Chiostro del Bramante
The Chiostro del Bramante is an extraordinary example of Renaissance architecture. It was designed by Donato Bramante (1444-1515), who after the fall of Ludovico Sforza had moved from Milan to Rome, to become the leading architect of Pope Julius II and a great rival of Michelangelo.
The Chiostro, or cloister, is part of a building complex which also includes the adjacent church of Santa Maria della Pace, housing Raphael's famous Sybils.
It was commissioned by Cardinal Oliviero Carafa around the year 1500, as is attested by the dedicatory inscription skirting the entire perimeter of the building and by the sculpted coats of arms – crowned by that of the cardinal – decorating the columns on the ground and first floors.
The Chiostro is an elegantly linear and rigorous building whose compositional elements reflect the principles of harmony and balance.
As was typically the case in the Renaissance, the building was inspired by Classical architecture, which Bramante radically reaffirmed by avoiding the insertion of decorative features, simply drawing upon the sheer power of structural elements.
In this respect, Bramante was making a break with his work in Milan, which still showed influences from the earlier Gothic architecture that was particularly popular in northern Europe.
Built on a square plan, the Chiostro comprises two superimposed orders: the first is a spacious portico with four arches on each side, featuring Ionic columns (pilasters) with capitals and bases and a vaulted ceiling; the second, an upper open gallery in a composite style, with alternating Corinthian pilasters and columns supporting an architrave and a flat roof.
The atmosphere and light and shadow effects created by these beautiful Classical structures convey a warm feeling of harmony, thanks to Bramante's skill in combining stylistically different features with absolute naturalness so as to form a perfectly integrated whole. This is most evident in his superimposition of an architrave order to an order of arches, with the small columns of the upper order centrally aligned to the arches below, the arches on the ground floor regularly arranged, a combination of Ionic, Corinthian and composite columns, and upper pilasters matching the composite pillars above.
The common rooms were situated on the ground floor and the living quarters on the first floor. These areas now host cultural events.
At the base of each pillar of the open gallery are seats once used by the monks and now by the public as places to sit and read, converse or relax.
The walls of the portico on the ground floor are adorned by late 15th-century funerary monuments. Almost all the lunettes here feature delicate frescoes with episodes from the Virgin’s life.