Italian Architecture from Michelangelo to Borromini

This new survey will alter conventional understanding of the development of Italian architecture from 1520 to 1630. Traditionally the High Renaissance ends with Michelangelo, Baroque begins with Borromini and Bernini and in between sits Mannerism, a style invented in the twentieth century and never clearly defined. Scholar Andrew Hopkins argues that this was a century of much experiment and bold initiatives, which marked a turning point in European architecture. The use of the term “Mannerism” is too simplistic and inadequate to describe the great variety of ideas tried out in response to the changing demands of function, patronage, politics and...