The figurative castle

Brossura, cm. 15 x 22, pp. 144. La finestra editrice, 2010 -- The mediaeval allegory of the edifice offers a vast field for study. In selecting the figurative castle as the particular edifice to be examined, I have greatly limited the field, but I cannot claim to have treated fully even that extensive division of the subject. The secular examples of the type I have had to leave out of consideration save where they are in some way connected with the religious. I have brought together what seem to me the more important uses of the figurative castle both as a detail in the religious allegory of the Middle Ages and as the prime concept of such allegory. In the course of the discussion I hope I have offered particulars shedding light upon the interrelatian of different allegorical motifs and emphasizing the connection between allegory and life. The classified selective list of Latin allegories of the edifice, appearing as the third section of the bibliography, I trust may prove of value to future students of the subject. During my researches for this study, I have had invaluable aid from many quarters, for all of which I am profoundly grateful. My chief indebtedness, however, is to Professor Carleton Brown, to the President and Faculty of Bryn Mawr College, and to the authorities and staff of the Columbia University Library.».…