Overview

The Naturalis historia by Pliny the Elder provided Renaissance scholars, artists and architects with details of ancient architectural practice and long-lost architectural wonders - material that was often unavailable elsewhere in classical literature. Pliny's descriptions frequently included the dimensions of these buildings, as well as details of their unusual construction materials and ornament. This book describes, for the first time, how the passages were interpreted from around 1430 to 1580, that is, from Alberti to Palladio. Chapters are arranged chronologically within three interrelated sections - antiquarianism; architectural writings; drawings and built monuments - thereby making it possible for the reader to follow the changing attitudes to Pliny over the period. The resulting study establishes the Naturalis historia as the single most important literary source after Vitruvius's De architectura.

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9781107079861

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Reviews

'... this is highly recommended reading for the architectural historian of the Renaissance - especially one who wants to understand how thoroughly Plinian the Renaissance canon of the Five Column Orders actually is.' Krista De Jonge, Renaissance Quarterly ... Pliny has had only limited attention paid to him by historians of Renaissance architecture, which is what this book sets out to rectify. It does so in a remarkably comprehensive and exceptionally scholarly manner ...' The Burlington Magazine

'... this is highly recommended reading for the architectural historian of the Renaissance - especially one who wants to understand how thoroughly Plinian the Renaissance canon of the Five Column Orders actually is.' Krista De Jonge, Renaissance Quarterly

'... this is highly recommended reading for the architectural historian of the Renaissance - especially one who wants to understand how thoroughly Plinian the Renaissance canon of the Five Column Orders actually is.' Krista De Jonge, Renaissance Quarterly ... Pliny has had only limited attention paid to him by historians of Renaissance architecture, which is what this book sets out to rectify. It does so in a remarkably comprehensive and exceptionally scholarly manner ...' The Burlington Magazine '... this is highly recommended reading for the architectural historian of the Renaissance - especially one who wants to understand how thoroughly Plinian the Renaissance canon of the Five Column Orders actually is.' Krista De Jonge, Renaissance Quarterly ... Pliny has had only limited attention paid to him by historians of Renaissance architecture, which is what this book sets out to rectify. It does so in a remarkably comprehensive and exceptionally scholarly manner ...' The Burlington Magazine

Author Information

Peter Fane-Saunders holds a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Durham. His main research interest is the classical tradition - particularly works of art and architecture that derive their inspiration from the ancient world. His work has been published in various European academic journals. Formerly, he was Rome Fellow at the British School at Rome.

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