The Angel in the Marble
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel calls Architecture the “primary art.” Hegel, a founding figure of Western philosophy, claims this because it is the art closest to raw nature. Going far back into B.C. times, the first several thousands of years of building construction were more or less reformations of the natural landscape. This idea of architecture as the “primary art” seems reinforced by Leonardo da Vinci with the Vitruvian Man and by Michelangelo, who after an illustrious career as an artist, chose to dedicate the final years of his career with much focus to master building.
