AN INDEPENDENT STUDY ON BRAMANTE’S NYMPHAEUM.

OUTLINE:

1) INTRODUCTION: THE NYMPHAEUM.

2) CHAPTER I: DOCUMENTATION OF BRAMANTE’S WORK AT THE NYMPHAEUM AND
HIS WORKS IN ROME IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.
3) CHAPTER II: PAPERS AND BOOKS THAT WERE USED IN THE REASEARCH AND
THEIR POSITIONS ON THE WORKS OF BRAMANTE IN ROME AND THE
NYMPHAEUM.
4) CHAPTER III: ANANALYSIS OF THE EMPERICAL DATA GATHERED IN CHAPTER
ONE AND HOW IT COMPARES TO THE WRITTEN ANALYSIS OF CHAPTER TWO.
5) CHAPTER IV: CONCLUSIONS MADE ON THE FORMATION OF THE INTEREPTATIVE
DRAWINGS USED IN THE RECONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS.

INTRODUCTION              

Nymphaeum: in ancient Greece and Rome, a shrine, usually a grotto, dedicated to the Nymphs, female
deities of nature, especially of water. 1

Designed by the Italian Architect Donato Bramante (1444-1514) the Nymphaeum is located in a ravine
near the town of Genazzano in the Provence of Rome, in the Region of Lazio ( 41 degrees 50”0” N, 12
degrees 58”0” E). It is about an hour’s drive from the city of Rome near the towns of Palestrina and
Tivoli. (See map 1)

Bramante was a painter, a poet and an architect who changed the form of architecture by using the same
illusionistic features that are found in Renaissance paintings and in the drawings that he made for the
theatre. His works were known for his comprehension of the antique Roman examples of architecture and
the beauty of his invention. The buildings he did in Rome were of great importance to the development of
architecture in the High Renaissance and beyond. Even if all his works were destroyed his influence on
the works of countless artists and architects would be immeasurable.

The purpose of Nymphaeum at Genazzano is as murky as the water that now flows by it. In the research
presented here it is hoped that a new light will be cast to illuminate Bramante’s intention. The Nymphaem
by Bramante is now a ruin and what remains has been the subject of many a scholarly endeavor. The
study here is to try to find out what the Nymphaeum looked like at its completion. This two-dimensional
reconstruction will be presented in a series of drawings and renderings.

To accomplish this reconstruction it was important to establish the chronological order in which the
Nymphaeum fell within the other works done by Bramante during this period in Rome. By doing this one
could then glean a stylistic approach that Bramante was developing at the time of the construction of the
                                                            
1
The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture 1991. 
Nymphaeum. Since there is a great deal missing from the ruins, the on-site measured drawings and the
design chronology will form the basis for a proposal of what may have been the intention of the architect.

In Chapter I two methods of study were used in forming conclusions to what the Nymphaeum may have
looked like at its completion. The first method is divided into two parts: 1) to collect empirical data of the
ruins of the Nymphaeum, and 2) to collect data on Bramante’s work in Rome. In part number one a field
study of the ruins of the Nymphaeum produced measured and documented drawings and photographs. In
the second part, Bramante’s work in Rome was recorded by field drawings and photographs in
chronological order previous to and after the construction of the Nymphaeum.

In Chapter II documents what has been written by major scholars on the Nymphaeum and includes their
conclusions on its place in Bramante’s body of work and clues to what it may have looked like at its
completion. The works studied includes books and papers written about the Nymphaeum by the following
authors: Arnaldo Bruschi, Franco Borsi, Patrizia Barucco, Ludwig Heydenreich, Colin Rowe, and Marina
Doring. These historians were chosen based on reading the bibliographies of Bruschi and Doring and their
references to these other authors.

Chapter III analyzes the documents gathered in the field and in the readings and conclusions for the
reconstruction drawings.

