Sara Galletti | Duke University (original) (raw)
Books by Sara Galletti
Journal articles by Sara Galletti
Architectural History, 2021
In his Premier tome de l’architecture (1567) — the first original, comprehensive architectural tr... more In his Premier tome de l’architecture (1567) — the first original, comprehensive architectural treatise written by a French author — Philibert Delorme (c. 1514–1570) claims to be the first to formulate a theory of divine proportions, which he describes as a set of rules recorded in the Old Testament as directly dictated by God to men for the construction of the Ark of Noah, the Ark of the Covenant, and the Temple and House of Solomon. Yet the author does not develop the theory of divine proportions in the Premier tome and postpones it instead to the second volume of his treatise. As a second volume was never published (and likely never written), Delorme readers are left with a handful of less-than-coherent references and illustrations of a theory that remains largely obscure. Yet the elements of theory of divine proportions contained in the Premier tome provide historians with an understanding of the genesis of the treatise itself, thus ultimately helping to raise broader questions about the book and its author. This paper shows how Delorme’s divine proportions offer a key to understanding the conception and composition of his treatise as well as to the process of intellectual development of the author and the changes in the nature and scope of his written work.
The Life of Maria de’ Medici, the biographical series of twenty-four large-size paintings execute... more The Life of Maria de’ Medici, the biographical series of twenty-four large-size paintings executed for the Queen Mother of France by Peter Paul Rubens in 1622 –25, is traditionally regarded by historians as both a masterpiece of Baroque art and a monument of political naïveté. According to this view, the series was a disrespectful visual bravado that exposed both patron and painter to scandal by publicly advertising the queen’s political ideas and ambitions, which were not only audacious, but often in opposition to those of her son King Louis XIII. This article challenges this
assessment by reading the Life within the context of seventeenth-century uses of dissimulation and spatial control as strategies to limit both intellectual and physical access to information. It argues
that the series was imbued with multiple layers of meaning, intended for different audiences, and that access to these was strictly controlled by the queen and her circle.
Essays in edited volumes by Sara Galletti
Architectural History, 2021
In his Premier tome de l’architecture (1567) — the first original, comprehensive architectural tr... more In his Premier tome de l’architecture (1567) — the first original, comprehensive architectural treatise written by a French author — Philibert Delorme (c. 1514–1570) claims to be the first to formulate a theory of divine proportions, which he describes as a set of rules recorded in the Old Testament as directly dictated by God to men for the construction of the Ark of Noah, the Ark of the Covenant, and the Temple and House of Solomon. Yet the author does not develop the theory of divine proportions in the Premier tome and postpones it instead to the second volume of his treatise. As a second volume was never published (and likely never written), Delorme readers are left with a handful of less-than-coherent references and illustrations of a theory that remains largely obscure. Yet the elements of theory of divine proportions contained in the Premier tome provide historians with an understanding of the genesis of the treatise itself, thus ultimately helping to raise broader questions about the book and its author. This paper shows how Delorme’s divine proportions offer a key to understanding the conception and composition of his treatise as well as to the process of intellectual development of the author and the changes in the nature and scope of his written work.
The Life of Maria de’ Medici, the biographical series of twenty-four large-size paintings execute... more The Life of Maria de’ Medici, the biographical series of twenty-four large-size paintings executed for the Queen Mother of France by Peter Paul Rubens in 1622 –25, is traditionally regarded by historians as both a masterpiece of Baroque art and a monument of political naïveté. According to this view, the series was a disrespectful visual bravado that exposed both patron and painter to scandal by publicly advertising the queen’s political ideas and ambitions, which were not only audacious, but often in opposition to those of her son King Louis XIII. This article challenges this
assessment by reading the Life within the context of seventeenth-century uses of dissimulation and spatial control as strategies to limit both intellectual and physical access to information. It argues
that the series was imbued with multiple layers of meaning, intended for different audiences, and that access to these was strictly controlled by the queen and her circle.