Editing Vitruvius (section)

==''De architectura''==
{{Main|De architectura}}

{{further|Mathematics and architecture}}
[[File:Greekhse1.jpg|left|thumb|Roman house plan after Vitruvius]]

Vitruvius is the author of ''De architectura, libri decem'', known today as ''The Ten Books on Architecture'',<ref name="Vitruvius, Pollio 1960">Vitruvius, Pollio (transl. Morris Hicky Morgan, 1960), ''The Ten Books on Architecture''. Courier Dover Publications. {{ISBN|0-486-20645-9}}.</ref> a treatise written in [[Latin]] on architecture, dedicated to the emperor Augustus. In the preface of Book I, Vitruvius dedicates his writings to giving personal knowledge of the quality of buildings to the emperor. Likely Vitruvius is referring to [[Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa#Public service|Marcus Agrippa]]'s campaign of public repairs and improvements. This work is the only surviving major book on architecture from [[classical antiquity]]. According to Petri Liukkonen, this text "influenced deeply from the [[Early Renaissance]] onwards artists, thinkers, and architects, among them [[Leon Battista Alberti]] (1404–1472), [[Leonardo da Vinci]] (1452–1519), and [[Michelangelo]] (1475–1564)."<ref name="bandw"/> The next major book on architecture, [[Leone Battista Alberti|Alberti's]] reformulation of ''Ten Books'', was not written until 1452.

However, we know there was a significant body of writing about architecture in Greek, where "architects habitually wrote books about their work", including two we know of about the [[Parthenon]] alone. To [[A. W. Lawrence]], Vitruvius "has recorded a most elaborate set of rules taken from Greek authors, who must have compiled them gradually in the course of the preceding centuries".<ref>[[A. W. Lawrence|Lawrence, A. W.]], ''Greek Architecture'', p. 169, 1957, Penguin, Pelican history of art</ref>

Vitruvius is famous for asserting in his book {{lang|la|De architectura}} that a structure must exhibit the three qualities of ''firmitatis, utilitatis, venustatis'' – that is, stability, utility, and beauty. These are sometimes termed the Vitruvian virtues or the [[Vitruvian Triad]]. According to Vitruvius, architecture is an imitation of nature. As birds and bees built their nests, so humans constructed housing from natural materials, that gave them shelter against the elements. When perfecting this art of building, the Greeks invented the architectural orders: [[Doric order|Doric]], [[Ionic order|Ionic]] and [[Corinthian order|Corinthian]]. It gave them a sense of proportion, culminating in understanding the proportions of the greatest work of art: the human body. This led Vitruvius in defining his [[Vitruvian Man]], as drawn later by [[Leonardo da Vinci]]: the human body inscribed in the circle and the square (the fundamental geometric patterns of the cosmic order). In this book series, Vitruvius also wrote about [[climate]] in relation to housing architecture and how to choose locations for cities.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/architecture|title=Philosophy of Architecture|year=2015|encyclopedia=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20239/20239-h/20239-h.htm|title=Vitruvius The Ten Books On Architecture|work=The Project Gutenberg}}</ref>

===Scope===
[[File:Vitruvius the Ten Books on Architecture Basilica at Fano.png|thumb|Vitruvius designed and supervised the construction of this [[basilica]] in [[Fano]] (reconstruction). However, many of the other things he did would not now be considered the realm of architecture{{clarify|date=November 2023}}]]
Vitruvius is the first Roman architect to have written surviving records of his field. He himself cites older but less complete works. He was less an original thinker or creative intellect than a codifier of existing architectural practice. [[Roman architecture|Roman architects]] practised a wide variety of disciplines; in modern terms they would also be described as landscape architects, civil engineers, military engineers, structural engineers, surveyors, artists, and [[Artisan|craftsmen]] combined. Etymologically the word architect derives from Greek words meaning 'master' and 'builder'. The first of the ''Ten Books'' deals with many subjects which are now within the scope of [[landscape architecture]].

In Book I, Chapter 1, titled The Education of the Architect, Vitruvius instructs...

{{quote|1. Architecture is a science arising out of many other sciences, and adorned with much and varied learning; by the help of which a judgment is formed of those works which are the result of other arts. Practice and theory are its parents. Practice is the frequent and continued contemplation of the mode of executing any given work, or of the mere operation of the hands, for the conversion of the material in the best and readiest way. Theory is the result of that reasoning which demonstrates and explains that the material wrought has been so converted as to answer the end proposed.}}

{{quote|2. Wherefore the mere practical architect is not able to assign sufficient reasons for the forms he adopts; and the theoretic architect also fails, grasping the shadow instead of the substance. He who is theoretic as well as practical, is therefore doubly armed; able not only to prove the propriety of his design, but equally so to carry it into execution.<ref name="penelope.uchicago.edu">{{cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/1*.html|title=LacusCurtius • Vitruvius on Architecture — Book I|website=penelope.uchicago.edu|access-date=20 June 2017}}</ref>}}

He goes on to say that the architect should be versed in drawing, geometry, optics (lighting), history, philosophy, music, theatre, medicine, and law.