In Chapter IV the drawings created for this paper will be illustrated and discussed as to what conclusions
were drawn from the above research.
Map 1
CHAPTER I:

DOCUMENTATION OF BRAMANTE’S WORK AT THE NYMPHAEUM AND ROME

The Nymphaeum (also known as the Ninfeo in Italian) was documented by a team from the Georgia
Institute of Technology in June of 2008. The team was lead by graduate student David Pearson and
supervised by Dr. Elizabeth Dowling. Other members of the team were graduate students Mike Watkins
and Jeremy Sommers of Georgia Tech and Ann Pearson a graduate of Rollins College.

The team used a base drawing of the Ninfeo from Bruschi’s book “Bramante” as a guide for documenting
the site. 2 (See Plan 1) the team was divided into two (A and B).

PLAN 1

Team A documented the plan of the site and Team B documented the elevations of the structure. Imperial
units were employed.

For purposes of analysis, the plan of the Ninfeo is divided into five parts:

1) The main loggia has three bays that open on the east side of the structure. The center bay is
slightly larger than the flanking ones. There are exedras at the ends of the bays.
2) The upper loggia is divided from the lower level by a screen of three serlianas. It is reached by a
set of stairs accessed from a niche in the south exedra.
3) Two rectangular rooms are located just to the north and south of the exedras.
4) An octagon room with a circular pool and four niches.
5) A room behind the south rectangular space that has the staircase to the upper loggia. This room
was not on the plan by Bruschi. ( see Plan 2)

                                                            
2
 This plan is in Bruschi’s book Bramante. 
 Plan 2 -Drawing by author.

Part one is the main lower loggia is the largest part of the building. The central bay is 17 feet square. It
has the remains of four arches supported by stone piers that have a Tuscan Order style base and a capital
that is more like a Doric capital than a Tuscan capital (See plates 1, 2 and 3) The comparison between
these plates show how the capitals differ in shape and their division of parts. These plates are a key clue
to the development of the reconstruction that will be discussed later in Chapter IV. The piers with their
four arches show further evidence of a dome or vault resting on pendentives with the remains illustrated
on Plate 4.
Plate 2 – Photo by author.
Plate 3

Drawings from Bryn Mawr University.

Plate 4- Photo by Author

The four arches are the same except the west arch which has a recessed serliana motif inserted into the
arch. This motif is the most interesting feature of the Nymphaeum. This motif consists of two columns
and two pilasters supporting an entablature. An arch is above the center resting on the entablature above
the central columns (See Plate 5). Above the arch is a lunette that fills the space above the central arch.
This lunette is pierced with five oculi surrounded by mouldings (See Plate 6). The entablature of this
motif is similar to the Tuscan Order. It engages the capital of the piers in an awkward way. This structure
is misaligned with the mouldings of the capital (see plate 7). This serliana is raised on a platform four feet
above the floor of the main loggia.

Plate 5- Photo by Mike Watkins

Plate 6- Photo by Mike Watkins

Plate 7 – Photo by author.
The two flanking bays of the lower loggia are similar except they are slightly smaller with the
measurement of 16’-81/2” square, and the ceiling was formed by groin vaults. At the ends of these bays
are two exedra. These are semi-elliptical in plan with three openings. A door to the next room is in the
center of the curve and on either side of the door there are two flanking semi-circular niches. These niches
are further divided in to three parts, a central bay and two smaller niches on either side. The central door
has an architrave surround topped by a frieze and cornice mouldings. This cornice is splayed at an angle
to return to the curved wall not at the usual 90 degree return normally seen (See Plate 8). Over the entire
niche bay are the scant remains of a sculpted sea shell with the fluting of the shell forming to the curve of
the semi- dome of the niche. This is a motif often used by Bramante that will be looked at in Chapter IV.
The exedra is further divided by the use of stone pilasters in between the three elements mentioned above.
The pilasters support an entablature that then supported an elliptical semi – dome above the entire exedra
(See Plate 9).This overall plan is similar to the plan of the Basilica of Maxentius again to be explored
further in Chapter IV (See Plate 10).

Plate 8- Photo by author.

