• 1425 - The dude above (Filippo Brunelleschi) discovers perspective drawing
• 1450 - Gutenberg invents movable type
• 2010 - Adobe releases Illustrator CS5 with the Perspective Grid

Two of the events above made the Renaissance possible.

Renaissance is when architects changed from unnoticed hardworking ants to egomaniacs like Howard Roark. Why? Because they realized man is at the center of everything (see DaVinci’s Vitruvian Man below), especially the interpretation of the divine.

Pope Julius II really liked art, so he kept Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, and others on the payroll. Michelangelo never got to see his St. Peter Cathedral built.

None of DaVinci’s plans ever got built before or after he died. I guess it could be worse.

Interesting fact is that this guy named Andrea Palladio is the most copied architect ever. He started making villas, expensive homes for rich people to chill in for the summer. Now, pretty much every upscale neighborhood in the U.S., England, or Russia mirrors his designs.

Then came Baroque, which tried get away from all straight lines. Architects started using cinema (Quentin Tarantino?) for their inspiration. I mean, look at this:

So, naturally, the Germans and French thought it was a race towards decadence, so Louis XIV (Insane) built Versailles and even coined the word Rococo at his court. It basically means “tons of gilded plaster and mirrors.”

That’s it for this week. Hope you enjoyed it.