In Book I, Chapter 3 (''The Departments of Architecture''), Vitruvius divides architecture into three branches, namely; building; the construction of [[sundial]]s and [[water clocks]];<ref>Turner, A. J., ''in'' Folkrets, M., and Lorch, R., (Editors), "Sic itur ad astra", ''Studien zur Geschichte der Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften – Festschrift für den Arabisten Paul Kunitzsch zum 70,'' Harrassowitz Verlag, 2000, p.563 ff.</ref> and the design and use of machines in construction and warfare.<ref>Long, Pamela O., ''in'' Galison, Peter, and Thompson, Emily (Editors), ''The Architecture of Science'', The MIT Press, 1999, p. 81</ref><ref>Borys, Ann Marie, ''Vincenzo Scamozzi and the Chorography of Early Modern Architecture'', Routledge, 2014, pp. 85, 179</ref> He further divides building into public and private. Public building includes city planning, public security structures such as walls, gates and towers; the convenient placing of public facilities such as theatres, forums and markets, baths, roads and pavings; and the construction and position of shrines and temples for religious use.<ref name="penelope.uchicago.edu"/> Later books are devoted to the understanding, design and construction of each of these.

===Proportions of man===
[[File:De Architectura030.jpg|thumb|left|"Vitruvian Man", illustration in the edition of {{lang|la|De architectura}} by Vitruvius; illustrated edition by Cesare Cesariano (1521)]]
[[File:Da Vinci Vitruve Luc Viatour.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Vitruvian Man]]'' by [[Leonardo da Vinci]], an illustration of the human body inscribed in the circle and the square derived from a passage about geometry and human proportions in Vitruvius' writings]]

In Book III, Chapter 1, Paragraph 3, Vitruvius writes about the proportions of man:
{{quote|3. Just so the parts of Temples should correspond with each other, and with the whole. The navel is naturally placed in the centre of the human body, and, if in a man lying with his face upward, and his hands and feet extended, from his navel as the centre, a circle be described, it will touch his fingers and toes. It is not alone by a circle, that the human body is thus circumscribed, as may be seen by placing it within a square. For measuring from the feet to the crown of the head, and then across the arms fully extended, we find the latter measure equal to the former; so that lines at right angles to each other, enclosing the figure, will form a square.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/3*.html|title=LacusCurtius • Vitruvius on Architecture — Book III|website=penelope.uchicago.edu|access-date=20 June 2017}}</ref>}}

It was upon these writings that Renaissance engineers, architects and artists like [[Taccola|Mariano di Jacopo Taccola]], Pellegrino Prisciani and [[Francesco di Giorgio Martini]] and finally [[Leonardo da Vinci]] based the illustration of the ''[[Vitruvian Man]]''.<ref>{{citation|surname1=[[Marc van den Broek]]|title=Leonardo da Vinci Spirits of Invention. A Search for Traces |publisher=A.TE.M. |location=Hamburg|isbn=978-3-00-063700-1|date=2019|language=en}}</ref>

Vitruvius described the human figure as being the principal source of proportion.

The drawing itself is often used as an implied symbol of the essential [[symmetry]] of the human body, and by extension, of the [[universe]] as a whole.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thewholeuniversebook.com/2/page2.html |title=Bibliographic reference |publisher=The Whole Universe Book |access-date=2011-11-30}}</ref>

===Lists of names given in Book VII Introduction===
In the introduction to book seven, Vitruvius goes to great lengths to present why he is qualified to write {{lang|la|De Architectura}}. This is the only location in the work where Vitruvius specifically addresses his personal breadth of knowledge. Similar to a modern reference section, the author's position as one who is knowledgeable and educated is established. The topics range across many fields of expertise reflecting that in Roman times as today construction is a diverse field. Vitruvius is clearly a well-read man.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}

In addition to providing his qualification, Vitruvius summarizes a recurring theme throughout the 10 books, a non-trivial and core contribution of his treatise beyond simply being a construction book. Vitruvius makes the point that the work of some of the most talented is unknown, while many of those of lesser talent but greater political position are famous.<ref name="Vitruvius, Pollio 1960"/> This theme runs through Vitruvius's ten books repeatedly – echoing an implicit prediction that he and his works will also be forgotten.

Vitruvius illustrates this point by naming what he considers the most talented individuals in history.<ref name="Vitruvius, Pollio 1960"/> Implicitly challenging the reader that they have never heard of some of these people, Vitruvius goes on and predicts that some of these individuals will be forgotten and their works [[Lost literary work|lost]], while other, less deserving political characters of history will be forever remembered with pageantry.

