Classical architecture [8th century BC – 6th century AD] In its classical form, the frontispiece of a building is commonly used to describe the ‘gable surmounting the façade of an ancient temple in classical architecture’ which is now often known as a pediment and used as ornaments to the entrance of a building. During this era, frontispieces were used to describe ornaments on the principle face of the building and were predominantly used above large columns in the entrance, making up a large part of the façade of the building. quarrelling for Athens and
Attica. in Rome features
superimposed orders, where successive storeys of the building have different variations of columns. This style of façades was developed in ancient Greece and Rome and later used in the Renaissance era architecture. In
Greek architecture, frontispieces can refer to both large ornamentation on the triangular tops of buildings as well as smaller frontispieces. Larger frontispieces found on the front façades of sacred buildings often depicted
mythological gods or important figures in history depending on the purpose, and
patronage, of the building. Built in 447BC, the ionic pediments of the Parthenon primarily featured
Greek mythology and lore surrounding the Greek goddess,
Athena, who was the patron of the Ancient city of Athens and the Parthenon.
Classical elements such as
superimposed orders, which refers to the architectural system of using different styles of columns for each storey of a building, was introduced and often used for decorative functions in classical architecture. Built in 70AD, the Colosseum featured an arrangement of
orders on a classical frontispiece of several
storeys, set one above the other with each storey corresponding to a particular
architectural order.
Romanesque architecture [6th–11th century AD] in the
Medici Chapel (originally sculpted by
Michelangelo) features smaller, more ornamental frontispieces with a segmental, curved pediment on either side of the
coupled columns. The move from the typical triangular pediments to segmental, curved pediments is seen in the carvings on the imperial sarcophagi in
Rome which depicts the architecture of the era.
Romanesque architecture also popularised the use of smaller, ornamental frontispieces surrounding windows. Many well-preserved examples of Roman influenced frontispieces can be found in
Provence,
France due to the use of ‘fine quality building stone’ while others constructed with a decorative veneer were quickly lost. saw the introduction and proliferation of classical elements, which included the frequent usage of large columns and pediments. In the late 1520s to early 1530s, there was a revival of the heavy use of dense classical ornaments on the frontispieces which can be seen on the facade of
Hengrave Hall, Suffolk, England built in 1538, featured on the façade of the hall entrance to
Richard Weston’s
Sutton Place, Surrey, built in 1533. showcases rejuvenation of
classical antiquities such as the use of
superimposed orders, classical Roman
triumphal arches and prominent use of
columns. |323x323px In the mid-16th century, the building of
Old Somerset House was considered one of "the first deliberate attempts to build, in
England, a front composed altogether in the classical taste" and was "unquestionably one of the most influential buildings of the
English Renaissance." The three-storey frontispiece prominently placed at the centre of the façade of the Old Somerset House comprised a gateway in the form of a
triumphal arch with superimposed orders and columns flanking windows the structure of which can be traced back to the arch in
Castel Nuovo, Naples, borrowing the triumphal arch motif from
Roman antiquity. In contrast to the predominantly decorative functions of frontispieces in the Classical Era, the sixteenth century also brought the introduction of the first classical
portico to England It was noted by Richard John Riddell, who analysed
entrance-
porticos in English Renaissance architecture, that the most impressive and architecturally sophisticated frontispieces were often set against houses 'by men who enjoyed or aspired to preferment and high office, with the immense political power and social prestige, and by academics who wished to give permanent expression to the distinction of their college and university'. This is seen in
Palácio do Freixo designed by
Nicolò Nasoni, who was heavily influenced by the
baroque architecture. Another known example of this is seen in
Andrea Palladio’s
Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, in Venice which features an unusual broken pediment as it is the result of superimposing two temple fronts.
Neoclassical architecture [mid-18th – early 19th century AD] In the late 18th century to the 19th century,
neoclassical frontispieces were often described as ‘a portion of the façade of a building, that is slightly raised from the rest of the building’ using engaged columns with lighter ornamentation. and popularised in the late 1980s in
London and
New York with buildings combining clean lines and architectural profiles usually tied to iconic
geometry. encapsulating
Taoist and
Buddhist ideologies of accepting nature and ‘favouring the imperfect and incomplete in everything’. ==References==