From mythos to logos: Andrea Palladio, Freemasonry, and the triumph of Minerva

351 Pages·2019·8.179 MB·English

by  Coughlin, Michael Trevor, Minerva, , Palladio, Andrea

FromMythostoLogos
Brill’s Studies in
Intellectual History
GeneralEditor
HanvanRuler(ErasmusUniversityRotterdam)
Foundedby
ArjoVanderjagt
EditorialBoard
C.S.Celenza(JohnsHopkinsUniversity,Baltimore)
M.Colish(YaleUniversity,NewHaven)–J.I.Israel(InstituteforAdvancedStudy,
Princeton)–A.Koba(UniversityofTokyo)–M.Mugnai(ScuolaNormale
Superiore,Pisa)–W.Otten(UniversityofChicago)
volume 301
Brill’s Studies
on Art, Art History, and
Intellectual History
GeneralEditor
WalterS.Melion(EmoryUniversity)
volume 40
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/bsai
From Mythos to Logos
AndreaPalladio,Freemasonry,andthe
Triumphof Minerva
By
MichaelTrevorCoughlin
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Coverillustration:TheimageisadetailfromaceilingfrescooftheTriumphofMinervabyAlessandro
Maganza,executedinaroomofthesamenameatLaRotondainVicenza.ThankyoutoCountNiccolò
Valmaranaforpermissiontophotographtheceiling,andforhisassistanceinhelpingtomovetheheavy
furnituresothatthepicturecouldbetaken.
TheLibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Coughlin,MichaelTrevor,author.
Title:Frommythostologos:AndreaPalladio,Freemasonry,andthetriumphof
Minerva/byMichaelTrevorCoughlin.
Description:Leiden;Boston:Brill,[2019]|Series:Brill'sstudiesinintellectual
history,ISSN0920-8607;volume301|Series:Brill'sstudiesonart,arthistory,
andintellectualhistory;volume40|Includesbibliographicalreferencesand
index.
Identifiers:LCCN2019007657(print)|LCCN2019015024(ebook)|
ISBN9789004398962(ebook)|ISBN9789004382121(hardback:alk.paper)
Subjects:LCSH:Palladio,Andrea,1508-1580–Criticismandinterpretation.|
Symbolisminarchitecture–Italy–Veneto–History–16thcentury.|Freemasonry–
Italy–Veneto–History–16thcentury.|Mythology,Roman,inart.|Minerva
(Romandeity)–Art.|Logos(Philosophy)|Veneto(Italy)–Intellectuallife–16th
century.
Classification:LCC NA1123.P2(ebook)|LCC NA1123.P2C682019(print)|
DDC720.945/09031–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019007657
TypefacefortheLatin,Greek,andCyrillicscripts:“Brill”.Seeanddownload:brill.com/brill‑typeface.
ISSN0920-8607
ISBN978-90-04-38212-1(hardback)
ISBN978-90-04-39896-2(e-book)
Copyright2019byKoninklijkeBrillNV,Leiden,TheNetherlands.
