#talexi

this is the best panoramic view of their former home. I couldn’t count the one in Vergil’s Downfall because of the stylized scenes and very distant views of it.

I’ll count them in if I feel they could truly correlate to my best analysis of the house’s styles.

Now to the meat of things--> I think the following architectural styles influencing its look are:

1. Jacobean style - to me, this was the first thing that jumped to my mind when I first looked at it. It may be because Ninja Theory is in the UK, since Jacobean is British, but I think there are characteristics in Paradise mansion that made me think as such.

Jacobean itself was influenced from Italian Renaissance styles, particularly Andrea Palladio’s styles. I say this because it’s important to note how the next ones I’ll suggest overlap a lot with one another, especially the idea of symmetry! Basically, architectural designs in the Renaissance revered symmetry a LOT! It’s influence is definitely felt to a lot of revivals up until 20th century, but anyway, I don’t want to nerd out about that too much!

As for symmetry, you can see that the house is long and on either wings (the extended left and right sides of the house) the exterior suggests that they look the same despite it being destroyed.

What makes it Jacobean is their distinctive formal design and the Dutch/Flemish Roof or top (which is prominent at the Paradise mansion, forming as the domed roof at the center, with the unique Flemish roof-like shape!). Italian architecture at the same era was quite ostentatious, whilst there’s a more austere and formal look to Jacobean designs (although this isn’t always the case to all places built during this era and especially for its revival!).

example Longleat House, although this one appears too stately but I wanted to give a visual at how grand yet austere this style is

2. Romanesque - this one also stood out to me, especially for its interior and ornamentation. Romanesque buildings are mostly churches, particularly abbey churches. I feel like that shouldn’t be coincidence to the thematic purpose of what their home used to be, of it being their sanctuary...

Although many of its features, such as a domed roof, arches/arcades, ribbed vaulted ceilings, large rounded windows (colored and glass paned, too!) and columned hallways would be present to other styles later on in European history, in look and purpose, Romanesque buildings generally appear thick (because of the bricks and stones for construction) and protective.

The way they were built and the things that, to me, it stood for was to be practical, protective and, even with certain monumental elements like higher ceilings, etc., welcoming.

This one predates the Renaissance and its “style” continued to live on among Gothic, Baroque and Victorian architectural styles, mainly its imposing, thick figure and height, which can be seen especially for churches.

3. Palladian - it’s thanks to this architectural style, pioneered by Andrea Palladio, that ancient Greek and Roman architectural styles became a backbone and even a part of revivals in renaissance to early 20th century buildings. Since this style is also a kind of philosophy that reveres symmetry, I want to focus on another feature that Palladio had made recognizable when he revived Greco-Roman styles of buildings/home: villas. Palladio paid attention more so to what is mathematically proportionate and the geography/topography of where the building is made, and

With this in mind, the Paradise mansion appears to have been built somewhere with hills or mountains, based on the flashback cutscene Dante could recall, and the property they lived in is a huge space, complete with a front yard framed with its own garden, and possibly a back garden.