Plate 9- Photo by Mike Watkins

Plate 10- Image from “Bramante” by Franco Borsi

Part two of the Ninfeo is the upper loggia which is also divided into three bays that corresponds to the
three bays of the lower loggia and is on axis with the central bay. The central bay is seventeen feet in
width and 11’-5 inches deep. There are two pilasters on each side of this bay to separate it from the other
two bays. Above this bay there is evidence of a groin vault. This central bay has an exedra attached to it
on the west side that is also an elliptical shape. This elliptical exedra is divided into five unequal niches:
three of them are rectilinear and two are semi-circular. The central rectangular niche is the largest and
contains a separate shallow curved niche (See Plate 11).
Plate 11- Image from Bruschi’s “ Bramante”.
This arrangement is also reminiscent of the recessed bays in the Pantheon. In the Pantheon there is a
rectangular niche next to a semi- circular one as it rotates around the circumference of the space (See
plate 12).The two bays that are adjacent to the central bay are rectangles. The west wall contains three
niches: a central curved niche flanked by two rectangular niches. The evidence here of groin vaults over
these two bays is shown in Plate 13.

Plate 12- Bryn Mawr University

Plate 13- Photo by author.
Part three are the two rooms with the least information available. These are the spaces at the ends of the
main axis of the lower loggia. They are rectangular in plan with four openings, one in each wall. One
opening is into the main lower loggia and one to the exterior on the opposite wall. This door is not on
axis. The other door is on the west wall enters into the room described in part five. On the eastern wall
there is evidence of a window with a rusticated stone surround facing the stream.

Part four is the most curious of spaces at the Ninfeo and probably the reason for the location of the
structure contained within it a spring that feeds the pool in the center of this octagonal space. One enters
this room through a niche in the exedra at the north end of the lower loggia. (See plate 14).The circular
pool is 16 feet across. In four sides of the octagon are four niches. The evidence for the roof suggests a
dome. The room is damp with water coming out of the walls.

Plate 14 – from Brusch’s “Bramante”.

Part five is the main discrepancy of the Bruschi Plan. There is no indication in the plan by Bruschi of a
change in elevation between the lower and upper loggias. The discovery of the stair hall was a revelation.
This is a room that did not exist on the plan but it is necessary to access the upper loggia (See Plate 15).
Plate 15- Photo by author.

The principle façade of the Ninfeo is that of the open loggia facing east towards the stream. The three
arched openings have large half columns on each side. These columns are completely in ruins. However
the remaining bases are Tuscan in appearance and share the same dimensions of the piers. This is
problematic because the columns are quite taller than the piers. This suggests a larger proportioned order
of architecture. It is apparent that the architraves of the piers are merely imposts receiving the three
central arches. These column bases will be the reasoning for the calculations of the height of building for
the reconstruction discussed in Chapter Four. The two rooms flanking the open loggia are distinguished
by the evidence of rusticated openings for the windows. Minor niches separate the façade of the main
loggia and these end rooms (See plate 16).The rear western wall is mostly unseen as it retains the hill
behind it.

Plate 16- Photo by author.

CHAPTER II:

PAPERS AND BOOKS THAT WERE USED IN THE RESEARCH AND THEIR POSITIONS ON THE
WORKS OF BRAMANTE AND THE NYMPHAEUM

Examination of the most authoritative articles, books and papers on the Ninfeo were studied for reference
to the on-site examination. In “Bramante” by Arnaldo Bruschi he discusses the Ninfeo as a part of the
movement to revive the ideal of the “Classical Villa”. This concept coincides with his work on the
Belvedere at the Vatican. The Ninfeo was not a house per se but a pavilion perhaps used as a stage set or
a background for pageantry. It is located on a stream that could have been dammed and therefore create a
lake in front of the building. The Ninfeo theatricality is enhanced by its asymmetrical plan and a façade
that uses perspective to create depth. Bramante does this by the inclusion of a screen between the lower
loggia and the upper area of the building. The screen is composed of three “Palladian window” motif
arches. This upper area is speculated by Bruschi to be used by musicians or spectators. This motif is really
a Bramante motif used before in Milan and at St. Peter’s in Rome. Palladio saw this device here and then
used it in many of his designs. At the Ninfeo Bramante designs the upper arched screen on a podium and
reduces the height to appear further in the distance than the adjacent pilasters of the lower loggia. All part
of the spettacolo Bramante was trying to convey in the same painterly way that he used on the
Belvedere.3

