The Renaissance was born in Italy and was marked by “modern” thinkers of the day trying to surpass the genius of the thinkers (as well as poets, artists, and architects) from Classical Antiquity. During the Renaissance, architects and the nobility were trying to replicate the longevity and brilliance of Roman builders. Filippo Brunelleschi was considered to be the first Renaissance architect in Italy and completed the Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore) in Florence which was the first dome completed since the fall of the Roman Empire. Some of his contemporaries were Leon Battista Alberti who wrote a number of treatises and Andrea Palladio who mostly worked on residential buildings.
Some of the common themes within Italian architecture were columns (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Tuscan), arcades (series of arched columns) and intricate tracery (or carvings) telling the stories of the cities that the buildings were in.
In the Palazzo Ducale in Venice, there are two levels of arcades with Corinthian columns and an intricately pattern cornice (seam beneath the roof). Visible in the illustration to the right, but the columns are intricately carved columns and pilasters in-between (the top half) and square columns in the illustration below.
At the Palazzo Del Consiglio in Verona, was a meeting hall for Torcello (a region in Italy near Verona) nobility. One facade of the building has an arcade with alternating fluted and smooth corinthian columns and at the end of the arcade there was a carved pilaster (square faux column).
The last example from the book is the Palazzo Del Te in Mantua. Unlike the two above examples, this palace has a simple facade of large coursed stone and smooth pilasters breaking up the facade. Large square windows have large trim around them and bars to (ostensibly protect the glass). Up by the roof, there are triglyphs and metopes with different masks, weapons, and instruments probably to demonstrate the interests of the family.