Editing Renaissance architecture (section)

=== Rise of architectural theory===
{{further|Mathematics and architecture}}

During the Renaissance, architecture became not only a question of practice, but also a matter for theoretical discussion. [[Printing]] played a large role in the dissemination of ideas.
* The first treatise on architecture was {{lang|la|[[De re aedificatoria]]}} ("On the Subject of Building") by [[Leon Battista Alberti]] in 1450. It was to some degree dependent on [[Vitruvius]]'s ''[[De architectura]]'', a manuscript of which was discovered in 1414 in a library in Switzerland. ''De re aedificatoria'' in 1485 became the first printed book on architecture.
* [[Sebastiano Serlio]] (1475 – c. 1554) produced the next important text, the first volume of which appeared in Venice in 1537; it was entitled ''Regole generali d'architettura'' ("General Rules of Architecture"). It is known as Serlio's "Fourth Book" since it was the fourth in Serlio's original plan of a treatise in seven books. In all, five books were published.
* In 1570, [[Andrea Palladio]] (1508–1580) published ''[[I quattro libri dell'architettura]]'' ("The Four Books of Architecture") in [[Venice]]. This book was widely printed and responsible to a great degree for spreading the ideas of the Renaissance through Europe. All these books were intended to be read and studied not only by architects, but also by patrons.