Evidence gathered at the site disputes some of the following items: the illustrated plan (missing stairs and
rooms, see plan 1 and 2), the mentioning that the arched screen shares the same entablature (they do not
see plate 7) and that he believes that as many as four architectural orders were used on the Ninfeo’s
façade (evidence of probably only two).

In Franco Borsi’s “Bramante l’opera completa, 1989, there is strong evidence supporting Bramante’s use
of the antique Roman plan at the Nymphaeum. This is especially evident n the comparison of the upper
loggia plan of the Nymphaeum and the plan of the Baths of Maxentius (see Plan 1 and Plate 10).Bramante
must have studied this plan extensively. It shows up in the Ninfeo’s plan with the same three bay
divisions, the use of exedra, and the placement of the niches almost verbatim. You can see by the plan
where the idea of columns dividing the volume of space as a screen came into being with the form of the
serliana motif. Also in Borsi are the informative drawings of Maerten van Heemskerck (see plates 30 and
34). In these drawings we see the use of the serliana at St. Peter’s, the shell in a niche motif, and the use
of the Doric order. All of these used at the Ninfeo and in the reconstruction documents.

Heydenreiech writes in “Architecture in Italy 1400-1600, 1974, that the Ninfeo was probably never
completed for Cardinal Pompeo Colonna.He also compares the plans as being very similar to the
“parchment plan” in the Uffizi of the plan of St. Peter’s ( see plate 29) and to the Villa Madama by his
protégé Raphael.

Mariana Doring in her dissertation on the Ninfeo concurs with Heydenreich that the Ninfeo was never
completed but she believes that this was on purpose and was built as a ruin.

                                                            
3
 Bruschi says in Chapter 6 page 104” Bramante, as an architect meant the Belvedere courtyard to be more than an 
“objective” representation of what is actually there. It was a spettacolo, a theatrical fiction that was to deceive the 
spectator: once again he was aiming at a perspectival, illusionistic representation. The deception had to be so 
subtle that it was imperceptible. 
Patrizia Barucco in”Il Castello Colonna a Genazzano” disputes the notion that the Ninfeo was built as a
ruin because there is evidence of timber framing for a roof and that this would have been something
unheard of before. Ms. Barucco also believes that it was the first use of the Tuscan Order since antiquity.
The oculi in the serliana she believes comes from a northern Italian tradition of ecclesiastical architecture
where the five circles represent Christ and the Four Evangelists. This indeed is used as a motif by
Bramante in the church Santa Maria presso San Satiro in Milan.

Colin Rowe in “Italian Architecture of the 16th Century” ,2002,believes the direct connection to
Bramante’s works in Milan in particular that the Ninfeo is a direct translation alla romana of the eastern
parts of S. Maria delle Grazie.4 Here he describes how Bramante changes from being an architect
concerned with surface decoration to that of an architect concerned with volumetric space.

                                                            
4
 Colin Rowe “Italian Architecture of the 16th Century “‐ ‘In both cases, we are presented with forms of the 
tripartite composition. At S.Maria delle Grazie, the three major arches leading to the drum of the dome enclose 
the minor arches leading to the choir and side apses. Below, all of these are articulated by Corinthian pilasters 
inscribed upon the wall, and above, the infill between the archivolts is equipped with circular plaques of the kind 
Bramante had used in his Ruined Temple. But at Genazzano, the latent becomes the overt, the Corinthian pilasters 
become Doric columns, and the circular plaques become oculi. In other words, the development of the surface has 
given way to the development of volume, and through a miniaturization of the internal elevations at Milan, the 
typical bay at Genazzano is presented with monumental economy. Bramante, building on the achievements of the 
previous century, has taken the first steps toward an architecture emphasizing space over surface.” 
CHAPTER III: ANALISIS OF BRAMANTE’S WORK IN ROME AND HOW IT RELATES TO THE
NYMPHAEUM

