Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance began throughout 1400 and ended around 1600. During this time, many great artists, inventions, and the like came about such as the printing press. The Renaissance was known for the "rebirth" that began in Florence, Italy. There was a shift from a religious to a secular emphasis that was based on humanity. The Roman Catholic Church had also become very powerful; this demonstrated corruption and misconduct. Martin Luther was a great figure at the time. He created reforms within the church to rebel against what was happening with the misconduct and corruption.

Throughout this era, Residential design became extremely popular. Comfort, convenience, and beauty became very important. This differed from the past when everybody was primarily focused on safety, strength, and protection. The furniture and interiors had elaborate turnings for structural support and ornamentation. Fresco's demonstrated an expansion of space. Paneling was used along furniture and surfaces as well. The interiors showed off their decorative moldings on doors and door frames. They had elaborate coffered ceilings; this included painted walls and ceiling decorations. They also had elaborate fireplace mantels as well as pilasters that were flat decorated columns. The floors were brick, terra-cotta tile, or marble in geometric patterns. Furniture was portable and sparse. It had inlays of ivory, lapis, marble, onyx, and other stones such as marquetry. Walnut was only utilized for the finest furniture. An example of a chair is the Sedia. The Sedia is a straight box-like armchair. It has straight rectangular legs attached to the floor stretchers. It also has a turned baluster or vase-like forms that support the front of the arms. Another example of a chair is the sgabello. The sgabello is a stool with a back. It has a small octagonal or rectangular seat supported by three legs. It is used for dining or all-purpose chair styles.

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