The Fat Woodworker

ISBN-13: 9780934977234 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 90 str.

Antonio Manetti; Valerie Martone; Robert L. Martone

Opis

"The Fat Woodworker" is a delightful story in the tradition of the Italian Renaissance "beffe," stories of practical, often cruel jokes. It is the tale of a prank engineered by the great Renaissance architect, Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446), played upon an unsuspecting (and perhaps less-than-brilliant) friend and woodworker named Manetto, in reprisal for the woodworkers social slight. While the prank is indeed cruel, it is so ingenious, and the victim is so comical, that the reader soon forgets the architects - and the authors - malice and settles in for a delightful turn as part of the unfolding conspiracy set in motion by Brunelleschis circle of friends.The tale brings the reader into the social world of Florences craft- and tradespeople, its lawyers and judges, artists, architects and intellectuals and gives a vibrant sense of the citys close-knit social fabric, its packed streets and busy shops and offices. It is as much a portrait of the Renaissance city as of one very befuddled and delightful woodworker.Robert and Valerie Martone provide a solid contemporary translation that carries across the ironic distance of the original. They include an introduction to the story, its author and genre, and to the social and intellectual world of Brunelleschi and Renaissance Florence. Illustrated, introduction, bibliography. Fiction