KoninklijkeBrillNVincorporatestheimprintsBrill,BrillHes&DeGraaf,BrillNijhoff,BrillRodopi,
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Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgements viii
ListofFigures x
Introduction 1
1 LogosandSolomon’sTemple 3
2 Methodology 9
3 HistoricalContext 16
4 Summary 18
1 MinervaandtheCosmologyofPrudenceinPalladio’sPalazzo
Thiene 21
1 MinervaandtheDualityofPrudence 24
2 ThePalazzoThiene 34
3 PrudenceandPlato’sPilotoftheSoul 38
4 ChurchReformandthePoliticalProclivitiesoftheVicentine
Nobility 43
5 TheQuestionofFreeWillandtheConvenienceofArt’s
Ambiguity 52
6 PrudenceandMinerva’sCosmology 61
7 ThePalazzoThieneandtheOriginsofFreemasonry 69
2 DanieleBarbaro,PrudenceandTime:towardsaLogosofArchitecture
attheVillaBarbaroatMaser 75
1 AstronomyandtheVillaBarbaroatMaser 80
2 DracoandPlato’sPilotoftheSoul 88
3 TheEthicsofMovementinBarbaro’sDellaeloquenza 91
4 TheAccademiadegliInfiammati:Prudence,Minerva,andthe
PathwaytoGod 95
5 Prudence,MinervaandtheEthicsofTime 100
6 GnomonicsandtheLogosofSpaceandTime 105
7 Linear-PerspectiveandProblemsofCoercion 117
8 OpticosLogos 128
9 Barbaro,DürerandtheLutheranLinktoFreemasonry 134
vi contents
3 TheTemporalityofLogos:TimeandtheMachinadelMondo
inPalladio’sLaRotonda 140
1 TimeandtheMachinadelMondo 149
2 Re-readingtheFrontispieceoftheQuattrolibri 153
3 Trissino’sItaliaLiberatadaiGoti 158
4 UnityandEternityintheAcademies 167
5 TheCosmologyofLogos 175
6 AncientPrecedents 180
7 LaRotonda,MinervaandDivineLogos 185
4 DuellingTricipitia:CapturingtheMultivalenceofPrudenceandTime
inTitian’sAllegoryofPrudence 199
1 TheDoublingEffectinTitian’sAllegoryofPrudence 204
2 Prudence,HarmonyandtheHealthySoul 213
3 LogosandCamillo’sL’ideadelteatro 218
4 TheOntologyofPrudenceandTime 224
5 FreemasonryandtheArtofMemory:thePalazzodelTe
andtheHypnerotomachiaPoliphiliasModel 230
1 TheTransmigrationoftheSoul 232
2 ThePalazzodelTeandtheArtofMemory 245
3 TheArtofMemoryintheHypnerotomachiaPoliphili 255
Conclusion 279
Appendix 299
Bibliography 300
Index 321
Preface
In the winter of 2015, as I was preparing to defend my PhD dissertation, I
wasstruckbysomethingoneofmycommitteemembers,SergeGuilbaut,had
repeatedseveraltimesinsomeofourmeetings.Firmlybelievingthatmeaning
intheartsduringtheRenaissancewasdeterminedbythepoliticalandreligious
biasorambitionthatmotivatedtheartists,architectsandpatrons,hewould
ask:“What’sinitforthem?”Myresearchconsideredimportantandinfluential
figuresinthesixteenth-centuryVeneto—aperiodandregionseriouslyshaken
bywarsandtheconflictsoftheReformation—sothequestionseemedavalid
one.Ontheotherhand,theliteratureandtreatisesleftbehindbymanyofthe
protagonistsofmythesiscontainedwhatseemedtomeasincereandprofound
considerationnotfortheirownsubjectiveaims,butforthegoodofmankind.
WasIsimplynaïve?
Aftermysuccessfuldefence,Ihadmoretimetoruminateovertheproblem
andIwasstruckbythemoralsimilaritybetweensomeofthemaincharacters
ofmythesisandtheBrotherhoodofFreemasonry.AfamousquotebyFrancis
Yateswasimbeddedinmymind:
“Whereistheresuchacombinationasthisofreligioustoleration,emotional
linkagewiththemedievalpast,emphasisongoodworksforothers,andimag-
inativeattachmentforthereligionandsymbolismoftheEgyptians?Theonly
answertothisquestionthatIcanthinkofis—inFreemasonry.”