The documenting of the works of Bramante in Rome took place in July of 2008. They were documented
in chronological order as referenced by Arnaldo Bruschi.5 The first two works that were studied are the
fountains in Piazza S. Pietro and s. Maria in Trastevere. (See plate 17 and 18) 6 Both fountains have a
circular basin set on pedestals on a octagonal base which is reminiscent of the pool set in a octagonal
room at the Ninfeo at Genazzano otherwise there is no apparent link here to the design of the building.

Plate 17- Photo by author.

                                                            
5
 Bruschi‐” Major works are marked with an asterisk. The chronological order is in some cases only tentative, when 
no definite information is available” 
6
 Bruschi‐ circa 1500 Fountain in Piazza s. Peitro, Rome (altered under Julius II, then dismantled and partly reused), 
and the fountain at s. Maria in Trastevere, Rome (Subsequently much altered). (Not documented but probably by 
Bramante; mentioned by Vasari.) 
Plate 18- Photo by author.

The second project completed by Bramante was the Cloister of S. Maria Della Pace.7 Done around 1504
this work at first glance seems to have very little to do with the Ninfeo. But it does use the same device of
the Tuscan order for the pilasters in the cloister ambulatory with quadripartite groin vaults above.
Bramante also continues the mouldings of the pilaster capital as a continuous band around the cloister
wall. Another similarity is the use of these piers with arches with a giant order separating them (see plates
19 and 20).

                                                            
7
 Bruschi‐ *1500 Cloister and convent of S. Maria della Pace, Rome. (Certain and documented work, probably 
finished in 1504.) 
Plate 19-Photo by author.
Plate 20- Photo by author.

The Tempietto of San Pietro in Montorio8, perhaps the jewel of Bramante’s work, was the third edifice
observed .There are two details used here that are also employed at Genazzano .The motif used the most
in much the same manner is the shell and niche one. The uses of a shallow niche as described in Chapter I
on the Ninfeo are almost identical to the ones at the Tempietto. (See plates 21, 22and 23)They are also
framed in the same way by pilasters. The two exedra are like whole sections of the circle of the Tempietto
lifted and place on both ends of the central axis of the Ninfeo. The central entry in the exedra have the
afore mentioned splayed mouldings as seen in the interior doorways of the Tempietto (see plate 24).

                                                            
8
 Bruschi‐ * 1502?  The Crypt was probably begun but the upper part not until 1505‐1506. 
Plate 21- Photo by author.
Plate 22- Photo by author.
Plate 23 –Photos by author.
Plate 24- image from Borsi’s “Bramante”.

Bramante’s grand extension of the Vatican Palace, the Belvedere, 9is the fourth work that was visited. A
theme that is used at both the Belvedere and the Ninfeo are the continuous band of mouldings used as
both pilaster capitals and entablature (see plate 25). The use of a giant order of pilasters between arched
openings is used throughout the Belvedere in much the same way as used in the Ninfeo as mentioned
above( see plate 26). On the gate to the Belvedere courtyard is a rusticated arch that resembles the
rusticated window remains of the Ninfeo (see plate 27).

                                                            
9
 Bruschi‐* Belvedere courtyard begun 1504‐1505 greatly altered. 
Plate 25-Photo by author.
Plate 26- Photo by author.
Plate 27- photo from Borsi’s” Bramante”.

