Article ID: CBB802730567

The Ruins of the Earth: Learned Meteorology and Artisan Expertise in Fifteenth-Century Italian Landscapes (2018)

unapi

The relation between visual depictions of rocks and mountains, and coeval notions on the origin and nature of the Earth, is one of the least studied aspects of Renaissance scientific culture. Yet, in the course of the 1400s a new kind of ruins made its appearance in drawings and paintings, alongside those of the classical antiquity: the vestiges of an ancient Earth, as shown in eroded crags, decomposing mountains and in the layered structure of their exposed bowels. In this essay I relate these representations to both the learned tradition of medieval “meteorology,” and to the empirical expertise of Renaissance artists/engineers. Finally, I place within this larger context some aspects of Leonardo da Vinci’s geological writings and drawings, with particular reference to his studies of layered rocks and his discussion of the Biblical flood.

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Article Luca Ciancio; Domenico Laurenza (2018) Visual Representation in Earth Sciences History after “The Emergence”: Introduction. Nuncius: Annali di Storia della Scienza (pp. 397-414). unapi

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https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB802730567/

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Authors & Contributors
Catalano, Agostino
Nanni, Romano
Laurenza, Domenico
Gatta, Massimo
Pazzagli, Rossano
Rinaldo Rinaldi
Concepts
Science and art
Technology
Engineering
Architecture
Technology and art
Scientific illustration
Time Periods
Renaissance
15th century
16th century
Medieval
Early modern
17th century
Places
Italy
Europe
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