FILARETE’S BODY: Unpacking the Pregnancy analogy in the Renaissance Patronage Context Berrin Terim Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture and Design Research Paul Emmons Donald Kunze Marcia Feuerstein Jaan Holt April 22, 2021 Alexandria, Virginia Keywords: patronage anthropomorphism disegno generation architecture © 2021 by Berrin Terim FILARETE’S BODY: Unpacking the Pregnancy analogy in the Renaissance Patronage Context Berrin Terim ABSTRACT Fifteenth century Florentine architect Il Filarete authored the first illustrated book on architecture, with a distinct pedagogical agenda to teach his patron to build nobly. Written as a dialogical narrative, taking place between a patron and his architect, the treatise’s pedagogical tone unfolds as a form of storytelling about the design and construction of an ideal city. Despite its miscellaneous aspects embedded in the book, which differentiates it significantly from the architectural treatises belonging to the Western cannon, the author stresses his role as an architect, and proposes an unprecedented analogy to define the role of the architect (his profession) in regards to building practice [edificare]. Extending the Vitruvian body topos under the influence of Civic Humanism to an organic anthropomorphism, Filarete bases the generation of a building on similar grounds to human generation, through which he defines gender-specific roles to the patron (male agent) as the father of the building, and the architect (female agent) as its mother. This generally known analogy, although it has been frequently mentioned, was not taken as a clue that can pertain to the essence of architectural production in the Renaissance patronage context. In this dissertation, I propose to contextualize his unprecedented proposal within the larger framework of the production agency of building in the early modern period, and how architecture as a profession is defined within that. FILARETE’S BODY: Unpacking the Pregnancy analogy in the Renaissance Patronage Context Berrin Terim GENERAL AUDIENCE ABSTRACT In this dissertation, I have offered an in-depth analysis of Filarete’s “generation” analogy for building production in the quattrocento Renaissance context. Filarete is a fifteenth century Florentine sculptor turned architect, who owns his fame to the extraordinary book he wrote – Libro Architettonico – in which he could demonstrate the wonders he can build with the aid of a devoted patron. Targeting at the ideology of the patron’s fame to be established through the noble edifices he builds, Filarete signifies the temporal nature of buildings which ends in ruins –as the Roman antiquity is perceived in the Renaissance –. Relying on ancient “body” metaphor for architecture, Filarete offers an analogy to his patron to perceive buildings similar to “a living man,” that eventually dies. Accordingly, the generation of buildings is introduced as similar to generation of man. Based on a sexual metaphor Filarete coins here, the patron takes the role of the father, to generate “his” building together with an architect – mother–. Similar to a pregnant mother, the architect develops the design in his realm to deliver in the form of a scaled artifact (whether a drawing or a wooden model). Filarete suggests the architect – mother– to be the wet-nurse, signifying the ongoing process of design during construction and the architect’s role to ensure its integrity to the building. This unprecedented analogy, although was never studied in depth, carries many connotations when examined in Renaissance patronage context and reflects significant nuances regarding the production of such noble building. The patron’s influence in design is recognized with the father role, which has a long and prominent history in comparison to the emerging individuality of the Renaissance artist. In this well-established scheme, Filarete relies on the creative faculties of an artist, as associated with female attributes since the antiquity, yet extends it further to motherhood to define “architect” as a professional title. This unique interpretation parallels the emerging notions of family during the Renaissance, as perpetuated by Civic Humanism. A comparative study of the family treatises of the fifteenth century shows that the emphasis on the mother in the growth of a child parallels Filarete’s intentions to convince his patron to rely on his architect for the good of his building. In the overall pedagogical tone of the Libro, Filarete is educating the patron to build nobly, which is offered as a stylistic choice to build in the ancient manner, and introduces the architect as an equal agent of the design process, distinguishing its role from a mason. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Nine-year long journey of this dissertation was quite like a nine-turn (seven ring) Cretan labyrinth… The straight path convolutes with opposite turns, and walking in the same direction (with no turning back) allows you to reach to its core, however without ever knowing your orientation. Many people have been there for me in this journey, whom I would like to acknowledge. First, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Dr. Paul Emmons, who has patiently guided me throughout my research, helped me refine my focus and encouraged me to explore it to its fullest extent. His appreciation of my work, and his confidence in me as a scholar meant a lot. Without his support, this work wouldn’t be in this form. I would like to thank my committee members for their contributions in every critical turn of this project. Dr. Marcia Feuerstein’s “Body and Building” class perhaps, planted the seeds of the larger question of this dissertation. I’m grateful for her inspiring and engaging conversations that allowed me to make critical connections in my work. I would like to acknowledge Jaan Holt, first of all for being the director of that magic place called WAAC. His infectious passion for architecture has always revealed the subtlest beauties in details, and helped me perceive those in my disseration. And lastly, an eccentric “thank you” for Dr. Don Kunze is saved. If one could only guess what Odyssey replied to the Cyclops when he asked his name by just coining to look into The Purloined Letter… As his mentorship turned into a strong friendship, his guidance and advice started surpassing the limits of this given project. Time is completely altered in his feedback, and now I’ve come to appreciate the delay. In that regard, my early aspirations for his role in my committee, turned into a longer project which I’m excited to embark upon, and I’m truly grateful to him for graciously giving me that extension. I consider myself extremely lucky for having an amazing cohort at the WAAC. I would like to thank Carolina Dayer, for showing me the magic of / in architecture, Karima Benbih for always carefully listening to me and asking the right questions, and Andreea Mihalache for assuring me that “it will all be good at the end – if it’s not good, it’s not the end.” I’m grateful to Jonathan Foote for graciously sharing his research with me, and pointing out the connections he found that relates to Filarete’s analogy. His insights on wet-nurse helped me shape my argument, although its shortcomings remain entirely my own. I also want to acknowledge former WAAC graduates, whose research stories were inspiring. It was an honor to present in the Frascari IV symposium Federica Goffi and late Mary Vaughan Johnson organized. Especially I want to thank Federica for her incredible insights on my paper, and her invaluable feedback which allowed me to tie up the loose ends of this dissertation. A very special acknowledgment is saved for my lacter partner, Jodi La Coe. The one empty cube in the book shelves that divided our desks to see each other’s face, turned into our virtual frame where we v continued our work sessions. I’m truly grateful for relentlessly typing Fwu8f2 – the password of the daily zoom session – every single day. Without your virtual presence and mental support, I wouldn’t even write a word. I want to extend my gratitude to Julia Schmidth, Professor of Italian at Clemson University, for allowing me to sit in her class to learn the language. I’m also indebted to Luca Barratoni for graciously helping me with some translations of the text. Their help was matched with the help I received from the wonderful staff of Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale de Firenze. Especially I want to thank Susanna Pelle for helping me with the purchase of the images and, I also want to acknowledge the staff of Biblioteca Marciana for allowing me to spend hours on the digitized copy of the Latin translation. During the preliminary phase of my research, I had the chance to spend a summer in the Library of Congress. I’m grateful to their staff for their help in finding, possibly all the sources I needed. In 2016, I started teaching in the School of Architecture at Clemson University, which housed the most amazing, collegial and supporting faculty. I’m grateful to Kate Schwensenn for giving me the opportunity for being a part of this family, and her generous support. I would like to acknowledge our new director, Jim Stevens for his equal encouragement. I would like to acknowledge my family here, who continuously expressed their faith in me. My parents, Selma and Vahit, my brother Burak and my sister-in-law Özlem; thank you so much for your ongoing support from overseas. Finally, this nine-year long study on the relation of motherhood with architecture, coincided with the motherhood journeys of family members and loved ones. My best friend Mirey, who spent long hours hearing about my dissertation, delivered her baby-girl (Keren), the same day I sent my dissertation to my committee.