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The Resource Architecture, poetry, and number in the royal palace at Caserta, George L. Hersey

Architecture, poetry, and number in the royal palace at Caserta, George L. Hersey

Creator
Author
Summary
The great palace of Caserta, near Naples, probably the largest building erected in Europe in the eighteenth century, became an archetypal expression of absolute monarchy. It was begun in 1752 for Carlo di Borbone, King of the Two Sicilies, who worked closely with its chief architect, Luigi Vanvitelli. Although Vanvitelli was one of the most notable architects of his century, as Caserta was one of its major buildings, this study by a leading scholar of Baroque and Neapolitan architecture is the first book in English on the architect and his masterpiece. The book offers a new view of the palatial and megapalatial in architecture. Although the monarch for whom it was built never spent a night under its roof, Caserta was designed to provide the royal family and the court with a grand residence and more. It was also intended to house the offices of the government bureaucracy, barracks, a national library, a university, and a national theater - not only to symbolize but to contain the organs of a large modern state. Caserta influenced much that came after: plans by Boulle for a new Versailles to return pride of size to France, buildings in both Imperial and Soviet Russia, palaces of the later British Empire, even the Pentagon. As Hersey notes, "if Carlo di Borbone could return from the grave and rule the United States, he would move the seat of executive power from the White House to the Pentagon." The book also provides intriguing insights into the relationships between poetry - painted and sculptured allegories - and number - architectural planning that has become a geometrical game. It sketches the intellectual background of Carlo's conception, emphasizing the king's mythical forebears and his love of mathematical order. It shows that the Neapolitan poet and philosopher, Giambattista Vico, influenced the king to incorporate such mythic figures as Hercules and Aeneas into his genealogy and Vanvitelli to introduce their likenesses into Caserta's art, which is in turn integrated with the geometry of the palace's gardens and the numerical sequences of its rooms
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
1 online resource (318 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates)
Contents
  • Introduction : from Caserta to the Pentagon
  • The poetic myths of Naples
  • Architectural order
  • Royal architects
  • The river-road
  • Palace geometry
  • Public poetry
  • The family romance
  • Epilogue : Neptune's victory
Isbn
9780262368117
Instance
Label
Architecture, poetry, and number in the royal palace at Caserta
Title
Architecture, poetry, and number in the royal palace at Caserta
Statement of responsibility
George L. Hersey
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
The great palace of Caserta, near Naples, probably the largest building erected in Europe in the eighteenth century, became an archetypal expression of absolute monarchy. It was begun in 1752 for Carlo di Borbone, King of the Two Sicilies, who worked closely with its chief architect, Luigi Vanvitelli. Although Vanvitelli was one of the most notable architects of his century, as Caserta was one of its major buildings, this study by a leading scholar of Baroque and Neapolitan architecture is the first book in English on the architect and his masterpiece. The book offers a new view of the palatial and megapalatial in architecture. Although the monarch for whom it was built never spent a night under its roof, Caserta was designed to provide the royal family and the court with a grand residence and more. It was also intended to house the offices of the government bureaucracy, barracks, a national library, a university, and a national theater - not only to symbolize but to contain the organs of a large modern state. Caserta influenced much that came after: plans by Boulle for a new Versailles to return pride of size to France, buildings in both Imperial and Soviet Russia, palaces of the later British Empire, even the Pentagon. As Hersey notes, "if Carlo di Borbone could return from the grave and rule the United States, he would move the seat of executive power from the White House to the Pentagon." The book also provides intriguing insights into the relationships between poetry - painted and sculptured allegories - and number - architectural planning that has become a geometrical game. It sketches the intellectual background of Carlo's conception, emphasizing the king's mythical forebears and his love of mathematical order. It shows that the Neapolitan poet and philosopher, Giambattista Vico, influenced the king to incorporate such mythic figures as Hercules and Aeneas into his genealogy and Vanvitelli to introduce their likenesses into Caserta's art, which is in turn integrated with the geometry of the palace's gardens and the numerical sequences of its rooms
Cataloging source
MITPR
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Hersey, George L
Dewey number
728.8/2/0945725
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • plates
Index
index present
LC call number
NA7756.C3
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
  • dictionaries
  • bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Reggia di Caserta
  • Vanvitelli, Luigi
  • Charles
  • Caserta (Italy)
  • Architecture, Baroque
  • Symbolism in architecture
  • Architectural design
  • Palaces
  • Charles
  • Vanvitelli, Luigi
  • Karl
  • Karl
  • Gioffredo, Mario
  • Vanvitelli, Luigi
  • Karl (Römisch-Deutsches Reich, Kaiser, VI.)
  • Reggia di Caserta
  • Architectural design
  • Architecture, Baroque
  • Buildings
  • Palaces
  • Symbolism in architecture
  • Italy
  • Architektur
  • Geschichte
  • Palast
  • Caserta
  • Schloss Caserta
  • Architecture baroque
  • Caserte (Italie)
  • architecture italienne
  • palais
  • Caserta
Label
Architecture, poetry, and number in the royal palace at Caserta, George L. Hersey
Instantiates
Publication
Copyright
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
  • text
  • still image
Content type code
  • txt
  • sti
Content type MARC source
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
Contents
Introduction : from Caserta to the Pentagon -- The poetic myths of Naples -- Architectural order -- Royal architects -- The river-road -- Palace geometry -- Public poetry -- The family romance -- Epilogue : Neptune's victory
Control code
1227942610
Extent
1 online resource (318 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates)
Form of item
online
Isbn
9780262368117
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
Other physical details
illustrations (some color)
http://library.link/vocab/ext/overdrive/overdriveId
  • 1331
  • 9780262368117
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
(OCoLC)1227942610
Label
Architecture, poetry, and number in the royal palace at Caserta, George L. Hersey
Publication
Copyright
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
  • text
  • still image
Content type code
  • txt
  • sti
Content type MARC source
  • rdacontent
  • rdacontent
Contents
Introduction : from Caserta to the Pentagon -- The poetic myths of Naples -- Architectural order -- Royal architects -- The river-road -- Palace geometry -- Public poetry -- The family romance -- Epilogue : Neptune's victory
Control code
1227942610
Extent
1 online resource (318 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates)
Form of item
online
Isbn
9780262368117
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
Other physical details
illustrations (some color)
http://library.link/vocab/ext/overdrive/overdriveId
  • 1331
  • 9780262368117
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
(OCoLC)1227942610

Subject

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