ThelinkbetweenFreemasonryandtheprotagonistsofmydissertationhad
alreadyoccurredtome,andsoIdecidedtosearchforincontrovertibleconnec-
tions.ThefirstlinkIdiscoveredwasbetweenFreemasonryandAndreaPalla-
dio.PalladioishailedinAlbertG.Mackey’sEncyclopediaof Freemasonryand
itsKindredSciences(1873)astheindividualwholaunchedspeculativeFreema-
sonry.Theresultstruckmeasmorethancoincidence.AsIdelveddeeperIcame
across a document written by one Abbé Lefranc in 1791, which claimed that
FreemasonrybeganinPalladio’scityofVicenzain1546.Thelinknowseemed
providential.SoontheMasonicsymbolismconcealedinPalladio’sarchitecture
anditspaintedwallsrevealeditselfinexcitingandunexpectedways,resulting
in a book that is much more compelling than I first envisioned. Gradually, I
came to understand that the Brotherhood of Freemasonry emerged because
of the need for change, inspired by the Reformation. Readers interested in
Freemasonry and the art and architecture of the sixteenth century in Italy
shouldfindsomethingofvaluehere.Mostly,Ihope,theywillappreciatehow,
like Luther, those associated with the origins of Freemasonry demanded we
thinkofevolvingwithourheartsandsouls,andnotourminds,sinceatitsheart
Freemasonryseemstobeabouttheevolutionofkindness.
Acknowledgements
ThisbookbeganintheDepartmentofArtHistory,VisualArtandTheoryatthe
University of British Columbia. It would not have been possible without the
assistanceofthemanyfaculty,friends,andcolleagueswhohavecontributedto
itintheirownway.IwouldliketothankBronwenWilson,ErinCampbell,Serge
GuilbautandRhodriLiscombefortheiryearsofsupportandguidancethrough-
outthisproject.Iwouldalsoliketothankthosewhocontinuallyremindedme
of theimportanceof mywork.Inparticular,PieroLucchifromtheBiblioteca
Correr,whosesharedinterestinarchitectureandchronometryofthesixteenth
centuryinItalyallowedmetorisetounexpectedheightsduringmyyearsof
researchinVenice.IamalsoindebtedtothelateDiamanteLulingBuschetti,
andNicolettaPiovesanandherstaffattheVillaMaser,aswellasConteNiccolò
ValmaranaandTizianaSpinelliandherstafffromLaRotonda,theBancaPop-
ulareofVicenzaandGiuliaBianchiandherstaffatthePalazzoTeinMantua,
fortheirkindnessandencouragement.IwouldalsoliketoacknowledgeMaur-
izioMessina,LucianaBattaginandeveryoneelsefromtheBibliotecaNazionale
MarcianainVenice,whoseassistanceismostappreciated.Iamalsograteful
for the generous support of Naiomi Pritchard from Thames and Hudson for
permissionfortheimagesfromtheHypnerotomachiaPoliphili,andJoyceFaust
fromArtResourceforallherassistance.
I am deeply indebted to Walter Melion and Arjan van Dijk for their sup-
portandadvice,aswellasmyeditorsIvoRomeinandDieuwertjeKooij,whose
patienceandencouragementwerebeyondmeasure.Iwouldalsoliketoexpress
mygratitudetotwootherindividualsIhavenevermetpersonally,butwhose
work inspired me throughout the writing of this book—to Alberto Pérez-
Gómez for introducing me to the idea that architecture can fulfill both the
needsoftheindividualaswellashumanityatlarge,andtoFrankAlboforhelp-
ing me to understand that Freemasonry was created with peace, democracy
andsocialchangeasitsmainobjectives.
IwouldalsoliketoexpressmyheartfeltgratitudetoJaniceandMaryMcDon-
aldfortheirgenerosityduringmyPhDcandidacyandbeyond,andJuliMills,
Steve Graves, Dale Hicksman,Vera Algoet, and Noble Kelly for their support
toward the publication of this volume—as well as Kenneth Cappie for his
encouragement. My sincere thanks, as always, to my dear family for their
unconditionalloveandsupport.
Finally,thisbookwouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutmypartnerAndrew
BruceCameron,towhomthisbookisdedicated.Hehasdonemoreformethan
acknowledgements ix
Icanenumeratehere,butinteachingmethatpatienceisindeedthegreatest
virtueheshowedmethatthegreatestexpressionofloveisfoundwithin,ifwe
takethetimetodiscoverthedivineinourselves.