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OverviewIn Humanism and the Urban World, Caspar Pearson offers a profoundly revisionist account of Leon Battista Alberti's approach to the urban environment as exemplified in the extensive theoretical treatise De re aedificatoria (On the Art of Building in Ten Books), brought mostly to completion in the 1450s, as well as in his larger body of written work. Past scholars have generally characterized the Italian Renaissance architect and theorist as an enthusiast of the city who envisioned it as a rational, Renaissance ideal. Pearson argues, however, that Alberti's approach to urbanism was far more complex-that he was even ""essentially hostile"" to the city at times. Rather than proposing the ""ideal"" city, Pearson maintains, Alberti presented a variety of possible cities, each one different from another. This book explores the ways in which Alberti sought to remedy urban problems, tracing key themes that manifest in De re aedificatoria. Chapters address Alberti's consideration of the city's possible destruction and the city's capacity to provide order despite its intrinsic instability; his assessment of a variety of political solutions to that instability; his affinity for the countryside and discussions of the virtues of the active versus the contemplative life; and his theories of aesthetics and beauty, in particular the belief that beauty may affect the soul of an enemy and thus preserve buildings from attack. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Caspar Pearson (Department of Art History and Theory, The University of Essex )Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press Imprint: Pennsylvania State University Press Dimensions: Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.60cm , Length: 22.90cm Weight: 0.544kg ISBN: 9780271048550ISBN 10: 0271048557 Pages: 280 Publication Date: 15 September 2011 Audience: General/trade , General Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: Manufactured on demand  We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier. Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Destruction 2 The Divided City 3 The Limits of Power 4 Beyond the City 5 The Suburbs and Other Places 6 The Beautiful City Conclusion Notes Bibliography IndexReviews“Pearson’s use of Alberti’s writings is imaginative and exhaustive, yet tactful. This is a rich and accessible account of a thinker whose concern with both rational reform and social stability could not be more timely.” —Charles Burroughs Renaissance Quarterly Pearson s use of Alberti s writings is imaginative and exhaustive, yet tactful. This is a rich and accessible account of a thinker whose concern with both rational reform and social stability could not be more timely. Charles Burroughs, Renaissance Quarterly Author InformationCaspar Pearson is Lecturer at the University of Essex. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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