A Feast of Divine Proportions

September 12, 1509

Class Listing

Experts and learned figures from across the Known World have come to share their expertise in the following matters:

Aleksandr Ruslanovich Kievchanin

The Stories da Vinci Knew

Italy is the birthplace of modern literature, and a treasury of stories from both the folk tradition and classical literature. This class is a survey of the best loved tales and poems from the Italian states around the dawn of the Sixteenth Century. No storytelling experience is necessary and we'll examine many sources that are available in English -- and were available in English then!

Alexander Younger

Glass in Venice

A brief examination of the political, economic, exportation and common forms of Venetian glassware products from the 13th century to the end of period.

Alistrina de Mann

Charting for Brocade Weaving

Learn to chart a design for brocade work (as for a Perugia-style linen). Knowledge of weaving is not essential, but this is not a beginning weaving class. Graph paper and pencils provided, along with a handout.

Anton of Winteroak

A New Motion in the Sphere of the Fixed Stars

I have made careful measurements which reveals a hitherto unreported motion in the Sphere of the Fixed Stars which indicates that this sphere moves with the Sun, and suggests that light has a speed. Presentation and discussion. Heretics not welcome.

Motion of Mars

Understanding the motion of Mars in the sky as explained by Ptolemy in the al-Magest and seen in genuine proportions. Presentation and Discussion

Creiddylad

Sprang

A basic introduction to sprang, a period method of creating stretchy fabric.

Hugh Tauerner

Islamic influence in Renaissance Italy

Algebra, Alcohol, and Alembics, Oh my! An overview of Islamic culture and philosophy and the challenging relationship between Islam and Christianity.

Justin du Coeur

Mathematics of Primero

This class will sneakily teach the game of Primero (the nearest period equivalent to Poker), dressed up in the respectable clothing of an elementary period math class.

Kali Harlansson of Gotland

Diplomacy and Statecraft in the Italian Wars, 1490-1550

“In this year of 1509, the League of Cambrai has brought France, Spain, the Papal States, and the Holy Roman Empire to war against our Most Serene Republic of Venice" - you've seen it on all the event publicity. This class will give some idea of the context for the War of the League of Cambrai, and the setting of the Italian Wars in general: who was fighting and why, and how it turned out. Machiavelli, the ruthless Duke Valentine, Julius II the Warrior Pope, Lucrezia Borgia, et al.; good men, bad men, beautifullest women. Warning: contains explicit sexual metaphors, PG-13.

Kunstbruder

German Medieval Longsword

A hands-on introduction to the Knightly Art of Johannes Lichtenauer. Including footwork, defenses and Mastercuts. Class is non-contact and all equipment is provided. Maximum of eight hands-on students.

Melusine (MKA Kristin Norwood)

A Tour of Venice 1500 AD; the map of Jacopo de Barbari

Based on the Jacopo di Barbari woodcut. Modern presentation materials will be used.

Divine Proportions in Architecture; Vitruvius, Alberti, and Palladio

Vitruvius was a rediscovered classical period Roman architect. Alberti is the closest to 1509. Palladio is late period, but his work is canonical, clearly influenced by the Divine Proportions book as well as by Vitruvius. Palladio's "The Four Books of Architecture" written in 1580 is still required reading in architectural schools today. I'll be using period references to show the connections between mathematical work and its influence on the architecture of the times.

Peregrine the Illuminator

Practical Ratios

A study of the tools and methods of illumination, cartography, architecture, and other crafts will show that the golden, silver, and other ratios are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also easy to use in practical applications.

Rosina von Schaffhausen

Polyhedra in Art: 3-D geometry in period

A look at 3-D geometry, its history in period, and its use in Renaissance art. Models made from non-period materials will be used.

Safiya Shirazi

Food in Renaissance Italy

The class will be exploring some of the extant Italian Renaissance cookbooks available, looking at their similarities and differences

William the Alchymist

Constructing the Heptagon

Those familiar with the geometry of Euclid know how we may, with compass and straightedge, inscribe equiangular and equilateral triangles, squares, pentagon, and hexagons in a circle. We will discuss these constructions briefly before unveiling how the geometers of al-Islam, having found defective a treatise by Archimedes on the construction of the regular heptagon, remedied the defect and resolved the problem.

Class Times and Locations

Theme	Mathematics and Astronomy	Art and Proportions	Crafts and Trade		Culture and Politics
Room	Anticamera di Rosina	Camera di Rosina	Sala/Outdoors (weather permitting)	Anticamera d’Andreiko	Camera d’Andreiko
10:30-11:30	Mathematics of Primero	Divine Proportions in Architecture		Charting for Brocade Weaving	Diplomacy and Statecraft in the Italian Wars, 1490-1550
11:30-12:30	Motion of Mars	Practical Ratios		Glass in Venice	Islamic Influence in Renaissance Italy
1:00-2:00	A New Motion of the Sphere of Fixed Stars	3-D Geometry		Food in Renaissance Italy	A Tour of Venice 1500 AD; the map of Jacopo de Barbari
2:00-3:00		Constructing the Heptagon	German Medieval Longsword	Sprang	The Stories da Vinci Knew

Contact Information

•Autocrat: Andreiko Eferiev

•Chatelaine and Headmistress: Rosina von Schaffhausen

•Head Chef: Cassandra Grey of Lochleven