The villa as hegemonic architecture

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Presented here for the first time in a complete English translation is a classic 1970 study by Bentmann and Muller, a pioneering work in New Left art history. With its adept application of critical theory, this study exemplifies the connection between the Frankfurt School, the New Left, and art history. The authors deliver a nuanced ideological critique of the values that shaped the construction of the sixteenth-century Venetian villa. They reveal how the villa's structural logic and design reflect patriarchal values and contributed to early Venetian capitalism. By situating "villa ideology" within the broader "city vs. country" discourse explored by Marx and Raymond Williams, they also examine the Western concept of nature and its ecological implications. In a striking formulation, Bentmann and Muller illustrate how these elements culminated in the Venetian villa functioning as a "negative utopia," contrasting sharply with the egalitarian "positive utopias" envisioned by thinkers like Thomas More and Tommaso Campanella. Accompanied by 24 full-page photographs and line drawings, this work will particularly resonate with those studying art historical methods and Renaissance architectural history.