Saint Peter’s plan oddly enough is connected directly in the use of the same ancient Roman model10. That
model is the Baths of Constantine and Diocletian (see plate 28).Here in this plan one can directly compare
the three bays of the aisles of the bath with the three bays of the Ninfeo (see plan 1). In plate 28 each of
the three bays is divided again into three divisions the same as at Genazzano and the niches in the back
wall (see plate 11).In the plan of Saint Peter’s by Bramante one sees the same three bay system with
exedra at both ends of the north-south axis .The use of rectangular niches with semi-circular niches in the
exedra of St. Peter’s follows the same pattern in the central exedra of the Ninfeo. (See plate 29).The most
unique feature of the Ninfeo is the so called serliana motif described earlier in the paper as a “Palladian
Window”. It was also used by Bramante at St.Peter’s ( though not documented by the author) it was
recorded in a drawing of the interior of the tribuna or choir now at the Uffizi in Florence (see plate 30).In
plate 30 there is also evidence of the shell in a semi circular shaped space as also used at the Ninfeo.

                                                            
10
 Bruschi‐* Begun 1505‐1506 St.Peter’s Rome. 
Plate 28- images from Wikipedia.
Plate 29- Image from Borsi.

Plate 30- image from Borsi.

Bramante’s Choir extension to Santa Maria del Popolo 11has three ideas that are consistent with the
Ninfeo. These are the use of a shallow exedra with a stylized shell motif; the use of the mouldings of the
capitals of the pilasters as a continuous band around the choir and the use of a serliana on the south side
of the choir (see plate 31 and 32).

Plate 31- Image from Bruschi’s Bramante”.

Plate 32- dido

                                                            
11
 Bruschi‐ *St.Maria del Popolo begun 1505‐1507 (or begun between 1499 and 1503). 
CHAPTER IV

The two-dimensional reconstruction of the Nymphaeum at Genazzano took all of the above
documentation and distilled it into the drawings presented here. It is mainly the façade that was
considered the most important of the reconstruction because the plan is mostly intact.

To illustrate the east façade the height was determined by the measurements of the diameter of half
columns extant and their bases. The proportional system applied was of the Doric order because in every
case examined in this paper Bramante used this order as a “giant order” between arched bays (see plate
29).It is also suggested by Colin Rowe that the order use on the Ninfeo is the Doric.12The height of an
order is often determined proportionally by the module of the diameter of the column used. This module
dimension is divided in half to give the height of the base and capital and the whole dimension is used to
be multiplied by 7 or eight for a Tuscan order, by 9 for Doric Order etc. The entablature, the series of
mouldings that form a beam above the column, is also determined by this proportional system. The
diameter of the column on the façade of the Ninfeo measured 3’-10”. Therefore nine times the diameter of
3’-10” gave the height of the column, the entablature and thus the entire structure.

Details from Bramante’s works studied here in this paper were used for the the mouldings and
peculiarities of design expressed by Bramante in his architecture. The triglyphs in the frieze have flutes
with curve channels rather than rectangular chamfered channels. Bramante used this fluted triglyphs at the
Tempietto; the tribuna of St.Peter’s and the house of Raphael (See Plates 33, 34 and 35).The rest of the
entablature’s proportion were based on the one at the Tempietto. The capital of these columns was based
on the capital of the Tempietto and the tribuna with the same three stepped fillets below the echinus. The
roof height and slope was taken from a similar roof of the Belvedere (See plate 36).The two rusticated
openings on the façade is inspired from the gate to the Belvedere (see plate 27).

                                                            
12
 Colin Rowe‐ “Italian architecture of the 16th Century” 2002. 
Plate 33- Photo by author.
Plate 34- image from Borsi.
Plate 35-Image from Borsi.
Plate 36- photo by author.

In the colored rendering called the Analytique is a form of documentation of the principle parts of a
building and its details (see plate 37). In this rendering we see the Ninfeo “restored” with a foreground of
a flooded plain in front of it as suggested by Bruschi and others. The ochre color of the walls comes from
the color of the Belvedere and the blue background of the upper loggia comes from a painting of the
Belvedere by Perin del Vaga (see Plate 38). This shows the warm color on the foreground walls with a
cool blue tone for the background. This is all appropriate for the spettacolo Bruschi wrote about as
described in Chapter II.The stage set that uses a cooler color in the background to increase the perception
of depth in a painting as well as in architecture. After all Bramante started out as a painter and knew about
this concept from the beginning of his career.
Plate 37- rendering by author.
Plate 38- image from Borsi.

