Vitruvius

(Marcus Vitruvius Pollio; c. 80-25 BCE)

   Roman engineer and writer who served Emperor Caesar Augustus. Vitruvius was the author of the only architectural treatise from antiquity to have survived, De architectura. Although this text was known throughout the Middle Ages, it was not until Poggio Bracciolini found an original ancient version that interest in the principles of ancient architecture as expounded by Vitruvius increased in great measure. In 1486, the first printed volume of Vitruvius' treatise was published and, in 1511, an illustrated edition was also made available. Daniele Barbaro translated the text from Latin to Italian in 1556, with this volume accompanied by illustrations carried out by Andrea Palladio. Vitruvius believed that architecture must reflect utility, strength, and beauty, this last achieved through symmetry and the relationship of its parts to the whole. The proportions of a building should conform to those of the human form and its design should relate to its function and type. Vitruvius provided the three classifications of the orders (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian) normally found in ancient structures, explaining their derivation, use, proportions, and symbolism. He also provided information on ancient city planning, building materials, hydraulics, and military machinery. Vitruvius' text had a great impact on the development of Renaissance architecture and architectural theory. It inspired Leon Battista Alberti to write his own treatise, De re (¡edificatoria. Palladio's Quattro Libri synthesizes the materials expounded by Alberti and Vitruvius, and his Teatro Olimpico in Vincenza reconstructs a Roman theater described in the De architectura. Giuliano da Sangallo's Villa Medici at Poggio a Caiano is based on a description of a suburban villa by Vitruvius, and the Villa Farnesina in Rome by Baldassare Peruzzi has the proportional relations of width, length, and height and three-partite plan also provided by the ancient writer.