Antonino Pellicanò. From Galileo Galilei to Cosimo Noferi towards a New Science. The 'Troubled Architecture'. An Unpublished Galileian Treatise in 1650 Florence

Translation by Francesco
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Antonino Pellicanò

Da Galileo Galilei a Cosimo Noferi verso una Nuova Scienza.

La Travagliata Architettura. Un inedito trattato galileiano nella Firenze del 1650
[From Galileo Galilei to Cosimo Noferi towards a New Science. The 'Troubled Architecture'. An Unpublished Galileian Treatise in 1650 Florence]

Firenze University Press, 2005

[1] Text of back cover:

"The need to identify more clearly the influence of science, which marks the evolution of urban areas since the seventeenth century, is at the root of this monograph, which, starting from some of the works of Galileo Galilei, wants to determine how his scientific influence and also his work as a master have arisen in the field of architecture and urbanism.

Through this work Cosimo Noferi - while constantly anchored to the experiences of Renaissance Florence - applies the emerging developments from the discoveries of the Pisa-born scientist to architecture. Thereby, he draws a new and very precise evolution of the techniques, and links them to the economic, political, social, technical, cultural features of the seventeenth century. The modernity of the contents of the Travagliata Architettura (Troubled Architecture) (1656-1660) while remaining within the united framework of Renaissance culture, breaks with the traditional treatises; these characters make it consider a milestone from which to restart the evolution of knowledge of the constitutive features of modern architecture."

[2] On Cosimo Noferi we know very little. A primary source for the Florentine life of the seventeenth century as Baldinucci even does not quotes him. Few, but valuable elements of information are provided by Angelo Comolli in Volume III of his Bibliografia storico-critica dell’architettura civile ed arti subalterne (Historical-Critical Bibliography of Civil Architecture and Subordinate Arts) (pp. 222-223). Here it is: "Interesting is also the Trattato di prospettiva pratica [n.d..t. Treaty of practical perspective] yet unpublished, of Cosimo de' Noferi, another Florentine, famous mathematician, and architect of the XVII century. The above praised Senator Giovan Battista Nelli owns several unpublished works of him, on which we will discuss in more passages; among these is also to be found the above mentioned Treatise on Perspective. According to the report which Mr. Senator himself provided me, the Treatise is divided into two parts: the first considers what belongs to the plant and the profile of whatever building; it discusses the perspective in general, the features which are required to draw in perspective, the use to be made of plants and profiles, and other useful methods, because they are easy to execute. The second part then contains many rules of thumb, and examples of how to draw in perspective. All the work - reflects the same Lord - , was very helpful for the times in which it was written, which can be believed around 1640, and includes several good rules of thumb; however, as the perspective of the Jesuit P. Pozzo was subsequently published, its value remained therefore somewhat diminished.

On this Cosimo de 'Noferi ... speaks briefly Father Negri. From him, and from the few elements which the praised Mr. Senator mentions in his various letters, I gather that he was an able man, diligent in writing down his arguments, and versatile in civil and military architecture, and all mathematics; but he is not much known to the public, either because he was perhaps persecuted, or because he did not care for fame and glory. From other works of him, to which we will refer elsewhere, we will make better acquaintance with his skills, and his knowledge."

[3] As known, Comolli's work remained incomplete, limiting itself only to civil architecture. However, it is our impression that he did not know the Troubled Architecture, and this at least for two reasons: first, because, if it had been known, he would have had to talk about it precisely in the field of civil architecture; second, for Comolli explains he knows Mr Noferi through the papers of Nelli. Antonino Pellicanò (page 1 note 4) indicates that the works of Noferi are maintained in the National Library in Florence, but in two different archives: some within the Galilean manuscripts (including the Troubled Architecture) and others right between the cards of Nelli ("and between them must be counted the treatises on perspective"). On the other hand it is to be mentioned that Noferi’s writings on perspective are as yet completely unknown (they are not mentioned by either the Vagnetti or by Veltman).

[4] Why is architecture named as “troubled"? Noferi explains himself immediately in the preface: "... troubled equals to poor, tired, weak and vacillating, all humble adjectives rather than haughty titles... It would have been too bold, if I had wanted to write the Architecture, and if I had uses a similar title as the works of Vitruvius, or Serlio, or Vignola". And Pellicanò feels the need to point out that, while his basic assumption remains "a sort of adhesion to the Florentine school" (p. 25), "... the included topics treat about architecture in a unified way in relation to its components, apparently excluding the aspect which had instead most thrilled historians of architecture, namely aesthetics. He entrusts it to the sensitivity of the artist, to his inventions, to his elaboration of the rules according to the new criteria required by the quality of the buildings and the areas of intervention. As to the feautures which are most specifically related to the treatises, the most striking novelty is the total discrepancy from the traditional treatises of the time, not only with regard to the patterns derived from Alberti and now already modified by Serlio, but rather because of a new classification of aesthetic problems, both practical and substantial. Town-related urban elements enter into the treatise with full energy: gardens, fountains, bridges, mills, aqueducts, control of rivers and streams are the backbone of the work ... In no other treaties of his time and until the end of century there seems to be other texts linking architecture, scientific culture and mutual connections, so incisively and in a concentrated way" (p. 26). The work consists of four books, the first two dedicated to architecture and the second ones to waters, "bearing in mind, however, that the interconnections are always very strong, so they need reminders ... to complete the understanding of the guidelines and the applications suggested by Noferi ... In what concerns the architecture, the first two books ... treat, the first of the qualities of the good architect (Delle qualitadi del buon architetto) divided in two speeches and then three other speeches dealing with foundations, vaults and trusses . The second book deals with bridges and is also divided into four speeches "(p. 49).

[5] The extensive, but not always linear, initial test of Pellicanò is certainly full of ideas. It includes pages designed to explain how the work of Noferi represents a valuable link in order to measure the fallout of the theses of Galileo (starting from his Discorsi e Dimostrazioni sopra Due Nuove Scienze - Discourses and Demonstrations on Two New Sciences - of 1638) in the field of architecture and hydraulics. Where frankly I feel a duty to report some flaws is precisely on the philological approach to the text. Some examples: it is said that the Troubled Architecture is preserved within the Galilean manuscripts of the National Library of Florence, but the signature hereof is not provided; the drafting of the text is dated back to the period 1656-1660, but there is no mention on what is the evidence for this assessment, whether internal or external to the work. Sometimes appear baffling statements such as this one (p. 27, n. 7): "the full inclusion of Cosimo Noferi under Galilean circles is then witnessed by four unpublished letters, preserved at the BNCF [Note of the translator: National Central Library of Florence], displaying the evidence of an interest for him between 1650 to 1679 ", and not only the main passages of the same letters are not transcribed, but even the signature is not quoted. For explicit choice, there is no series of notes to the text; the criteria of transcription are not transcribed; in the Vocabulary of the terms contained in the Troubled Architecture (pp. 467-480), which also has potentially significant importance to scholars of the history of language, even the first occurrence in the work of the listed entries is not reported. In conclusion, one remains with the sense that not all screws have been turned up to the end and that probably the work could have been handled better.

[6] It is to be remember, finally, that Antonino Pellicanò is also the author of Del Periodo giovanile di Galileo Galilei – Il Trattato di Fortificazione – Alla radice del pensiero scientifico e dell’urbanistica moderni (On the Juvenile Period of Galileo Galilei - The Treaty of Fortification - At the root of scientific thought and modern planning) edited in Rome by Gangemi Publishers, 2000. https://letteraturaartistica.blogspot.com/2013/11/english-version-brian-tovey-cura-di.html