Giuliano da Sangallo and the Ruins of Rome

Professor Cammy Brothers will be presenting on her recent book publication, titled: Giuliano da Sangallo and the Ruins of Rome.

Giuliano da Sangallo (1443–1516) was one of the first architects to draw the ruins and artifacts of ancient Rome in a systematic way. He played a crucial role in the Renaissance recovery of antiquity, and his work transformed the broken fragments of Rome’s past into the image of a city made whole. Giuliano’s inventive approach, which has often been mischaracterized as fantastical or naive, infused the architect’s craft with the sensibilities of a poet and painter. His drawings form the basis for a reevaluation of the meaning and method of the Renaissance study of ancient artifacts and bring to life the moment when artists and architects began to view the fragments of ancient Rome not as broken artifacts of little interest but as objects of aesthetic contemplation.