Venice and the Renaissance

(Paperback)

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Pursuing the intersections of Venetian culture from the beginning of the 16th century through the first decades of the 17th century, the author of this text has developed a history crowded with characters and surprises. This book engages the dogs Andrea Gritti and Leonardo Dona; architects and artists Sansovino, Serleio, Palladio and Scamozzi; and Scientists Francesco Barozzi and Galileo. It records the battle that was fought for architecture as metaphor for absolute truth and good government and contrasts these with the myths that inspired them.

Reviews

"One of architecture's greatest living minds... Tafuri's example hasproved powerfully liberating for the historical imagination." HerbertMuschamp , New York Times "Tafuri is one of the most influential figures in architectural history of the Renaissance and modern periods today... The present book is a study of the process of decisionmaking about building and urban planning in Venice in the period 1490 1620, and of how that process affected the choice of designers and of styles. It could be called as much a work of cultural anthropology as of architectural history... "The approach is structuralist in the sense that it seeks to define common traits that pervade the diverse spheres of politics, religious policy, humanism, science and technology, and architecture and planning. "This is not simply a work about Venice's manmade physical environment, but an introduction to the Venetian Renaissance that is likely to be relevant to the work of any scholar concerned with the culture of that time." James Ackerman , Renaissance Quarterly (review of the Italian edition) "Tafuri is one of the most influential figures in architectural history ofthe Renaissance and modern periods today... This is not simply a work aboutVenice"s man-made physical environment, but an introduction to the VenetianRenaissance that is likely to be relevant to the work of any scholar concernedwith the culture of that time." James Ackerman , Renaissance Quarterly

Author Bio

Manfredo Tafuri is the Director of the Department of History of Architecture at the Istituto Universitario di Architettura in Venice. Jessica Levine is a writer and translator living in New York City. She has previously translated two works by Manfredo Tafuri, History of Italian Architecture, 1944-1985 and Venice and the Renaissance.