Polifora is a type of the multi-light window. [1] [2] It appears in towers and belfries on top floors, where it is necessary to lighten the structure with wider openings. The term polifora usually refers to the window with at least five parts.
Polifora is a type of the multi-light window. [1] [2] It appears in towers and belfries on top floors, where it is necessary to lighten the structure with wider openings. The term polifora usually refers to the window with at least five parts.
The polifora is a multiple-part window, divided by small columns or pilasters. Each part has a small arch, which can be round or, more often, pointed. Central parts may sometimes be taller than side openings. The space among the arches is often decorated or perforated. The polifora is typical for Gothic architecture and widely used to decorate large cathedrals in the Northern Europe—particularly in Belgium and the Netherlands where the polifora became a true feature of distinction and personalization of the French Gothic style. The polifora is also widely used in Venetian Gothic architecture to decorate the main halls of Venetian palaces. [3] [4]
Such windows can sometimes take specific names that indicate the exact number of openings: pentafora (five parts) and hexafora (six parts) are the most common. Rarer are the windows with higher number of openings; for example the eight-part polifora of the Ca 'Foscari in Venice. [5]
Andrea Palladio was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of the most influential individuals in the history of architecture. While he designed churches and palaces, he was best known for country houses and villas. His teachings, summarized in the architectural treatise, The Four Books of Architecture, gained him wide recognition.
The Grand Canal is a channel in Venice, Italy. It forms one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city.
The Ca' d'Oro or Palazzo Santa Sofia is a palace on the Grand Canal in Venice, northern Italy. One of the older palaces in the city, its name means "golden house" due to the gilt and polychrome external decorations which once adorned its walls. Since 1927, it has been used as a museum, as the Galleria Giorgio Franchetti.
Ca' Foscari, the palace of the Foscari family, is a Gothic building on the waterfront of the Grand Canal in the Dorsoduro sestiere of Venice, Italy.
Venetian Gothic is the particular form of Italian Gothic architecture typical of Venice, originating in local building requirements, with some influence from Byzantine architecture, and some from Islamic architecture, reflecting Venice's trading network. Very unusually for medieval architecture, the style is both at its most characteristic in secular buildings, and the great majority of survivals are secular.
Gothic architecture appeared in the prosperous independent city-states of Italy in the 12th century, at the same time as it appeared in Northern Europe. In fact, unlike in other regions of Europe, it did not replace Romanesque architecture, and Italian architects were not very influenced by it. However, each city developed its own particular variations of the style. Italian architects preferred to keep the traditional construction methods established in the previous centuries; architectural solutions and technical innovations of French Gothic were seldom used. Soaring height was less important than in Northern Europe. Brick rather than stone was the most common building material, and marble was widely used for decoration. In the 15th century, when the Gothic style dominated northern Europe and Italy, the north of the Italian Peninsula became the birthplace of Renaissance architecture.
The Palazzo Giustinian is a palace in Venice, northern Italy, situated in the Dorsoduro district and overlooking the Grand Canal next to Ca' Foscari. It is among the best examples of the late Venetian Gothic and was the final residence of Princess Louise of Artois.
Venetian Renaissance architecture began rather later than in Florence, not really before the 1480s, and throughout the period mostly relied on architects imported from elsewhere in Italy. The city was very rich during the period, and prone to fires, so there was a large amount of building going on most of the time, and at least the facades of Venetian buildings were often particularly luxuriantly ornamented.
Ca Bembo is a grade-listed sixteenth-century palazzo in the parish of San Trovaso in the sestiere of Dorsoduro in Venice, Italy, noteworthy for a particularly large garden. It has, despite its name, no clear connection with the Bembo family, but a particularly strong association with one of the most prominent branches of the aristocratic Venetian family of the Barbarigo.
Trifora is a type of three-light window. The trifora usually appears in towers and belfries—on the top floors, where it is necessary to lighten the structure with wider openings.
A bifora is a type of window divided vertically in two openings by a small column or a mullion or a pilaster; the openings are topped by arches, round or pointed. Sometimes the bifora is framed by a further arch; the space between the two arches may be decorated with a coat of arms or a small circular opening (oculus).
Palazzo Ariani, also known as Palazzo Ariani Minotto Cicogna, is a palace in Venice, located in the Dorsoduro district, almost opposite to the church of Angelo San Raffaele and not far from San Sebastiano. The nearby bridge Ponte del Soccorso connects it to the Palazzo Zenobio.
Palazzo Contarini Dal Zaffo, also known as Palazzo Contarini Polignac is a large palace in Venice, located in the Dorsoduro district, overlooking the Grand Canal, in an intermediate position between Palazzo Brandolin Rota and Palazzo Balbi Valier.
Palazzo Savorgnan is a palace in Venice, Italy, located in the Cannaregio district and overlooking Canale di Cannaregio, to the right of Palazzo Priuli Manfrin.
Palazzo Correr Contarini Zorzi is a Renaissance palace in Venice, Italy, overlooking the Grand Canal and locating in the Cannaregio district between Palazzo Querini Papozze and Palazzo Gritti. The palazzo is also known as Ca' dei Cuori, a family whose wrought iron coats of arms is present on the façade.
Palazzo Adoldo is a Renaissance palace in Venice, located in the Santa Croce district and overlooking the Grand Canal. On the right there is the church of San Simeon Piccolo, on the left—Palazzo Foscari Contarini.
Palazzo Donà Giovannelli is a civil building located in the city of Venice, Italy in the Cannaregio district. The palace neighbors Palazzo Pasqualigo Giovannelli and overlooks the Rio di Noale and the Rio di Santa Fosca.
Palazzo Michiel del Brusà is a palace located in Venice, more precisely in the Cannaregio district, and overlooking the Grand Canal. The building is located between Palazzo Michiel dalle Colonne and Palazzo Smith Mangilli Valmarana.
Portego is a characteristic compositional element of the Venetian civil buildings built during the years of the Republic of Venice. The portego is similar to a reception hall but has peculiar features.
Palazzo Barbarigo Nani Mocenigo is a Gothic palace in Venice, Italy located in the Dorsoduro district, along the Nani embankment on the San Trovaso river, near the campo of the same name.