Vitruvius

De Architectura — the foundation of Western architecture

The only architectural theorist to survive from antiquity. De Architectura — ten books covering city planning, building materials, temples, civil engineering, and the proportions of the human body — became the bible of Renaissance architecture when rediscovered in the fifteenth century. Every architect from Alberti to Palladio to Le Corbusier has worked in dialogue with Vitruvius. Leonardo's Vitruvian Man is a direct illustration of his text.

Key works

• De Architectura~30-15 BC— Ten books on architecture — the only surviving ancient treatise
  Text — numerous Renaissance editions; earliest manuscripts in British Library, London

Connections

External