Category: Renaissance

I was crouched in the dust of a narrow side street near Santo Spirito last autumn, my knees aching against the uneven pavement, when I realized I was looking at something most tourists walk past without a second thought. I…

I remember sitting in a dusty archive in Ravenna three years ago, staring at a sixteenth-century folio that had been rebound so poorly the spine was practically screaming. Most scholars will spend hours lecturing you on the “intellectual democratization” brought…

I was standing in the rain outside a neo-Palladian estate in the English Midlands last autumn, tracing the line of a pediment that looked far too perfect to be real. Most architectural historians will talk to you about the “grandeur”…

I remember standing on the gravel path near Vicenza last autumn, my hands stained with dust from a site survey, looking at a textbook photo of Palladio’s masterpiece. The glossy pages always make it look like a mathematical miracle, a…

I was standing in a damp corner of a villa near Vicenza last autumn, my flashlight catching the jagged edge of a limestone plinth, when I realized how much we get wrong. Everyone comes to these sites to talk about…

I was kneeling in the damp dust of a basement in Ravenna last autumn, tracing the irregular grit of a lime mortar joint, when I realized how much we misinterpret the Renaissance. Most textbooks treat the concept of vitruvius and…

I was standing in a humid courtyard in Palermo last Tuesday, squinting at a modern facade that tried far too hard to look “timeless.” It was one of those recent attempts at the classical orders revived, but instead of the…

I was standing in a damp courtyard in Syracuse last autumn, tracing the edge of a weathered limestone lintel, when I realized how much we’ve turned the concept of beauty into a mathematical lecture. Most textbooks treat proportion and harmonic…

I was standing in a damp courtyard near Mantua last autumn, running my fingers over a weathered travertine lintel, when I realized how much we get wrong about the Renaissance. Most textbooks treat alberti and architectural theory as if they…

I was kneeling in the dust of a crumbling sacristy in Syracuse last July, my fingers tracing the uneven grit of a lime-wash that had survived three centuries of humidity. Most people visit these sites to photograph the grand altarpiece…