Renaissance architecture would be characterized by the use of Greco-Roman decorative and constructive elements: arches, barrel vaults, pediments, columns and pilasters with classical orders, and as material fundamentally stone ( rustic or rough ), marble and the brick. The renaissance style emphasizes the symmetry, proportion, geometry and regularity of the parts, as demonstrated in the architecture of classical antiquity and, in particular, the ancient roman architecture, of which many examples were preserved.
In the architecture of the middle ages three styles are developed mainly: the byzantine, which influences throughout the periods, the romantic between the 11th and 12th centuries, and the gothic style between the 12th century and the 15th century.
Byzantine art is one of the greatest episodes of universal art. It is based on greek and paleo-christian art, with great oriental influences. For the temples, the centralized or greel cross plan with large domes on pendentives is used with preference. Although the building material are not particularly rich, yes it is its decoration based on mosaics and mural paintings, where the representation of the human figure, solemn and hieratic, generates a great sense of spirituality that will later inherit in the romantic art.
Gothic architecture employs well-carved stone blocks. Its essential elements are the pointed arch and the ribbed vault, composed of diagonally crossing arcs, called nerves, with a central key. It also made use of large windows with stained glass windows, of greater luminosity.
