Panofsky and Wittkower on Alberti: Divergent Receptions of "De Re Aedificatoria" I, 10

Alberti’s De Re Aedificatoria has been the object of highly varied, at times contrasting receptions since its completion in 1452. By comparing two of the more important 20th century readings of this text in the Warburg tradition put forward by Erwin Panofsky in 1925 and by Rudolf Wittkower in 1949, on the relationship between the column and the wall, one can trace different ways of reading the afterlife of classical architectural theory and practice in Alberti’s theorization of the orders along with diverse aims of art and architectural history from the Weimar Republic to the present.
Speaker: Daniel Sherer (Visiting Lecturer in Architectural History, Princeton University School of Architecture; Visiting Professor in Architectural History and Theory, Iuav).
This talk took place on 5 June 2023.