Information For The Media
Cambridge University Press author awarded prestigious Phyllis Goodhart Gordan Prize
The Renaissance Society of America (RSA) has awarded its prestigious Phyllis Goodhart Gordan Prize to Peter Fane-Saunders for his book Pliny the Elder and the Emergence of Renaissance Architecture, published by Cambridge University Press.
The Phyllis Goodhart Gordan Prize is presented annually to the author of the best book in Renaissance studies (1300-1700), in recognition of significant accomplishments in the field.
The RSA committee said: ‘Peter Fane-Saunders masters a formidable and important topic with sophistication, erudition, and engaging prose. In offering the first comprehensive analysis of the Italian Renaissance reception of Pliny the Elder's writing on architecture, his book fills a significant gap in our understanding of early modern architecture. It makes a major contribution to our conception of the transmission of ideas from ancient Rome into the European architectural tradition.’
The Naturalis historia by Pliny the Elder provided Renaissance scholars, artists and architects with details of ancient architectural practice and long-lost architectural wonders – material that was often unavailable elsewhere in classical literature. Pliny's descriptions frequently included the dimensions of these buildings, as well as details of their unusual construction materials and ornament.
Beatrice Rehl, Publisher of Archaeology, Art History, and Religious Studies at Cambridge University Press said: ‘We are delighted that the work of Peter Fane-Saunders has been recognised by the RSA through this award. We are proud to publish his insightful and engaging work on Pliny the Elder’.
This book describes, for the first time, how the passages were interpreted from around 1430 to 1580, that is, from Alberti to Palladio. Chapters are arranged chronologically within three interrelated sections – antiquarianism; architectural writings; drawings and built monuments – thereby making it possible for the reader to follow the changing attitudes to Pliny over the period. The resulting study establishes the Naturalis historia as the single most important literary source after Vitruvius's De architectura.
ENDS
Notes for editors
About the Author
Peter Fane-Saunders received his BA in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute; MPhil in History and Theory of Architecture from the University of Bath, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering; and doctorate from the Warburg Institute, London. He was a Rome Fellow at the British School at Rome; visiting scholar at the Istituto Svizzero di Roma; recipient of the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation annual grant for research into Venetian history and culture; and Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow, Department of Classics and Ancient History, University of Durham. He has lectured at Durham and Birkbeck, University of London.
For an author interview or more information please contact Ella Fornari at Cambridge University Press: [email protected].
About Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University's mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence.
Its extensive peer-reviewed publishing lists comprise 50,000 titles covering academic research and professional development, as well as school-level education and English language teaching.
Playing a leading role in today's international marketplace, Cambridge University Press has more than 50 offices around the globe, and it distributes its products to nearly every country in the world.