Villa Farnesina, in honor of Gertrud
Batschelet © 1979-2002 by Franz Gnaedinger,
Villa Farnesina
In honor of Gertrud
Batschelet, who discovered the painting Amphitrite and Poseidon (an exciting story that will be
told in a later version of this chapter)
Farnesina 1 / Farnesina 2 / Farnesina 3 / Farnesina 4 / Farnesina 5 / Farnesina 6 / Farnesina 7 / Farnesina 8 / Farnesina 9 / Farnesina 10 /
Farnesina 11 / Farnesina 12
/ Farnesina 13 / Farnesina 14
/ Farnesina 15 / Farnesina 16
/ Farnesina 17 / Farnesina 18
/ Farnesina 19 / Farnesina 20
/ Farnesina 21 / Farnesina 22
/ Farnesina 23
Leonardo da Vinci, Neptune
with Four Sea-Horses
Leonardo da Vinci, Neptune with Four
Sea-Horses, Windsor, reconstruction of the original format. A small cartoon for
a wall-painting in Agostino Chigi’s Villa? Frame 576 by 754 small units,
painting 398 by 576 small units. Grid 89+89+110+110+89+89 = 576 by
89+89+110+89+89+110+89+89 = 754 small units. 396 small units equal 1 canna
Romana. 144 small units = 81 cm. 576 small units = 324 cm. Painting 223.875 by
324 cm. Frame 324 by 424.125 cm. Scale of the Windsor drawing exactly 1:8 Neptune 1
/ Neptune 2 / Neptune 3 /
Neptune 4 / Neptune 5 / Neptune 6 / Neptune 7
For comparison: Anghiari
1 (Rubens,
Neptune 3 / horse / Leda 1 / Leda 2 / Leda 3 / Leda 4
ed
alcune teste di dei marini bellissime
Amphitrite and
Poseidon: A&P 1a (yellow version) / A&P
1b (yellow version, large) / A&P 1c (sepia) / A&P 1d (blueversion,
small) / A&P 1e (blue version, negative, reveals the plastical
quality of the composition / A&P 1f (black and
white, small).
A few words on the Amphitrite and Poseidon
painting: oil on a fine hand-woven canvas, about 105 by 150 cm, doublated,
large areas including the angels and further small figures and the complete sky
have been removed and painted anew in the 19th century. Painting
purchased by Gertrud Batschelet in 1968 (?) at Roma Corwin’s, Wiltshire
Boulevard., Los Angeles. In my opinion, it might well be the true copy (carried
out by the some 14 years old Noël-Nicolas Coypel?) of a now lost true copy (a
drawing by Rubens?) of a lost small cartoon for another wall-painting in
Agostino Chigi’s villa.
Amphitrite and Poseidon as a virtual
wall-painting in the formerly shorter salon of Agostino Chigi’s villa. Painting
283.5 by 405 cm (14 by 20 units), ideal frame 324 by 445.5 cm (16 by 22 units).
Frame standing on the floor. Height of the vertical axis at the eye level of a
standing man (8 units or 162 cm) A&P 2 / A&P 3
Deriving the ideal plans of the villa from a
cube. 11 units equal 1 canna Romana or about 223 cm. 44 units equal 4 canne
Romane or about 891 cm A&P 4 / A&P 5 / A&P 6 / A&P 7 / A&P 8 / A&P 9 / A&P 10
Geometry of the composition: grid 14x20, axes,
rhomb, a small standing ellipse for the couple Amphitrite and Poseidon, a large
lying ellipse for all the figures, a large lying oval, a large lying rhomb,
circles and squares. The axes of the small standing ellipse measure 8 by 6
units; its focuses are marked by the pupil of the left eye and by the hollow of
the left knee of Amphitrite. The axes of the large lying ellipse measure 14 by
20 small units; its focuses are marked by the left eye of the standing man and
by the left eye of the boy riding on the white horse A&P 11 / A&P
12 / A&P 13
How the measurements of the virtual
wall-painting fit in the ideal salon A&P 14 / A&P 15 / A&P 16
Comparisons
A&P 17 Agostino chigi’s medal (recto),
Amphitrite, Giorgione’s Tempest, Michelangelo’s Delphian Sibyl, Francesco
Albani’s Galatea, Rembrandt’s Bathseba (Louvre) / A&P 18
drawing of an angel by Leonardo (Venice, Academy, n 259 v), right angel from
A&P, couple of hovering angels from Francesco Albani’s painting of Adonis
