Goethe and Palladio : Goethe's Study of the Relationships Between Art and Nature, Leading Through Architecture to the Discovery of the Metamorphosis of Plants

by Lowe, David; Sharp, Simon

• ISBN13: 9781584200369
• ISBN10: 1584200367
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-10-30
• Publisher: Rudolf Steiner Pr

Summary

Goethe wrote his Italian Journey during his travels south to Italy in the late eighteenth century. David Lowe and Simon Sharp spent 10 months creating his journey day-by-day; this unusual and fascinating study into how the twin pillars of Art and Nature influenced Goethe, is the result.Goethe's writings oscillate between his experiences of Palladio's classical architecture, and experiencing nature. For the first time, David Lowe and Simon Sharp pull these two strands together and show how they are related: how the living geometries and harmonious proportions of buildings can reflect similar principles in nature. Specifically, they argue that Goethe's experiences in Italy helped form his understanding of metamorphosis, leading to his discovery of the 'archetypal plant'.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	vi
Digest	vii
Introduction	1	(9)
Imagination and the Senses	10	(14)
The Way to All Art and Life	24	(7)
From the Brenner Pass to Venice	31	(15)
The School of Seeing	46	(10)
Conclusion	56	(3)
Appendix I Quotations from Goethe's Italian Journey	59	(21)
Appendix II The Mysterious Architecture of the Formative Process	80	(12)
Bibliography	92