Architecture and sculpture
Stone is the most durable of books, and for centuries architects and sculptors have written in it their ideas about the cosmos, time and the destiny of the soul. This section explores buildings, gardens and statues in which the symbol takes built form: the Gothic cathedrals and Fulcanelli's alchemical readings, the portal of Notre-Dame, the pavement labyrinths from Chartres to Lucca, the Otranto mosaic and the Baptistery of Parma. In the Renaissance we meet Bramante's Tempietto, Palladio's Rotonda, the Tempio Malatestiano, Hermes Trismegistus on the pavement of Siena and Giulio Camillo's Theatre of Memory. Then come the enigmatic gardens of Bomarzo and Villa d'Este, the Alchemical Door in Rome, Sanmartino's Veiled Christ, the monsters of Villa Palagonia, the Quinta da Regaleira, Rosslyn Chapel, the Sagrada Família and the supposed secrets of Washington. Each text carefully distinguishes what the documents attest from what belongs to legend and to modern interpretation.
Fulcanelli and the mystery of the cathedrals: a reading to handle with care
Who was Fulcanelli and what does Le Mystère des cathédrales of 1926 claim? The story of an alchemical reading of Gothic art and of its limits.
3 min readIV.02Notre-Dame de Paris and the alchemical portal: stones, virtues and legends
The Last Judgement portal of Notre-Dame, the figure with the ladder and the medallions of the virtues: history, restorations and alchemical readings.
3 min readIV.03Gaudí's Sagrada Família and the magic square of the Passion façade
The magic square summing to 33 on the Passion façade of the Sagrada Família: from Dürer to Subirachs, numbers and symbols in Gaudí's basilica.
3 min readIV.04The Sacred Wood of Bomarzo: Vicino Orsini's park of monsters
Ogres, dragons, sphinxes and a leaning house: history and symbols of the Sacred Wood of Bomarzo, the enigmatic garden created by Vicino Orsini.
3 min readIV.05The Quinta da Regaleira and the initiation well of Sintra
In Sintra a spiral staircase descends into the earth: the story of the Quinta da Regaleira, Carvalho Monteiro, Luigi Manini and the initiation well.
3 min readIV.06Sanmartino's Veiled Christ: the marble that looks like a shroud
Giuseppe Sanmartino carved the Veiled Christ in 1753 for Raimondo di Sangro: the story of the work, Corradini's model and the alchemical legend.
3 min readIV.07Bramante's Tempietto: the perfect circle on the site of martyrdom
At San Pietro in Montorio Bramante built a small circular temple: its history, uncertain dates and the symbolism of the circle in Renaissance Rome.
3 min readIV.08Palladio's Rotonda: a villa built as an image of the cosmos
Villa Almerico Capra, known as La Rotonda, is Andrea Palladio's masterpiece near Vicenza: history, harmonic proportions and the circle in the square.
3 min readIV.09Castel del Monte and the octagon: geometry and legends of Frederick II
Eight sides, eight towers, eight rooms per floor: documented history, octagon symbolism and fanciful theories about Castel del Monte in Apulia.
3 min readIV.10Masonic symbols in the buildings of Washington: documented facts and myths
The Capitol cornerstone, the obelisk, the House of the Temple: what is truly Masonic in the architecture of Washington and what is merely myth.
3 min readIV.11The pavement labyrinths of the cathedrals: from Chartres to Lucca
Chartres, Amiens, Reims, Lucca, Pavia: the history of the labyrinths laid in the floors and walls of medieval churches, between Theseus and the soul.
3 min readIV.12The gardens of Villa d'Este at Tivoli: water, myth and allegory
Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este and Pirro Ligorio created at Tivoli a water garden full of myths: Hercules, the Fountain of the Organ, the Rometta.
3 min readIV.13The Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini: a church accused of paganism
Sigismondo Malatesta, Leon Battista Alberti and Agostino di Duccio: planets, zodiac and the tomb of Plethon in the Tempio Malatestiano of Rimini.
3 min readIV.14Hermes Trismegistus on the pavement of Siena Cathedral: the sage at the door
At the entrance to Siena Cathedral an Egyptian sage greets the faithful: the inlay of Hermes Trismegistus, the Sibyls and the Hill of Wisdom.
3 min readIV.15Giulio Camillo's Theatre of Memory: an architecture for the mind
Giulio Camillo Delminio designed a wooden theatre able to hold all knowledge: the story of the Theatre of Memory, its planets and the art of memory.
3 min readIV.16The Alchemical Door of Piazza Vittorio: the last remnant of Villa Palombara
In Rome, in the gardens of Piazza Vittorio, a door covered in alchemical symbols survives: the story of Marquis Palombara, its inscriptions and legend.
3 min readIV.17The Otranto mosaic: Alexander, King Arthur and the tree of life
Between 1163 and 1165 the priest Pantaleone covered the floor of Otranto Cathedral with an encyclopaedic mosaic: its history and its figures.
3 min readIV.18Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland: carvings, legends and modern theories
Founded in 1446 by William Sinclair, Rosslyn Chapel is rich in carvings: the Apprentice Pillar, the green men and theories about Templars and the Grail.
3 min readIV.19Villa Palagonia in Bagheria: the stone monsters that disturbed Goethe
Dwarfs, dragons, musicians and hybrid creatures on the boundary wall: Villa Palagonia in Bagheria, Prince Gravina and Goethe's visit of 1787.
3 min readIV.20Antelami's Baptistery of Parma: the octagon of months and zodiac
Begun in 1196, the Baptistery of Parma unites architecture and sculpture: the statues of the months, the zodiac, the animal frieze and Barlaam's legend.
3 min read