and the Sleeping Venus (from the cycle of the Four Elements, Louvre) / A&P 18a Comparing the faces of Amphitrite and
Giorgione’s Tempesta woman / A&P 19 Amphitrite,
Michelangelo’s Delphian Sibyl / A&P 20 Master of the
Dice, Venus riding on Dolphins, a dove whispering into her ear / A&P 21 and A&P 22 A&P,
Nicolas Poussin’s first sketch for his Amphitrite painting (Stockholm) / A&P 23 Nicolas Poussin, Neptun and Amphitrite
(Philadelphia) / A&P 24 woodcut after Nicolas
Poussin’s painting) / A&P 24a Noel-Nicolas Coypel,
Abduction of Europe / A&P 25 Tazza Farnese; cameo
showing Poseidon, Amphitrite and swimming boys (both acquired by Adrea del
Verrocchio for the Medicis)
Alles ist gleich,
alles ungleich … (all is equal, all unequal)
Alles, was uns daher
als Zierde ansprechen soll, muss gegliedert sein, und zwar im höheren Sinne,
dass es aus Teilen bestehe, die sich wechselsweise aufeinander beziehen. Hiezu
wird erfordert, dass es eine Mitte habe, ein Oben und Unten, ein Hüben und
Drüben, woraus zuerst Symmetrie entsteht, welche, wenn sie dem Verstande völlig
fasslich bleibt, die Zierde auf der geringsten Stufe genannt werden kann. Je
mannigfaltiger dann aber die Glieder werden, und je mehr jene anfängliche
Symmetrie, verflochten, versteckt, in Gegensätzen abgewechselt, als ein
offenbares Geheimnis vor unsern Augen steht, desto angenehmer wird die Zierde
sein, und ganz vollkommen, wenn wir an jene ersten Grundlagen dabei nicht mehr
denken, sondern als von einem Willkürlichen und Zufälligen überrascht werden.
Frank Miller
Ordine
Italiana (combined measures of Florence
and Rome, Renaissance and Antiquity)
Braccio Fiorentino 58.36 cm
golden minor
22.2915...cm
palmo Romano 22.234 or 22.319 or 22.34 cm
canna
Romana 222.34 or 223.19 or 223.4
cm
partica decempida 280 e = 297.105... cm (Imperium Romanum)
canna Romana 210 e = 222.829... cm (Renaissance, Rome)
passus 140 e = 148.527... cm (Imperium Romanum)
gradus 70 e = 74.276... cm
(Imperium Romanum)
braccio Fiorentino 55 e =
58.36 cm (Renaissance, Florence)
cubitum 42 e = 44.565... cm
(Imperium Romanum)
palmipes 35 e = 37.138
cm (Imperium Romanum)
pes 28 e = 29.710... cm
(Imperium Romanum)
palma 7 e = 7.427... cm
(Imperium Romanum)
digitus 7/4 e = 1.856... cm
(Imperium Romanum)
1 e = 1.061... cm
(Imperium Romanum)
unit a 210/11 e = 20.257... cm
(Villa Farnesina)
Width of the former and now extant salon of the
Villa Farnesina 3 particae decempidae = 4 canne Romane or about 891 cm, ideal
measurement 891.316 cm.
(Cf. Hermos
Hermaes homoios homaereo Homaeros / Sinn und Aufgabe der Geisteswissenschaften
/ Anmerkungen zum System Polias von Gerhard Goebel (Hypnerotomachia Poliphili)
/ Leon Battista Albertis Pläne für Rom)
Raphael, Galatea and Venus
Raphael, Galatea, planned as a fresco for the
salon of the Villa Farnesina? Original format 1:1, grid 8 by 8 palmipedes,
standing ellipse 8 by 6 palmipedes, golden section of the height marked by the
woman’s head. Fresco 1 by 1 partica decempida = 297 by 297 cm, frame 16 by 16 a
= 324 by 324 cm. Vertical axis marked by the sea level (on the eye level of a
standing visitor, 8 a = 162 cm above the floor)
Galatea 1 / Galatea 2
/ Galatea 3 / Galatea 4 / Galatea 5 / Galatea 6 / Galatea 7 / Galatea 8 / Galatea 9 / Galatea 10 / Galatea 11 / Galatea 12 / Galatea 13 / Galatea 14
Raphael, Venus and Cupido, central part of a
small cartoon for a fresco on the opposite wall? Format 5:7, grid 10 by 14
palmipedes, lying ellipse 10 by 14 palmipedes, standing ellipse in the center 8
by 6 palmipedes, upper focus marked by Venus’ left eye, lower focus marked by a
toe; golden section of the length marked by Venus’ left hip and upper
thigh Venus 1 / Venus 2 / Venus 3
Mona Lisa, an Allegory of Seeing
