How the Italian Renaissance reinvented the power of princes by rediscovering Vitruvius and his architecture-and justified their right to rule. In Vitruvius- Writing the Body of Architecture, Indra Kagis McEwen argued that Vitruvius's first-century BC treatise De architectura was informed by imperial ideology, giving architecture a role in the imperial Roman project of world rule. In her sequel, All the King's Horses, McEwen focuses on the early Renaissance reception of Vitruvius's thought beginning with Petrarch-a political reception preoccupied with legitimating existing power structures. During this "age of princes" various signori took over Italian towns and cities, displacing independent communes and their avowed ideal of the common good. In turn, architects, taking up Vitruvius's mantle, designed for these princes with the intent of making their power manifest-and celebrating "the rule of one." Through meticulous descriptions of the work of architects and artists from Leon Battista Alberti to Leonardo, McEwen explains how architecture became an instrument of control in the early Italian Renaissance. She shows how architectural magnificence supported claims to power, a phenomenon best displayed in one of the era's most prominent monumental themes- the equestrian statue of a prince, in which the horse became an emanation of the will of the rider, its strength the expression of his strength.

All the King’s Horses: Vitruvius in an Age of Princes

Arts & Photography

McEwen, Indra Kagis

History & Criticism

The MIT Press

Socrates' Ancestor is a rich and poetic exploration of architectural beginnings and the dawn of Western philosophy in preclassical Greece. Architecture precedes philosophy, McEwen argues, and it was here, in the archaic Greek polis, that Western architecture became the cradle of Western thought. McEwen's appreciation of the early Greek understanding of the indissolubility of craft and community yields new insight into such issues as orthogonal planning and the appearance of the encompassing colonnade - the ptera or "wings" - that made Greek temples Greek.  Who was Socrates' ancestor? Socrates claims it was Daedalus, the mythical first architect. Socrates' ancestors were also the first Western philosophers: the preSocratic thinkers of archaic Greece where the Greek city-state with its monumental temples first came to light. McEwen brilliantly draws out the connections between Daedalus and the earliest Greek thinkers, between architecture and the advent of speculative thought. She argues that Greek thought and Greek architecture share a common ground in the amazing fabrications of the legendary Daedalus: statues so animated with divine life that they had to be bound in chains, the Labyrinth where Theseus slew the Minotaur, Ariadne's dancing floor in Knossos.  Socrates' Ancestor is an exploration as remarkable for its clarity as for its avoidance of reductionism. Drawing as much on the power of myth and metaphor as on philosophical, philological, and historical considerations, McEwen first reaches backward: from Socrates to the earliest written record of Western philosophy in the Anaximander B1 fragment, and its physical expression in Anaximander's built work - a "cosmic model" that consisted of a celestial sphere, a map of the world, and the first Greek sun clock. From daedalean artifacts she draws out the centrality of early Greek craftsmanship and its role in the making of the Greek city-state. The investigation then moves James forward to a discussion of the polis and the first great peripteral temples that anchored for the meaning of "city."  Indra Kagis McEwen teaches architecture at the National Theatre School of Canada and at I'Université duQuébec à Montréal.

Socrates' Ancestor: An Essay on Architectural Beginnings

Architecture

Mit Pr

Vitruvius, as he himself lamented, was not a success professionally nor was he a talented writer, yet his De architectura , written for the new emperor Augustus, was the single most important architectural text for 1600 years. This scholarly and well-illustrated study examines the historical framework for the text, including the influence of contemporary philosophical thought and actual events, such as Augustus establishing his kingship and divinity. McEwan considers the ways in which Vitruvius united ten scrolls into one text and how the book was a product of the Roman concept of honour and patronage. Chapters also examine the links Vitruvius made between buildings and the human body, the idea of kingship and Augustus' unprecedented building programme. The study combines historical analysis with a close reading of the text and is illustrated throughout with examples of Greek and Roman buildings and artworks.

