Renaissance Classicism
This school of architecture is based on the dictates of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architects who codified what they believed were the “correct” designs and proportions for classical columns and other design elements. Renaissance Classicism is formal and symmetrical, and appealed primarily to the intellect and reason of the 18th-century architects (and homeowners) who embraced it. Georgian and Federal are Renaissance Classical styles. When the excavation of ancient ruins in the late 18th century began to reveal a great deal of variety in Greek and Roman architecture, the popularity of Renaissance Classicism waned in favor of the Neoclassical or Romantic styles (which see).