Zeichen des Wehrhaften

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Francesco di Giorgio Martini’s fortress complexes, created at the end of the Quattrocento, remain experimental and speculative even after five centuries due to their semiotic character. These structures blur the lines between architecture and sculpture, representing a unique moment in European architectural history. Their origins lie in the historic shift caused by the emergence of firearms in the 14th century, which favored attackers and rendered traditional defenses inadequate. Martini, a versatile artist from Siena, worked primarily in Urbino and left a diverse body of work, including painting, sculpture, and architecture. His notable achievements include the three ideal city prospects and impressive reliefs, positioning him as a key figure between Alberti and Bramante. His engineering feats also influenced Leonardo da Vinci. Despite his extensive theoretical contributions, Martini is recognized more as an all-round artist than a humanist writer. His sacred and secular structures reflect classicism and austerity, while his fortresses seem to transcend functional concerns, embracing the unfamiliar and alien. This book explores the grandiose semiotic character of these structures and examines strategies for designing buildings without precedents. Fritz Barth, an architecture graduate from Stuttgart, has authored monographs on significant architectural works and runs a firm in Fellbach, while also engaging in photography.