Architects and Knights

Architects and Knights

The history and evolution of Malta’s unique systems of fortifications have so far generally been researched in Maltese archives. Francesco Menchetti explores the subject from a wholly different and novel perspective: what non-Maltese archives, mostly untapped, have to say about the determining influence of Renaissance Italian architects and military engineers in the progressive shaping of one of the most formidable schemes of defence in the whole world. His contribution is conclusive for a new understanding of the creators’ work and for the appreciation of their creations.

Up to the time of Grand Master Ramon Perellos, when the trend shifted from the dominant Italian tradition to the innovative breakthroughs of French military architecture, the transformation of Malta from defenceless island to impregnable fortress bore the stamp of Italian Renaissance genius.

The author traces the input of many of the greatest Italian figures in the science of fortification and hydraulics, as well as gardens and landscapes into the Malta concept, and dedicates a whole chapter to the problematic defence of Gozo.

Very aptly the book rounds off with an analysis of the contribution of Italian creativity to the Maltese architectural panorama of the twenty-first century.

About the author

Francesco Menchetti has since 2009 been a contract professor teaching History of Gardens and Landscapes in the Faculty of Architecture at the Polytechnic of Milan. He is the author of numerous articles related to the history of military, hydraulic and hospital architecture in the Papal Legations during the Renaissance, dealing with architects such as Jacopo Barozzi known as Il Vignola, Domenico Tibaldi, Guidobaldo del Monte and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, as well as Bartolomeo Genga during his period in Malta.

When he obtained his Ph.D from Turin Polytechnic in 2007, he had already been studying the history of cultural relations between Italy and Malta for some time. He began his studies of the Maltese archipelago in 1996, after obtaining a scholarship from Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and followed them up in 1999 in collaboration with the Alma Mater Foundation (University of Bologna) and the Maltese government’s Restoration Unit, for the restoration of the walls of Floriana and the Church of St Catherine of Italy, Valletta.

On this occasion, the author carried out in-depth research that took him to the main archival deposits of Europe, among them the Archivo General de Simancas at Valladolid and London’s British Library. Francesco is a member of the Centro Internazionale di Studi sulla Prospettiva di Urbino, and collaborates with the Rete dei Giardini Storici (ReGis), Centro di Documentazione Storica, Villa Ghirlanda Silva, Milan.

By: Francesco Menchetti

Format: hardback

No of pages: 260

Published: 2013

Condition:  new