Goethe and Palladio

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The poet, dramatist, novelist, and scientist, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe had to wait many years before he was able to travel south to Italy, “the land where the lemon trees bloom.” He had gained success in several fields, but he had a sense of being trapped and confined and felt a need for light. Italy would give this to him in a number of ways.

Taking as their basis Goethe’s Italian Journey, the authors of this fascinating and unusual study explore how Goethe’s experience of Palladio’s architecture influenced his view of the relationship between art and nature in general and, in particular, helped him form his understanding of metamorphosis, leading to his discovery of the “archetypal plant.”

In his carefully written account of his travels, Goethe seems to oscillate between experiences of architecture and experiences of nature. In nature, he searched for the “archetypal plant,” the essential form whose metamorphosis through time would produce the plant we see in its cycle from seed to fruit. In the art and architecture of antiquity and in Palladio’s classical reformulation of it, he tried to understand the purpose and function of artistic creation.

Until now, no one has put these two together. David Lowe and Simon Sharp show for the first time how these seemingly unrelated subjects are related—how the living geometries and volumes of harmoniously proportioned buildings, the “great idea” of architecture, can lead to the intuition of similar principles in nature.

David Lowe and Simon Sharp have worked together for twenty-one years. One of their first projects was the recreation of Goethe’s Italian Journey. They have given numerous workshops and presentations on the subject in the U.S. and U.K., including The British Museum, the German Embassy, and the Edinburgh Festival.

This is must-reading for anyone interested in Goethe’s ideas on plants and metamorphosis.

C O N T E N T S:

List of Illustrations
digest

1. Introduction
2. Imagination and the Senses
3. The Way to All Art and Life
4. From the Brenner Pass to Venice
5. The School of Seeing
6. Conclusion

Appendix I: Quotations from Goethe’s Italian Journey
Appendix II: The Mysterious Architecture of the Formative Process

About the Author

David Lowe was born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, into a coal mining family. He went on to study philosophy and politics at Queens College, Oxford, and later took his M.A. in art history at Oxford Brooks. His time is taken up increasingly by lecturing and study groups in the United States and United Kingdom. The weeds in his garden in Oxford grow progressively taller.

Simon Sharp is a teacher of art and design. He is currently director of the Leonardo Centre at Uppingham School in Rutland, England. He uses Goethe’s approach to observation extensively in his teaching and practical demonstrations. Trained originally as a designer, Simon believes in mixing art and science in his innovative teaching programs. He spends much of his time drawing and painting architecture and landscape.

Additional information

Weight 5 oz
Dimensions 5.2 × 0.2 × 8.2 in
Author

,

ISBN13

9781584200369

Published

November 2005

Format

Paperback

Pages

96

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