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Original fileArchitectural Plans for Bastion and Casemate Fortifications
Halbrunde Bastion
About This Work
This engraving presents two bird's-eye views of fortification walls, detailing the structural curves and angles of a bastion, with water or a trench depicted along the base. Below these, a linear graphic scale is shown, which appears to be a mathematical guide for measuring the dimensions of casemates. The style is strictly utilitarian, using cross-hatching to define shadow and depth in the architectural projections.
This image originates from Robert Fludd's 'Utriusque Cosmi', specifically the technical treatises on military architecture and the mathematical arts contained within his encyclopedic work on the nature of the macrocosm and microcosm. It reflects the early 17th-century preoccupation with the application of geometry to military defense.
Inscriptions(Latin)
350 TRACT. II. PART. VI. LIB. I. Caffematta eft octava pars Courtino fuper ejus extremitatem ad angulos rectos elevata, vel Caffematta & Humerus fimul juncti funt quarta pars Courtinæ, in aliqua ejus extremitate orthogonaliter erecta. Regula quædam de Caffemattis. Regula I. Quando Caffemattæ funt longæ, & intervallum propugnaculi inter duas Caffemattas eft anguftum, tunc optimum erit fe fortificare ab illo loco angufto, fi frons propugnaculi.
Translation