Abstract: The Evolution of Italian city gates in Renaissance and Baroque period underwent three stages. The first one was the early and middle Renaissance in the 15th century(Quattrocento). In this transitional period, the arch of ancient Rome became the model to imitate, and the tower-gates of the Middle Ages did not disappear utterly, but co-existed with the city-gates with the style of new Renaissance. The second one was the flourishing and late Renaissance in the 16th century(Cinquecento). In this period, the impact of the “modernized” cannon forced city authorities to reinforce urban defense, mainly by building new bastion-fortified-wall and new city gates. Treviso and Verona under Venetian rule witnessed the first new Venetian-Imperial-Style of city-gates, which gave up the medieval tower-gate. In addition, more and more Italian cities adopted the arch of ancient Rome as the reference or inspiration for the design of city gates. The third one was the baroque period(the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century). This period witnessed the reduction of defensive function and the increase of the ritual function of city gates, which was closely related to the “performativity” of ceremonies in Italy. In order to display the power and majesty of the rulers, and to meet the need of political and diplomatic ceremonies, the design of city gates continued the motif of ‘triumph arch’ revived in the Renaissance, and meanwhile pursued the Baroque taste for bizarreness and magnificence, and the theatricality of city gates.

Key words: Renaissance, Baroque, Italy, city gates