Giovan Battista Della Porta was the main promoter of the idea of “natural magic” in the sixteenth century. This chapter aims to analyse his approach through the prism of illusionism. Based on an archaeology of Della Porta’s sources, it will highlight the tensions between magic, natural magic, illusionism and mechanics. In order to account for the specificity of his illusionist experiments between science, spectacle and play, it draws on the aesthetics of the marvel, specific to the Mannerist paradigm. Finally, it shows Della Porta’s complex relationship with the traditions of secrets and magical experimenta, as both objects of criticism and sources of inspiration.
Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium - ORCID: 0000-0001-8960-6065
Titolo del capitolo
The Secrets of Illusionism in Della Porta’s Natural Magic: Between Science, Mannerism and Magical Traditions
Autori
Thibaut Rioult
Lingua
Inglese
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0836-9.06
Opera sottoposta a peer review
Anno di pubblicazione
2025
Copyright
© 2025 Author(s)
Licenza d'uso
Licenza dei metadati
Titolo del libro
Hunting Secrets
Sottotitolo del libro
Giovan Battista Della Porta and the Invention of Experimental Magic
Curatori
Donato Verardi
Opera sottoposta a peer review
Numero di pagine
168
Anno di pubblicazione
2025
Copyright
© 2025 Author(s)
Licenza d'uso
Licenza dei metadati
Editore
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0836-9
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0835-2
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0836-9
eISBN (epub)
979-12-215-0837-6
Collana
Knowledge and its Histories
ISSN della collana
3035-5974
e-ISSN della collana
3035-5923