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The stile Umbertino is a 19th-century style of Renaissance Revival architecture in Italy, [1] typical of the eclecticism of late 19th century architecture and decorative arts in Europe, which mixes decorative elements from various historical styles.
It flourished during the reign of King Umberto I of Italy, after whom it was named, and was most popular in Rome.
The stile Umbertino takes its name from King Umberto I, who reigned over the Kingdom of Italy from 1878 until 1900. It may also describe furniture and other decorative arts.
The stile Umbertino is the Italian version of Eclecticism, a style of architecture and decorative arts common in Europe in the second half of the 19th century, and that combines in one building features from different artistic periods and repertoires.
The Italian version differs from the general European style by aspiring to be distinctively Italian. This happened largely in the decades immediately following Italian unification, as one of the many attempts to build a national sense of unity. It came to be applied often on buildings housing governmental bodies, such as ministries and law courts, as well as on palaces and villas for the establishment, especially in Rome, which became in 1870 the new capital of the Kingdom. [2] Here the city council and the government developed an ambitious and grand plan to redevelop the city and endow it with infrastructures fit for its status of capital. The stile Umbertino gained in popularity after 1870 and dwindled around 1895. However, it remained in use for governmental buildings well into the first and second decades of the 20th century.
Similarly to other versions of 19th century Eclecticism, the stile Umbertino draws inspiration from several periods of the history of art. It distinguishes itself for its particularly conservative interpretation of Eclecticism, aiming to develop a truly national style. This latter came to be identified in an academic and conventional Renaissance Revival repertoire, with elements drawn as well from the Baroque period and the early Renaissance.
Due to the rapid growth of population in late 19th century Italy, as well as the need of the new national government to make its mark in the cities of the new Kingdom, examples of stile Umbertino can be found in all of Italy's major cities. Rome, in particular, boasts several architectural ensembles built in this style, being particularly favoured for governmental infrastructures.
Notable Umberto I style buildings:
The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is Italy's oldest active shopping gallery and a major landmark of Milan. Housed within a four-story double arcade in the centre of town, the Galleria is named after Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of the Kingdom of Italy. It was designed in 1861 and built by architect Giuseppe Mengoni between 1865 and 1877.
Piazza del Duomo is the main piazza of Milan, Italy. It is named after, and dominated by, Milan Cathedral. The piazza marks the center of the city, both in a geographic sense and because of its importance from an artistic, cultural, and social point of view. Rectangular in shape, with an overall area of 17,000 m2, the piazza includes some of the most important buildings of Milan, as well some of the most prestigious commercial activities, and it is by far the foremost tourist attraction of the city.
Castro Pretorio is the 18th rione of Rome, Italy, identified by the initials R. XVIII, and it is located within the Municipio I. The rione takes its name by the ruins of the Castrum Praetorium, the barracks of the Praetorian Guard, included in the Aurelian Walls.
Piazza Colonna is a piazza at the center of the Rione of Colonna in the historic heart of Rome, Italy. It is named for the marble Column of Marcus Aurelius, which has stood there since AD 193. The bronze statue of Saint Paul that crowns the column was placed in 1589, by order of Pope Sixtus V. The Roman Via Lata runs through the piazza's eastern end, from south to north.
Palazzo Madama in Rome is the seat of the Senate of the Italian Republic, the upper house of the Italian Parliament.
Galleria Umberto I is a public shopping gallery in Naples, southern Italy. It is located directly across from the San Carlo opera house. It was built between 1887 and 1890, and was the cornerstone in the decades-long rebuilding of Naples—called the risanamento —that lasted until World War I. It was designed in the Stile Umbertino by Emanuele Rocco, who employed modern architectural elements reminiscent of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan. The Galleria was named after Umberto I, King of Italy at the time of construction. It was meant to combine businesses, shops, cafés and social life—public space—with private space in the apartments on the third floor.
Italy has a very broad and diverse architectural style, which cannot be simply classified by period or region, due to Italy's division into various small states until 1861. This has created a highly diverse and eclectic range in architectural designs. Italy is known for its considerable architectural achievements, such as the construction of aqueducts, temples and similar structures during ancient Rome, the founding of the Renaissance architectural movement in the late-14th to 16th century, and being the homeland of Palladianism, a style of construction which inspired movements such as that of Neoclassical architecture, and influenced the designs which noblemen built their country houses all over the world, notably in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States of America during the late-17th to early 20th centuries.
The Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali is a building in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy. Originally the Palazzo Fenzi, built for the Fenzi banking family and designed in the Neo-Renaissance style by Giuseppe Martelli and is one of the very few purpose built commercial buildings in the centre of the city though it housed on the upper floors reception rooms for the Fenzi family.
Piazza della Repubblica is a city square in Florence, Italy. It was originally the site of the city's forum; then of its old ghetto, which was swept away during the improvement works, or Risanamento, initiated during the brief period when Florence was the capital of a reunited Italy—work that also created the city's avenues and boulevards. At that time, the Loggia del Pesce from the Mercato Vecchio was also moved to Piazza Ciompi. The square's Giubbe Rosse cafe has long been a meeting place for famous artists and writers, notably those of Futurism.
Turin is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is mainly on the western bank of the Po River, below its Susa Valley, and is surrounded by the western Alpine arch and Superga hill. The population of the city proper is 843,514, while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The Turin metropolitan area is estimated by the OECD to have a population of 2.2 million.
Via Nazionale is a street in Rome from Piazza della Repubblica leading towards Piazza Venezia.
Ernesto Basile was an Italian architect and an exponent of modernisme and Liberty style, the Italian variant of Art Nouveau. His style was known for its eclectic fusion of ancient, medieval and modern elements.
The Italian city of Milan is one of the international tourism destinations, appearing among the forty most visited cities in the world, ranking second in Italy after Rome, fifth in Europe and sixteenth in the world. One source has 56% of international visitors to Milan are from Europe, 44% of the city's tourists are Italian, and 56% are from abroad. The most important European Union markets are the United Kingdom (16%), Germany (9%) and France (6%). Most of the visitors who come from the United States to the city go on business matters, while Chinese and Japanese tourists mainly take up the leisure segment.
The culture of Rome in Italy refers to the arts, high culture, language, religion, politics, libraries, cuisine, architecture and fashion in Rome, Italy. Rome was supposedly founded in 753 BC and ever since has been the capital of the Roman Empire, one of the main centres of Christianity, the home of the Roman Catholic Church and the seat of the Italian Republic. Due to its historical and social importance, Rome has been nicknamed the Caput Mundi, or "capital of the world".
This timeline shows the periods of various architectural styles in the architecture of Italy. Italy's architecture spans almost 3,500 years, from Etruscan and Ancient Roman architecture to Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassical, Art Nouveau, Fascist, and Italian modern and contemporary architecture.
Piazza della Scala is a pedestrian central square of Milan, Italy, connected to the main square of Milan, Piazza del Duomo, by the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II passage. It is named after the renowned Teatro alla Scala opera house, which occupies the north-western side of the square; the building actually includes both the opera house and the Museo Teatrale alla Scala, dedicated to the history of La Scala and opera in general. On the opposite side to "La Scala", to the south-east, is the facade of Palazzo Marino, Milan's city hall. Another relevant building on the square, on the north-eastern side, is the Palazzo della Banca Commerciale Italiana. The south-western side of the square has the entry to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele as well as Palazzo Beltrami. Most of the architecture of the square is due to architect Luca Beltrami, who designed the eponymous palace, the facade of Palazzo Marino, and the Banca Commerciale Italiana building. The centre of the square is marked by the monument of Leonardo da Vinci by sculptor Pietro Magni (1872).
The Zone 1 of Milan, since 2016 officially Municipality 1 of Milan, is one of the 9 administrative divisions of Milan, Italy.
The Equestrian monument to Vittorio Emanuele II is an equestrian statue of the former King Vittorio Emanuele II, located in the Piazza Vittorio Veneto, a small green spot at the east end of the Parco delle Cascine, located along the Arno River, just west of central Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy.
Palazzo Giustiniani or the Piccolo Colle is a palace on the Via della Dogana Vecchia and Piazza della Rotonda, in Sant'Eustachio, Rome.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Rome: