Medieval Commentaries on Aristotle’s Ethics as a lieu for Architectural Thinking
(2023) British Archaeological Association — Location: London (29.November.2023)
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- The lack of architectural treatises written in the medieval period has forced medievalists to search elsewhere for scarce insights into architectural design principles and ideas behind buildings. Although many insights have been gained from texts and archival documents related to specific buildings, more normative literature such as ethical works have been overlooked. This paper proposes to explore 13th -century commentaries on Aristotle’s Ethica Nicomachea as an understudied source for architectural advice literature and as a lieu for theoretical reflection on architecture. In the second half of the 13th century Aristotle’s Ethics was translated into Latin for the first time. Shortly after, scholars such as Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas and Giles of Rome wrote influential commentaries in which they explained the ancient text to contemporary audiences. Architecture was of little concern for Aristotle. His commentators however reflect much more on buildings and connect it to ethical behaviour. Not only did the discussion of certain virtues, such as magnificence, allow authors to reflect on what virtuous architecture looks like (it should radiate permanence) and what it should establish (a glance upon a virtuous building should provoke admiration and deter enemies from attacking it); it also made the authors reflect the relation between architecture and virtue in a more theocratical way (such as a similar need for proportionality and balance). These commentaries probably remained inaccessible for master builders as the text was mainly written for scholars but also for potential patrons of architecture. For this audience these texts provided, besides a justification for architectural patronage, concepts and a vocabulary for thinking about architecture.
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Dijkdrent, M. (2023). Medieval Commentaries on Aristotle’s Ethics as a lieu for Architectural Thinking. British Archaeological Association, London. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/30459