After years of field research and development, this is a second book of what seems to become a series of publications, with the intent to reconstruct the architecture and landscapes described in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili with the aid of digital mediums.  This enigmatic incunabulum, with its 172 woodcuts, has fascinated historians, patrons, and especially architects ever since its anonymous publication in Venice in 1499 by Aldus Manutius.  A renewed interest for this legendary Renaissance text has emerged with modern translations readily now available in Italian, English, and Spanish, not to mention its use as the central theme for Caldwell and Thomason’s Bestseller, The Rule of Four, now to become a major motion picture.  The Story begins with Poliphilo, who falls asleep and dreams that he is searching for his lost love, Polia.  While under her beloved spell, he engages on an erotic pilgrimage through Antiquity, discovering incredible architecture, gardens, and landscapes all envisioned and described in minute, technical, and artistic description.  Part treatise, part narrative, this book introduces a vast array of architectural examples and landscape designs that were too visionary for its time.  With more than 150 original artwork illustrations of 10 of Poliphilo’s described monuments, this work is presented here as an attempt to share a new deciphering of this labyrinthine text after years of obscurity, bringing to life and giving significance to its fantastic architecture and allegorical visions.

Book divided into Two Volumes

 

Text & Images Copyright © 2012 by Esteban Alejandro Cruz