Castel del Monte: Geometric Marvel of the Middle Ages [Hardcover]

Heinz Goetze (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2003

In the south of Italy stands one of the most beautiful and fascinating castles of the Middle Ages, built by the brilliant Emperor Frederick II of the Staufen dynasty. Castel del Monte is truly extraordinary in the history of European architecture, and even today there are many different theories about the purpose of this exceptional castle. Most of these, however, are based more on speculation than on solid analysis, and none of these hypotheses have been accurate enough to penetrate and unravel the secrets of this distinctive geometric fortification. "Castel del Monte" is a study of the structure's enigmatic plan, singular in the history of art and architecture in terms of its construction. This beautifully illustrated book presents the reader with insights into the bastion's mathematical-geometrical structure and into architecture in general under Frederick II. The volume explores the cultural influences common to the entire Mediterranean region and the influence of the revered Arabian geometry of that time, and offers these factors as a context for the conception and construction of Castel del Monte. "Castel del Monte" is a scholarly, interdisciplinary study and assessment of this intriguing masterpiece of mediaeval architecture.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

You don't have to be an architectural historian to reap the multifarious rewards of this gorgeous volume. There may be one square root too many for the math-challenged multitudes, but otherwise this book's brilliant, clearly written text should appeal to classicists, abstract art admirers, and lovers of historical mysteries--hark, fans of The Name of the Rose--to suggest just a few of many possible audiences.

Already in its third printing in Germany, the lushly illustrated book offers Heinz Götze's reasoned arguments tying the design of the Castel Del Monte, the mysterious, singular, southern Italian fortress built under the revered leader Frederick II, to the Mediterranean culture of the Middle Ages and to the intricacies of Arab geometry circulating in North Africa at the time. Götze is steeped in his subject: he has led architectural digs at other sites to search for European antecedents for this extraordinary eight-sided star of an edifice (there are none), and he draws on a seemingly vast knowledge of the delicate geometries of celestial and terrestrial designs of the period that stretch from France to Syria. His impeccable scholarship seems to liberate him from the pedestrian prose of many such books (there are cheerily triumphal exclamation points scattered throughout this one).

While the book is extremely learned and contains much material that is over the head of the ordinary reader, Götze manages to urge readers to stretch their intellects. The hardest part, ultimately, is sitting in an armchair to read this book, rather than standing at the Castel Del Monte in person and gazing at it with newfound understanding. --Peggy Moorman

Review

Castel del Monte is ... one of the most beautiful structures ever to rise from the human mind, and the mind, recognizing it, is naturally captivated. -- The New York Times Book Review, D.J.R. Bruckner

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 237 pages
• Publisher: Prestel Publishing; Expanded edition (January 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3791319302
• ISBN-13: 978-3791319308
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,568,833 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)