This study investigates the changing understanding of the role of the ???architect??? in Italy during the sixteenth century by examining frontispieces to published architectural treatises. From analysis of these illustrations four attributes emerge as important to new societal understandings of the role of ???architect.??? The first attribute is the desire to delineate the boundaries of knowledge for architecture as a discipline, relevant to sixteenth-century society. The second is the depiction of the ???architect,??? as an intellectual engaged in the resolution of practical, political, economic and philosophical considerations of his practice. The third represents the ???architect??? having a specific domain of activity in the design of civic spaces of magnificence not only for patrons but also for the city per se. The fourth represents the ???architect??? and society as perceiving a commonality of an architectural role beyond the boundary of individual locations and patrons. Five treatises meet the criteria set for this study: Sebastiano Serlio???s Regole generali di architetura sopra le Cinque maniere de gli edifici cio??, Toscano, Dorico, Ionico, Corinthio, et Composito, con gli essempi dell???antiquita, che, per la magior parte concordano con la dottrina di Vitruvio, 1537, his, Il Terzo libro nel qual si figurano, e descrivono le antichita di Roma, 1540, Cosimo Bartoli???s translation of Alberti???s De re aedificatoria titled L???architettura di Leonbattista Alberti, tradotta in lingua fiorentina da Cossimo Bartoli, Gentilhuomo, & Academico Fiorentino, 1550; Daniele Barbaro???s translation and commentary on Vitruvius??? De???architetura titled, I dieci libri dell???architettura di M. Vitruvio tradutti et commentati da monsignor Barbaro eletto Patriarca d???Aquileggia, 1556; and Andrea Palladio???s I quattro libri dell???architettura, 1570. A second aim for the study was to review the usefulness of frontispieces as an historical archive. It was found that frontispieces visually structure important ideas by providing a narrative with meaning as an integral part of the illustration. In this narrative frontispiece illustrations prioritise concepts found in the accompanying text and impose a hierarchical structure of importance for fundamental ideas.

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No abstract available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1985

This thesis is composed of two parts, one a translation, the other a commentary on the material that has been translated---a set of three well known identically entitled works by the famous Indian Buddhist scholar, Kamalasila (c. 740--795 C.E.). The Bhavanakramas are here translated from both Sanskrit and Tibetan sources. The commentary takes the form of an extended critical Prologue to the texts and is centred around an examination of the notions of meditation and insight as found therein. The first chapter of the commentary examines the various terms for meditation found in the texts and argues for a specific way of translating them that regards as normative only one of these, that is, bhavana . The argument is made that if one is to take the basic Buddhist distinction between intellectual and experiential wisdom seriously, no other concept of meditation will prove satisfactory. The concept of bhavana is contrasted with that of dhyana, and explained in light of other important terms, notably samadhi, samatha and vipasyana. Two different conceptions of samadhi are identified as existing within the texts, one corresponding with dhyana and one with bhavana. The latter is identified as predominant. This conception holds that meditation is not to be principally identified as non-conceptual in nature, but rather encompasses both nonconceptual states and conceptual processes. These latter, however, are not to be identified with ordinary reasoning processes (cintamayi prajna) but rather with a form of experiential knowing (bhavanamayi prajna, vipasyana) that is conceptual in nature. It is in accordance with this conception that the actual translation of the texts has been undertaken. / The second chapter of the commentary examines the concept of insight (vipasyana) in light of the earlier findings. Here the text is analyzed for its explanations of its insight, understood in terms of the important technical term bhutapratyavekṣa . Here an argument is made for translating this term in a particular manner consistent with the conception of meditation outlined in Chapter 1. The term is explored in light of key passages containing descriptions of the cultivation of wisdom as well as in light of other important technical terms appearing in the texts, notably dharmapravicaya, smṛti and manasikara. Chapter 2 closes with a discussion of Kamalasila's ideas of sravaka insight meditation (vipasyana) and how it differs from that of the Mahayana. Most notable in this regard is the suggestion that Kamalasila may have regarded sravaka insight practices (vipasyana) as instances of samatha meditation. In the third chapter the suggestion is made that such considerations could lead to the development of an important area of future research into the differences among diverse Indian Buddhist traditions. The concluding section of Chapter 3 contains a summary of the concrete findings of this analysis.

This study investigates the changing understanding of the role of the ???architect??? in Italy during the sixteenth century by examining frontispieces to published architectural treatises. From analysis of these illustrations four attributes emerge as important to new societal understandings of the role of ???architect.??? The first attribute is the desire to delineate the boundaries of knowledge for architecture as a discipline, relevant to sixteenth-century society. The second is the depiction of the ???architect,??? as an intellectual engaged in the resolution of practical, political, economic and philosophical considerations of his practice. The third represents the ???architect??? having a specific domain of activity in the design of civic spaces of magnificence not only for patrons but also for the city per se. The fourth represents the ???architect??? and society as perceiving a commonality of an architectural role beyond the boundary of individual locations and patrons. Five treatises meet the criteria set for this study: Sebastiano Serlio???s Regole generali di architetura sopra le Cinque maniere de gli edifici cio??, Toscano, Dorico, Ionico, Corinthio, et Composito, con gli essempi dell???antiquita, che, per la magior parte concordano con la dottrina di Vitruvio, 1537, his, Il Terzo libro nel qual si figurano, e descrivono le antichita di Roma, 1540, Cosimo Bartoli???s translation of Alberti???s De re aedificatoria titled L???architettura di Leonbattista Alberti, tradotta in lingua fiorentina da Cossimo Bartoli, Gentilhuomo, & Academico Fiorentino, 1550; Daniele Barbaro???s translation and commentary on Vitruvius??? De???architetura titled, I dieci libri dell???architettura di M. Vitruvio tradutti et commentati da monsignor Barbaro eletto Patriarca d???Aquileggia, 1556; and Andrea Palladio???s I quattro libri dell???architettura, 1570. A second aim for the study was to review the usefulness of frontispieces as an historical archive. It was found that frontispieces visually structure important ideas by providing a narrative with meaning as an integral part of the illustration. In this narrative frontispiece illustrations prioritise concepts found in the accompanying text and impose a hierarchical structure of importance for fundamental ideas.

No description available.

In this half thesis the use of the garden as a metaphor for paradise has been explored. The English word “ paradise“ was derived from the Greek word “ paradeisos” which in turn was derived from the Old Avestana “ pairi-daeza,” meaning an enclosure. In Ancient Persia the concept applied to an enclosed garden in the modern sense of the word. For this reason the thesis begins with an examination of the development of the garden in this desert region. A more-or-less continuous chain of development in both the physical and allegorical nature of the garden is traced through history from these Ancient Persian beginnings to the height of Mughal architecture (epitomised by the Taj Mahal), by way of the Muslim expansion through Central Asia and Europe. While the core elements of garden design were set in Ancient Persian times, and recur throughout the period studied, the impact of Islam on the local Persian culture brought about a new development of allegorical meaning associated with the garden. This allegorical development reached its apex, too, in the Taj Mahal in which, it is argued, the metaphorical representation of paradise in the garden tomb was made astonishingly explicit. The research for this mini thesis was gathered from secondary sources, including many published books and academic papers, photographic and diagrammatic evidence of extant ancient gardens, and reproductions of carpet designs.

The English reformation, unlike that in Germany and Switzerland, evolved over a fairly long span of time. At first Luther's works were sold unchecked by English booksellers, being first prohibited in 1520. Over the next few years the advance of reforming ideas was considered so serious as to merit the further attention of the English Crown. By 1524 it was found necessary to enforce a law prohibiting the importation of theological texts into England, and efforts were made to suppress the further spread of the Protestant heresy throughout the realm. However, despite the Act of Parliament and a wave of persecutions the church was unable to stop the influx of prohibited books, which came off the printing presses of Germany and the Low Countries. With the aid of the revised version of the S.T.C. and additional catalogues of early printed writings, it has been possible to compile a list of foreign publications, all of which were intended for the English reader. These texts printed in the vernacular were written and commissioned by English writers forced into exile for their own safety, but also determined to establish Protestant Ideas In their own country. It is difficult to determine the exact numbers of Protestant books entering the country, but some Indication of their appeal can be found from the lists of prohibited books issued by the Ecclesiastical authorities. A detailed examination of these publications yields a clear picture of the theological teaching of Englands earliest Protestants. By carefully comparing these ideas with those of earlier heretics and contemporary reformers, it has been possible to assess the extent to which outside ideas has influenced the minds of these men. Further analysis has revealed the original and subtle genius of men who combined the ideas of the Continental reformers with those native to the English tradition, in order to produce a reformed theology which appealed to the unique situation in their own country.

No description available.