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VILLA ADRIANA. ARCHITETTURA CELESTE. I SEGRETI DEI SOLSTIZI - ITALIAN EDITION ONLY
This
book will help you discover a building in Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli
(built in the 2nd century AD), which no one knows about, the Accademia, which is still in private property today and has never been open to the public.
The author studied and surveyed it several years ago, so you will be able to see unpublished images of the Temple of Apollo, a vast circular hall of 13 meters in diameter once covered by a dome, which has been seen,
drawn and described by some of the greatest artists and architects of
the Renaissance: Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Andrea Palladio and Pirro
Ligorio, Raphael.
The Accademia stands on the Accademia Esplanade, which was the highest artificial esplanade of the Villa, together with the Roccabruna building, which is in the public area. You will see unpublished photos of the large internal circular hall of Roccabruna, which is always closed to the public, and other inaccessible environments.
The book explains the astronomical orientation of the two buildings,
where luminous phenomena similar to those we all know at Stonehenge in
England, Abu Simbel in Egypt or Chichen Itzà in Mexico are seen. It was
discovered by the authors, who are the pioneers of Cultural Astronomy of
ancient roman building in Italy.
The illuminations - such as
the Blade of Light visible on the front cover - are seen on the days of
the Summer and Winter solstice.
This discovery allowed us to understand that the Accademia Esplanade was the sacred area of the Villa, its actual Acropolis, the highest and closest to the divinity, and to reconstruct its hidden and mysterious symbolic meaning.
PANTHEON. ARCHITECTURE & LIGHT. ENGLISH EDITION.
If
you have already visited the Pantheon or have not yet done so, this
book will guide you to discover its thousand-year history and will make
you see it in a new light.
It is one of the best preserved ancient Roman buildings, one of the greatest architectural masterpieces of all times. It was designed 1900 years ago to last forever, thanks to a masterful use of materials: we will discover its building secrets.
Even today it has the largest non-reinforced concrete dome in the world, probably created by Apollodorus of Damascus, the most famous architect of the time. It was saved from destruction because in 609 it was donated to Pope Boniface IV and transformed into the church of Santa Maria ad Martyres.
Only in this book will you discover its extraordinary luminous "special effects": the Arc and the Square of Light, which are only seen in April and September.
The Arc of Light perfectly matches the masonry arch above the portal and demonstrates astonishing calculation capabilities, a few millennia before computers... The same goes for the Square of Light.
This book reveals their symbolic meaning, with splendid unpublished photographs: you will truly see it in a new light.
The
emperor was illuminated as if by a theatrical spotlight, the Light
symbolized the favorable presence of the divinity and legitimized his
power.
Hadrian could say to be so powerful that he even commanded the course of the Sun.
VILLA ADRIANA. ARCHITETTURA CELESTE (in Italian language only) Discover a new and fascinating field of research on the meaning of Roman architecture and on the symbolic power of sunlight.
The emperor Hadrian can still amaze us with extraordinary light phenomena that occur in the buildings of the Accademia and in Roccabruna, only during the Solstices.
You can buy it at Rome in the following bookstores:
Libreria Horafelix - Via Reggio Emilia, 89 Roma (near at Museum Macro)
Libreria Cicerone - Largo Chigi, 1A Roma (near at Galleria A. Sordi)
Bistrot di Rienzo al Pantheon - Salita De' Crescenzi, 3 Roma (near at Pantheon)