian Andrea Palladio.
His style
He was not a very pompous architect or given to ornate ornaments in his works. Rather, he was an artist who reasoned a lot about his constructions. Serlio always tried to work keeping in mind that his buildings had to fulfill a function. He took into account the context in which the construction was located.
Although he was very influential in France through his treatises, his works did not fit very well with the architecture of the country. It did not use much ornamentation and what was considered an elegant construction in Rome was not the same in France, where they were more given to decorations and overloaded elements on the facades.
Best known works
On an architectural level, Serlio was part of the group of artists who worked in the Palace of Fontainebleau in France. Also in France the castle of Ancy-le-Franc was erected in the middle of the 16th century. Serlio was in charge of the design and began construction work, but died a year before completion. Pierre Lescot was commissioned to complete the building.
Other castles such as Roussillon and Troissereux were also part of his legacy on French soil. He lived for a time in Venice and Rome, but without a doubt his greatest influence was in France.
His most important contribution to architecture was the book in which he captured five basic treatises on architecture. In his publication he managed to capture a large number of notes, illustrations and situations about the constructions of the moment.
For a couple of centuries his treatises were the most important at the theoretical level in the branch of architecture. The work had several editions over the years and the same drawings were not always presented.
Despite the success of his writings, Serlio did not receive major financial rewards for them. The treatises were published in different volumes. While Serlio lived, he witnessed how five books were released. After his death the work was completed with two more books.
Importance of your work
The relevance of Serlio lay in the influence it generated on other architects of the time and on those who were able to enjoy a copy of his publications. Serlio helped the artistic movement of the Romans to reach France, a country in which the Italian had a greater impact.
Serlio innovated with his treatises by presenting drawings that served to support the concepts he presented on its pages. The way in which he presented his writings was also innovative since he did not focus only on the practical approach or on the theoretical part, but rather that he united both.
His treatises allowed the works of other artists to also be widely disseminated throughout Europe.
One of his most important contributions was that his simple way of presenting his notes served so that his treatises could be accessible to all people. It then allowed architecture to be an artistic movement closer to the communities.
Impact on the world
Despite being originally from Italy, Serlio had a greater impact in other European countries such as the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Spain and France. In those nations he was one of the most important representatives of the Renaissance period.
His work The Five Books of Architecture was translated into different languages. In the middle of the 16th century it was published in Spanish, in the early 17th century it reached the United Kingdom and was translated into Dutch.
Authors such as the Spanish Juan de Ayala, or the English Christopher Wren and Robert Woods were recognized followers of Serlio's ideas.
References
- Beudert, Peter, and Susan Crabtree. Scenic Art For The Theater, 2nd Edition. Focal Press, 2004.
- Cable, Carole. Sebastiano Serlio, Architect. Vance Bibliographies, 1980.
- Frommel, Sabine, and Peter Spring. Sebastiano Serlio Architect. Electa Architecture, 2003.
- Serlio, Sebastiano. Sebastiano Serlio On Arch. 2nd ed., Yale University Pres, 1996.
- Serlio, Sebastiano, and Myra Nan Rosenfeld. Sebastiano Serlio On Domestic Architecture. Architectural History Foundation, 1978.