Library: Art History by Credo Reference: Early

Famous Structures

Canterbury Cathedral: Topic Page
Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, England. The finest work of four centuries of medieval English architecture, from Norman to Perpendicular, is represented in the building.
Hagia Sophia: Topic Page
Originally a Christian church at Constantinople (now Istanbul), later a mosque, and now converted into a museum.
Hampton Court Palace: Topic Page
Former royal residence near Richmond, England, 24 km/15 mi west of central London. Hampton Court is one of the greatest historical monuments in the UK.
Hereford Cathedral: Topic Page
Cathedral in the city of Hereford, Herefordshire, England. Founded not later than 680 by its first bishop, Putta, it was destroyed in 1055 by the Welsh, and rebuilt late in the 11th century.
Salisbury Cathedral: Topic Page
Cathedral in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. With the exception of its crowning tower and spire, it is a building of uniform Early English design, built to one plan between 1220 and 1258 (unlike any other English cathedral except Exeter).
Sistine Chapel: Topic Page
Private chapel of the popes in Rome, one of the principal glories of the Vatican. Built (1473) under Pope Sixtus IV, it is famous for its decorations.
Taj Mahal: Topic Page
It is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and the finest example of the late style of Indian Islamic architecture.
Tower of London: Topic Page
A palace-fortress started by William I as a wooden fortification in 1067 and replaced by him with one in stone (c.1077–97).
Westminster Abbey: Topic Page
A Gothic church in London: site of a Benedictine monastery (1050-65); scene of the coronations of almost all English monarchs since William I.
Windsor Castle: Topic Page
British royal residence in Windsor, founded by William the Conqueror on the site of an earlier fortress.
York Minster: Topic Page
Cathedral in York, England. It is the cathedral and metropolitan church of St Peter, and one of the most famous of Europe's Gothic buildings.
Pantheon (Rome, Italy): Topic Page
Constructed during the reign of the emperor Hadrian between 118 and 125 ce in the Campus Martius district of ancient Rome, the imposing Pantheon still dominates its surroundings today.
Cathédrale de Chartres: Topic Page
The Cathedral of Chartres, dedicated to the Virgin Mary (Notre Dame) and situated approximately 80 kilometers from Paris, is one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in France and a popular place of pilgrimage due to the presence of the Sancta Camisa, a tunic said to have belonged to the Virgin Mary and given to the church in 876.

Architects

Leon Battista Alberti (1404 - 1472): Topic Page
Alberti seems to have turned to architecture in the 1440s. His treatise De Re Aedificatoria (On Architecture) was substantially complete in 1452.
Giovanni Bernini (1598 - 1680): Topic Page
Italian sculptor and architect, b. Naples. He was the dominant figure of the Italian baroque.
Francesco Borromini (1599 - 1667): Topic Page
Borromini broke with the past by a combination of fearless invention and respect for geometrical form and structural principles: it is precisely these characteristics that his work shares with the Gothic buildings it sometimes seems to imitate.
Donato Bramante (1444 - 1514): Topic Page
Italian Renaissance architect and painter, b. near Urbino. His buildings in Rome are considered the most characteristic examples of High Renaissance style.
Filippo Brunelleschi (1377 - 1446): Topic Page
The Florentine artist Filippo Brunelleschi was architect, engineer, and sculptor.
Charles Bulfinch (1763 - 1844): Topic Page
American architect whose major works include the Massachusetts State House in Boston (1798) and the completion of the U.S. Capitol (1830).
Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661 - 1736): Topic Page
English architect. Hawksmoor spent much of his career as an assistant to his two most illustrious contemporaries, Sir Christopher Wren and Sir John Vanbrugh.
François Mansart (1598 - 1667): Topic Page
In many ways the French architect François Mansart followed the French classical style created by Salomon de Brosse (1571 - 1626).
Balthasar Neumann (1687 - 1753): Topic Page
Balthasar Neumann was one of the two leading German architects of the 18th century, the other being J.M. Fischer.
Andrea Palladio (1508 - 1580): Topic Page
Italian architect who revived and developed classical architecture, especially the ancient Roman ideals of symmetrical planning and harmonic proportions.
Giorgio Vasari (1511 - 1574): Topic Page
Italian art historian, architect, and painter. His most important architectural work was the Uffizi Palace, Florence (now an art gallery).
Sir Christopher Wren (1632 - 1723): Topic Page
Sir Christopher Wren was England's greatest Baroque architect. As an architect of European stature, Wren exerted an enormous influence over late-17th- and early-18th-century British architecture.

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