<!--Italicized names below, which show as red links as of 29 July 2015 (and perhaps others which were red links when this sentence was first written) do not have a Wikipedia page as of 29 July 2015 and, outside of inclusion on Vitruvius's list under a categorization, nothing is known of them. Ironically, they may be unknown because the ancient [[Library of Alexandria]] was accidentally burned in 48 BC during a siege by Julius Caesar. Vitruvius does not mention the architecture of Egypt so was probably not involved in this siege.  Further, some of the non-italicized names which show as blue links as of 29 July 2015 have articles in Wikipedia that are Wikipedia "stubs" based on Vitruvius's list and short narratives.  Also, as of 29 July 2015, five of the following non-italicized names have links going to Wikipedia disambiguation pages;<ref>The five links that go to disambiguation pages as of 29 July 2015 are [[Attalus (disambiguation)|Attalus]], [[Pythis (disambiguation)|Pytheos]], [[Timotheos (disambiguation)|Timotheos]], [[Demophilus (disambiguation)|Demophilus]], and [[Leonidas (disambiguation)|Leonidas]].</ref> for these ones it is not clear whether the Wikipedia collective of authors have information about the persons meant by Vitruvius or not.-->
*''List of physicists:'' [[Thales]], [[Democritus]], [[Anaxagoras]], [[Xenophanes]]
*''List of philosophers:'' [[Socrates]], [[Plato]], [[Aristotle]], [[Zeno of Elea|Zeno]], [[Epicurus]]
*''List of kings:'' [[Croesus]], [[Alexander the Great]], [[Darius the Great|Darius]]
*''On plagiarism:'' [[Aristophanes]], [[Ptolemy I Soter]], a person named [[Attalus (disambiguation)|Attalus]]
*''On abusing dead authors:'' [[Zoilus|Zoilus Homeromastix]], [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus]]
*''On divergence of the visual rays:'' [[Agatharchus]], [[Aeschylus]], [[Democritus]], [[Anaxagoras]]
*''List of writers on temples:'' Silenus, ''Theodorus''<!-- [[Theodorus of Samos]]? -->, [[Chersiphron]] and [[Metagenes]], [[Ictinus]] and [[Carpion]], ''Theodorus the Phocian'', [[Hermogenes of Priene|Hermogenes]], [[Arcesius]], [[Satyros|Satyrus]] and a person named [[Pythis (disambiguation)|Pytheos]]
*''List of artists:'' [[Leochares]], [[Bryaxis]], [[Scopas]], [[Praxiteles]], Timotheos
*''List of writers on laws of symmetry:'' ''Nexaris'', ''Theocydes'', a person named [[Demophilus (disambiguation)|Demophilus]], ''Pollis'', a person named [[Leonidas (disambiguation)|Leonidas]], [[Silanion]], [[Melampus]], ''Sarnacus'', [[Euphranor]]
*''List of writers on machinery:'' [[Diades of Pella]], [[Archytas]], [[Archimedes]], [[Ctesibius]], ''[[Nymphodorus (physician)|Nymphodorus]]'', [[Philo of Byzantium]], [[Diphilus]], [[Democles]], ''Charias'', [[Polyidus of Thessaly]], [[Pyrrus]], ''[[Agesistratus]]''
*''List of writers on architecture:'' ''Fuficius'', [[Marcus Terentius Varro|Terentius Varro]], ''Publius Septimius (writer)''
*''List of architects:'' ''Antistates'', ''Callaeschrus'', ''Antimachides'', ''Pormus'', ''Cossutius''
*''List of greatest temple architects:'' ''Chersiphron of Gnosus'', [[Metagenes]], [[Demetrius]], ''Paeonius the Milesian'', ''Ephesian Daphnis'', [[Ictinus]], [[Philon|Philo]], ''Cossutius'', ''Gaius Mucianus''

===Rediscovery===
[[File:Battle of Thapsus.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Battle of Thapsus]] as depicted in an engraving after [[Andrea Palladio]]]]
[[File:Giovanni Paolo Panini - Interior of the Pantheon, Rome - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|200px|The interior of the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]] (from an 18th-century painting by [[Giovanni Paolo Panini|Panini]]). Although built after Vitruvius' death, its excellent state of preservation makes it of great importance to those interested in Vitruvian architecture]]

