Forts of Nothing

JF Ptak Science Books   Quick Post

Part of the series on the History of Blank, Empty, and Missing Things

 These interesting images of fortifications--protective of nothing, staffed by no one, generally in no landscape--are very lonely design representations found in Pietro Cataneo's I Quattro Primi Libris di Architettura, and printed in 1654.  They are forts that protect and capture nothing, at least in this book--they are simply perspectives for fortification design.  They float beautifully in the text, lifted somewhat from the pages unencumbered by any human detail. 

 

 

Full text available from the Internet Archive: : https://archive.org/details/iquattroprimilib00cata