Alchemical Hands in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili

Why It Matters for the Hypnerotomachia

The HP describes and illustrates grotesque ornament — hybrid decorative forms where human figures merge with acanthus scrolls and animal forms sprout architectural elements. The HP is among the earliest printed works to depict and theorize this ornamental mode.

Why It Matters in Scholarship

The grotesque style was rediscovered in the grottoes of Nero's Domus Aurea around 1480. Dacos (1969) provides the standard account of its Renaissance revival. The HP's grotesque passages situate the book within this moment of ornamental rediscovery.

Key Passages / Evidence

• ... of the Building as a Body in the “Hypnerotomachia Poliphili”’, Arte Lombarda, no. 105/107 (2-4) (1993): 88–89; Lefaivre, Leon Battista Alberti’s Hypnerotomachia Poliphili: Re-Cognizing the... [O'Neill (Durham thesis)]
• ... Dante’s Commedia: Theology as Poetry. Indiana: University of Notre Dame Pess, 2010. Moore, Kathryn Blair. ‘Ficino’s Idea of Architecture: The “Mind’s-Eye View” in Quattrocento Architectural... [O'Neill (Durham thesis)]
• ... media and artistic outlets in the late twentieth century. It has inspired two directors to adapt it for the screen. In 1992, director Andrey Svislotskiy of Russia's Pilot Animation Studio made... [Priki 2009 (reception)]

Source Documents

O'Neill (Durham thesis); Praz 1947 (foreign imitators); Priki 2009 (reception); Semler 2006 (Dallington); Word_Image_2015_apr_03_vol_31_iss_2_Fabiani_Giannetto_Raffaella_Not_before_eithe