Daniele Barbaro and the ‘Philosophy’ of Perspective

Abstract

Daniele Barbaro’s scientific thought was formed at the University of Padua, a place where studies dedicated to Euclid multiplied thanks to the original manuscripts in Greek, bequeathed to the Serenissima Republic of Venice by Cardinal Bessarione. Thus, in Padua, geometry and mathematics developed alongside Aristotle’s theories to the point that scholars placed them at the basis of every science devoted to the study of natural phenomena. This essay reconstructs Daniele Barbaro’s thinking about the process of vision and the role of mathematics in the interpretation of reality. To accomplish this, the author analyses the scientific relationships between Barbaro and the scholars who taught at the University of Padua. At the same time he also makes use of Barbaro’s words, selected from the commentary on Vitruvius and La pratica della perspettiva, highlighting insights into the role of vision in the philosophical, social, scientific and religious spheres.