ABSTRACT

Written by scholars of international stature, Aeolian Winds and the Spirit in Renaissance Architecture presents studies of Renaissance pneumatology exploring the relationship between architecture and the disciplines of art and science.

One of the principle goals of Renaissance architects was to augment the powers of pneuma so as to foster the art of well-being. Central to the study of pneumatic architecture are six Italian villas connected together by a ventilating system of caves and tunnels, including Eolia, in which Trento established an academic circle of scholars that included Palladio, Tazzo and Ruzzante.

Picking up on current interest in environmental issues, Aeolian Winds and the Spirit in Renaissance Architecture reintroduces Renaissance perspectives on the key relationships in environmental issues between architecture and art and science. This beautifully illustrated and unprecedented study will illuminate the studies of any architecture or Renaissance student or scholar.

chapter 1|21 pages

Aeolian winds and the spirit of Renaissance architecture

Academia Eolia revisited

chapter 2|26 pages

Chasma gês

Delphic pneuma and the cult of Asklepios

chapter 3|22 pages

“Study the warm winds and the cold”

Hippocrates and the Renaissance villa

chapter 5|16 pages

Making visible the invisible

Signs of air in architectural treatises

chapter 6|22 pages

Poetry and “spirited” ancient sculpture in Renaissance Rome

Pomponio Leto's Academy to the sixteenth-century sculpture garden

chapter 7|25 pages

The winds in the corners

Giulio Romano, the elements, and the Palazzo Te's Fall of the Giants

chapter 8|17 pages

The breath of cities