The following drawings are the result of the above research. They are the restoration drawings of the
Ninfeo as proposed by this author.

Plate 39 -Main Façade by author.

Plate 40- Detail of the Doric Order used on the reconstruction. By author.
Plate 41- Detail of the entablature. By author.
Plate 42- Detail of the base. By author.
Plate 43- Detail of the Serliana. By Author.
Plate 44- Detail of the rusticated window. By author.
GLOSSERY:

1) Alla romana- in the roman style

2) Architrave- The lowest of the divisions of an entablature that rests directly on the columns.

3) Base-The base of a column is that part between the shaft and the pavement.

4) Capital-The upper part or head of a column or pilaster. Each of the 5 orders has a distinctive
capital.

5) Doric Order- One of the five orders of Architecture. The Doric order exists in the Greek and
Roman forms. The Roman Doric order is the one that is used by Bramante always had a base,
while the Greek version does not.

6) Echinus-An ovolo moulding below the abacus of a Doric capital, or any convex moulding in the
form of a conic section or a quarter of a circle.

7) Entablature-In Classical Architecture, the superstructure of the Order above the column,
consisting of architrave, frieze and cornice.

8) Exedra-an apse or a large recess or semi-circular niche.

9) Façade- a face of a building or an elevation.

10) Groin vault- the intersection of two simple vaults, crossing each other at the same height, and
forming an arris, or a sharp edge.

11) Impost-The capital, moulding bracket, entablature or pier from which an arch springs: the impost
is generally held to be the actual point from which the arch springs.

12) Loggia- Is a part of a building where one or more sides are open to the air, the opening being
colonnaded or arcaded.

13) Lunette-a semicircular opening or blind recess.

14) Niche-A recess in a wall for a statue, vase or other ornament. Niches are often semicircular on
plan and are arched. Some niches contain a shell motif, and some are treated as an aedicule.

15) Nymphaeum- Is a grotto, or structure containing pools, plants rockwork, fountains, and statues.

16) Oculus or plural oculi- A round window. A disc or button in the center of a volute-spiral as in an
Ionic capital. An opening in the top of a dome, as in the Pantheon.

17) Palladian window- See Serliana below.

18) Pier- Any isolated mass of construction,such as the solid between two windows or a support.
Piers are much more massive than columns. An arch that springs from a pier is called a pier-arch.
Piers are quite distinct from columns.

19) Pilasters-A rectangular projection attached to a wall, that is similar to the column of one of the
Orders and carries an entablature.

20) Rusticated- Ashlar masonry, the joints of which are worked with grooves or channels to
emphasize the blocks.

21) Serliana- A Venetian window: any central opening with a semicircular arch over it flanked by
two rectangular openings. The rectangular openings have pilasters or engaged columns on either
side of them, and have entablatures overhead. The central arched opening is always wider than
the rectangular openings and its archivolt springs from the top of the cornices on either side. It is
named for Sebastiano Serlio who first illustrated the form in his Architectura of 1537.

22) Spettacolo- a theatrical event or location for one,

23) Triglyph- The vertical block in a Doric frieze comprising of two glyphs and two half-glyphs

( also known as channels)

24) Tuscan Order- the simplest of the Five Orders of classical Architecture. The shaft of the column
is never fluted and the capital has a square abacus.
Bibliography:

Barucco, Patrizia Il Castello Colonna a Genazzano , Fratelli Palombi, Roma 2000.

Borsi, Franco Bramante, Electa 1989

Bruschi, Arnaldo Bramante Thames and Hudson 1977.

Doring, Marina Dissertation on the Ninfeo University of Berlin 1996.

Heydenreich, Ludwig Architecture in Italy 1400- 1600 Penguin Books 1974

Rowe, Colin Italian Architecture of the 16th Century Princeton Press 2002