Vitruvius: Writing the Body of Architecture

MIT Press]

Socrates' Ancestor is a rich and poetic exploration of architectural beginnings and the dawn of Western philosophy in preclassical Greece. Architecture precedes philosophy, McEwen argues, and it was here, in the archaic Greek polis, that Western architecture became the cradle of Western thought. McEwen's appreciation of the early Greek understanding of the indissolubility of craft and community yields new insight into such issues as orthogonal planning and the appearance of the encompassing colonnade - the ptera or "wings" - that made Greek temples Greek. Who was Socrates' ancestor? Socrates claims it was Daedalus, the mythical first architect. Socrates' ancestors were also the first Western philosophers: the preSocratic thinkers of archaic Greece where the Greek city-state with its monumental temples first came to light. McEwen brilliantly draws out the connections between Daedalus and the earliest Greek thinkers, between architecture and the advent of speculative thought. She argues that Greek thought and Greek architecture share a common ground in the amazing fabrications of the legendary Daedalus: statues so animated with divine life that they had to be bound in chains, the Labyrinth where Theseus slew the Minotaur, Ariadne's dancing floor in Knossos. Socrates' Ancestor is an exploration as remarkable for its clarity as for its avoidance of reductionism. Drawing as much on the power of myth and metaphor as on philosophical, philological, and historical considerations, McEwen first reaches backward: from Socrates to the earliest written record of Western philosophy in the Anaximander B1 fragment, and its physical expression in Anaximander's built work - a "cosmic model" that consisted of a celestial sphere, a map of the world, and the first Greek sun clock. From daedalean artifacts she draws out the centrality of early Greek craftsmanship and its role in the making of the Greek city-state. The investigation then moves James forward to a discussion of the polis and the first great peripteral temples that anchored for the meaning of "city."

Perrault argues that rules of architecture be determined by reason, not by ancient precedent.

Ordonnance for the Five Kinds of Columns after the Method of the Ancients (Texts & Documents)

Perrault, Claude

The Getty Center For The History Of Art

Ordonnance for the Five Kinds of Columns after the Method of the Ancients (Texts and Documents Series)

Oxford University Press

<div>Jean McEwen (1923-1999) was a Canadian painter who was known for his abstract, colourful paintings. De ma main à la couleur (Hand to Colour) is a series of 16 watercolour paintings accompanied by handwritten poetry by McEwen. The book will include an essay by art historian and writer Laurier Lacroix, and an additional text by McEwen's widowed wife Indra McEwen. It is also published to coincide with 50 limited edition box sets that are stamped and authenticated by McEwen's estate. The watercolour series is a collection of love letters addressed to colour, produced near the end of McEwen's life. Poetry was another form of artistic expression for McEwen, with renowned poets Baudelaire and Valéry among his revered idols. The works included in De ma main à la couleur act as precursors to his oil painting series Poèmes barbares (Barbaric Poems), painted during the last year of his life and now represented in the collections of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the National Gallery of Canada. The watercolours of De ma main à la couleur were donated to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts by Indra McEwen, and were exhibited in 2005. McEwen's watercolours and poetry are not as well known and represented in public collections as his oil paintings but they were constant in his art practice throughout his life. De ma main à la couleur aims to fulfill McEwen's desire to have these luminous, colourful works reach a wider public audience.</div>

De ma main à la couleur / Hand to Colour LIMITED EDITION

Terry, Judith

Lacroix, Laurier

McEwen, Jean

Individual Artists

Black Dog Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McEwen, Indra Kagis. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by McEwen, Indra Kagis

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McEwen, Indra Kagis. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

All the King’s Horses: Vitruvius in an Age of Princes

Socrates' Ancestor: An Essay on Architectural Beginnings

Vitruvius: Writing the Body of Architecture

Socrates' Ancestor: An Essay on Architectural Beginnings

Ordonnance for the Five Kinds of Columns after the Method of the Ancients (Texts & Documents)

Ordonnance for the Five Kinds of Columns after the Method of the Ancients (Texts and Documents Series)

De ma main à la couleur / Hand to Colour LIMITED EDITION