Geology + Geometry in Venice

The Geology and Geometry of Venetian Floors

I am loving *this amazing book full of beautiful pictures and interesting quotes. (The author Tudy Sammartini has also written on the clocktowers and gardens of Venice, and has some videos here. She seems to be a long-term resident of Venice.)

Good quotes

p.15: "Let us pretend we have the task assigned to the architect monk who designed St Mark's Basilica. As he drew up the plan for the floor, he genuinely believed he was bringing heaven and earth together. That was why he used shapes not only from traditional heritage but also ones that evoke and give voice to figures from Christian mysticism. In the plan of St. Mark's, the four arms of a Greek cross intersect in a square in which a cicle represents a projection of the dome of the Ascension. This point is the fulcrum of the entire edifice. The correspondence between summit and base represents the meeting of heaven and earth. In mystical symbolism, the circle is the development of the centre, representing its dynamic aspect, and the square is its static manifestation. Another emblematic motif is the dodecagon ...."

Parts of the text - emphasised above - include the magical flavour of continental florescence. This may suggest that the original was written in Italian, then translated in such an excellent way that is almost as beautiful and evocative in English as it would have been in the orginal.

The dodecagon, we learn (ibid.) was held by Euclid and Plato to be "the perfect shape". It "represented 'divinity' in mathematics" for Luca Pacioli, while for Christians, the twelveness symbolizes either the twelve tribes of Israel or the twelve prophecies of Revelation (or both).  Moreover: "... the most surprising aspect is the harmonious, unified conception of all the different parts of the church. In particular there is a perfect iconographic correspondence between the mosaics in the vaults and the geometric patterns of the floor".

However, the book does not always join up.  Page 20 shows an image of cicular-geometric patterns from El Djem (Thysdrus) in Tunisia. I searched in vain for references to this in the text, eventually finding a brief reference on p.15. Why were these two not cross-referenced? It would have been so easy. (Incidentally, the caption of teh image on p.20 contains one of the few editorial errors I have noticed - the name "George Tradier" should presumably be "George Pradier". Others call him "Fradier".)

George Fradier. 1982. Mosaïques Romaines de Tunisie.

The images are magnificent ....

I cannot believe that the great Michele Emmer played no role in this project. For where are floors if not in Flatland?!

* Sammartini, Tudy. 2000. Decorative Floors of Venice. London: Merrell.