War landscapes and fortifications from the 15th to the 17th century: the useful and the beautiful (or useless?) at the service of the state

Since the end of the 15th century a new characteristic started to come up in the Italian cities and the communication networks, related to the cultural fervor and military construction techniques which in that period will find their maximum expansion. The attention to architectural orders, to the materials employed and to the socio-political systems here represented, is clear example of how the utilitarian concept can be linked with such interventions that nowadays are often considered as redundant and lavish.