2).
Hauser's point is generally made with reference to painting; however, it applies equally to architecture. Additionally, as Clark comments, one reason that "medieval and Renaissance architecture is so much better than our own is that the architects were artists" (Clark, 1969, p. 171). By the 16th century in Italy, architecture had begun to abstract from classical influences of chiefly Roman origin and to reflect artistic temperament.
This is not to say that Roman influence was absent but only that designers had begun to shift from strictly copying Roman motifs. As an architect, Michelangelo, "was the most adventurous, the least constrained by either classicism or functional requirements" (Clark, 1969, p. 172). Jacquet, who notes that Michelangelo essentially completed none of his architectural projects, adds that nevertheless Michelangelo "dominated the architecture of his century" (Jacquet, 1970, p. 38) because of his conceptual designs. This implies a mannerist rather than strictly classicist temperament, and to that extent St. Peter's can be considered as an expression of both classicist and anticlassicist features. The classical elements can be observed in its symmetrical nature. A view of the exterior south transept confirms this.
Classical motifs are evident as well in the design elements that comprise the exterior of St. Peter's. The use of Corinthian order piers and pillars, as well as unbroken pediments tha
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