Leon Battista Alberti's Hypnerotomachia Poliphili: Re-Cognizing the Architectural Body in the Early Italian Renaissance [Hardcover]

Liane Lefaivre (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0262122049 | ISBN-13: 978-0262122047 | Publication Date: April 4, 1997 | Edition: 1ST

The enigmatic, polyglot Hypnerotomachia Poliphili -- the inspiration for the bestselling novel The Rule of Four -- has fascinated architects and historians since its publication in 1499. Part fictional narrative and part scholarly treatise, richly illustrated with wood engravings, the book is an extreme case of erotic furor, aimed at everything -- especially architecture -- that the protagonist, Poliphilo, encounters in his quest for his beloved, Polia. Among the instances of the book's manifesto-like character is Polia's tirade defending the right of women to express their own sexuality, probably the first sustained argument of this type, which lifts the book's erotic theme from the realm of ribaldry to the more daring one of sexual politics. Liane Lefaivre offers the closest critical-theoretical reading of Hypnerotomachia Poliphili to date, placing it within both the historical context of the quattrocento and the rethinking of the metaphor of the architectural body.Lefaivre is the first to attribute this strange, dreamlike book definitively to none other than the arch-rationalist Leon Battista Alberti. Intended as his final text, she argues, the book is the legacy of a humanist passionate about his life's work, a treatise on the role of dreamwork in design by one of the most creative minds of the Renaissance, and a manifesto in defense of humanism by a man who had been dismissed by an anti-humanist pope after a thirty-year career in the papal service.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It is engagingly written, and should serve well to introduce its fascinating subject to a nonspecialist audience." - Joscelyn Godwin, DBR (Design Book Review)"

About the Author

Liane Lefaivre is Professor and Chair of History and Theory of Architecture, University of Applied Art, Vienna, and Research Associate at the Technical University of Delft.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 340 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press; 1ST edition (April 4, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262122049
• ISBN-13: 978-0262122047
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,425,941 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful!!, March 30, 2004

By 

Wildeguy "wildeguy2000" (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leon Battista Alberti's Hypnerotomachia Poliphili: Re-Cognizing the Architectural Body in the Early Italian Renaissance (Hardcover)

Lefaivre has not written modestly. Good for her! In making the claims she does, she needs a very powerful rhetoric that can persuade and dissuade simultaneously. Her concentration on the erotic dimension of the Hypnerotomachia is persuasive as is her description of the proto-feminist voice of Polia. This is the best introduction to the text available even if some will not be won over by the argument for the geneology of the text. Kudos to Lefaivre!!!

Some of the illustrations were not worth including in the book (30 h and j) because they are so very dark they just look like gray boxes. For a book so persuading of the beauty and erotic, it hardly seems fair to have placed such illustrations here. Perhaps it just adds to the plaisir du texte, not knowing what is behind the smudge. Maybe it is Polia or Poliphili, maybe even Alberti, in the buff. It certainly calls for the reader to suspend disbelief. Otherwise the physical look of the book is fine quality.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Alberti wrote the Hypnerotomachia??, November 22, 2000

By 

Mr. Stuart Heath (Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leon Battista Alberti's Hypnerotomachia Poliphili: Re-Cognizing the Architectural Body in the Early Italian Renaissance (Hardcover)

Lefaivre aims to demonstrate that one of the most fascinating works of the Italian Renaissance, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili was the work of one of that era's most intriguing personalities, the architect and writer Leon Battista Alberti. She bases her claim on the volume and quality of architectural discussion and comment in the Hypnerotomachia, which she argues could only have been written by a learned architect with a flair for literature. Moreover, she shows that several coinages of Alberti's, rarely if ever found in works other than his, are incorporated into the text. Lefaivre states her case with verve and conviction, but there are just too few known facts to make it water-tight. Besides, there are arguments at least as strong, if not stronger, in support of other candidates for the work's authorship. Most authorities, such as the editors of a recent Italian edition of the Hypnerotomachia remain of the opinion that the book was the work of Francesco Colonna, a wayward Dominican monk of Venetian origin. Nevertheless, Lefaivre animates her subjects and writes of them with intelligence and passion: that her central thesis is likely wrong does not detract from her book's charm. The MIT Press have done her proud, the book being beautifully designed, laid out, illustrated and printed. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Flimsy. . . otherwise, sturdy, August 3, 2005

By 

Kareef Arzadon "arzadon28" (Dagupan City, Pangasinan Philippines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leon Battista Alberti's Hypnerotomachia Poliphili: Re-Cognizing the Architectural Body in the Early Italian Renaissance (Paperback)

I came across this book and was instantly seduced by the illustrations. Then, of course, I started reading random passages trying to get a glimpse of the quality of the writing, insights and views of the author and was impressed. It is a well-researched material. Clear. Engaging. Substantial.

But I have to give it 4 stars because of the lame cover. It is so thin and soft I keep mangling the pages whenever I try to prop it up on my desk. But that is a very petty thing. The book is a delight to read. Forget about the trashy Rule Of Four book. I came across this book not knowing Rule of Four existed.