Vitruvius' {{lang|la|[[De architectura]]}} was "rediscovered" in 1414 by the Florentine humanist [[Poggio Bracciolini]] in the [[Abbey library of Saint Gall|library of Saint Gall Abbey]]. [[Leon Battista Alberti]] (1404–1472) publicised it in his seminal treatise on architecture, {{lang|la|[[De re aedificatoria]]}} ({{circa|1450}}). The first known Latin printed edition was by Fra Giovanni Sulpitius in Rome, 1486.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palladiancenter.org/predecessors.html|title=CPSA Palladio's Literary Predecessors|website=www.palladiancenter.org|access-date=20 June 2017|archive-date=17 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181217055656/http://www.palladiancenter.org/predecessors.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Translations followed in Italian ([[Cesare Cesariano]], 1521), French (Jean Martin, 1547<ref>[http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Notice/ENSBA_LES1785.asp?param= Architectura – Les livres d'Architecture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110318141215/http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Notice/ENSBA_LES1785.asp?param= |date=18 March 2011 }} {{in lang|fr}}</ref>), English, German ([[:de:Walther Hermann Ryff|Walther H. Ryff]], 1543) and Spanish and several other languages. The original illustrations had been lost and the first illustrated edition was published in [[Venice]] in 1511 by [[Fra Giovanni Giocondo]], with [[woodcut]] illustrations based on descriptions in the text.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Notice/CESR_2994.asp?param=|title=Architectura – Les livres d'Architecture|website=architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr|access-date=20 June 2017|archive-date=21 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721024238/http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Notice/CESR_2994.asp?param=|url-status=dead}}</ref> Later in the 16th-century [[Andrea Palladio]] provided illustrations for [[Daniele Barbaro]]'s commentary on Vitruvius, published in Italian and Latin versions. The most famous illustration is probably Da Vinci's ''[[Vitruvian Man]]''.

The surviving ruins of Roman antiquity, the [[Roman Forum]], temples, theatres, triumphal arches and their reliefs and statues offered visual examples of the descriptions in the Vitruvian text. Printed and illustrated editions of {{lang|la|De Architectura}} inspired [[Renaissance]], [[Baroque]] and [[Neoclassical architecture]]. [[Filippo Brunelleschi]], for example, invented a new type of [[Hoist (device)|hoist]] to lift the large stones for the dome of the cathedral in [[Florence]] and was inspired by {{lang|la|De Architectura}} as well as surviving Roman monuments such as the [[Pantheon (Rome)|Pantheon]] and the [[Baths of Diocletian]].

===Notable editions===
[[File:Vitruvius Pollio – De architectura, 1543 – BEIC 12903859.jpg|thumb|{{lang|la|De architectura}}, 1543]]
'''Latin'''
* 1495–1496 {{Cite book|title=De architectura|volume=|publisher=Cristoforo Pensi|location=Venezia|language=la|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=13297685}}
* 1543 {{Cite book|title=De architectura|volume=|publisher=Georg Messerschmidt|location=Strasbourg|language=la|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=12903859}}
* 1800 Augustus Rode, Berlin<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/Chronologia/Lsante01/Vitruvius/vit_ar00.html|title=bibliotheca Augustana|website=www.hs-augsburg.de|access-date=20 June 2017}}</ref>
* 1857 [[Teubner]] Edition by Valentin Rose
* 1899 [[Teubner]] Edition
* 1912 [[Teubner]] edition at [[The Latin Library]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/vitruvius.html|title=Vitruvius|website=www.thelatinlibrary.com|access-date=20 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613101752/http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/vitruvius.html|archive-date=13 June 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Bill Thayer, transcription of the 1912 [[Teubner]] Edition<ref>{{cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/1*.html|title=LacusCurtius • Vitruvius de Architectura — Liber Primus|website=penelope.uchicago.edu|access-date=20 June 2017}}</ref>

'''Italian'''
* [[Cesare Cesariano]], 1521, [[Como, Italy]], includes illustrations by [[Cesare Cesariano]]
* Danielle Barbaro, includes illustration by [[Andrea Palladio]]

'''French'''
* Jean Martin, 1547<ref>http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~wulfric/vitruve/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315095909/http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~wulfric/vitruve/ |date=15 March 2023 }} http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~wulfric/vitruve/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315095909/http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~wulfric/vitruve/ |date=15 March 2023 }}</ref>
* [[Claude Perrault]], 1673<ref>[http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Auteur/PerraultCl.asp?param=en Books on architecture by Claude Perrault] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007191950/http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Auteur/PerraultCl.asp?param=en |date=7 October 2022 }}, Architectura website. Retrieved on 18 January 2020.</ref>
* [[Auguste Choisy]], 1909

'''English'''
* [[Henry Wotton]], 1624
* [[Joseph Gwilt]], 1826
* Bill Thayer transcription of the Gwilt 1826 Edition<ref name="penelope.uchicago.edu"/>
* [[Morris H. Morgan]], with illustrations prepared by [[Herbert Langford Warren]], 1914, [[Harvard University Press]]<ref name="Vitruvius">{{cite book |last1=Vitruvius |first1=Pollio |title=The Ten Books on Architecture |date=1914 |translator-last=Morgan |translator-first=Morris Hicky |others=Illustrations prepared by Herbert Langford Warren |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |url=https://archive.org/details/vitruviustenbook00vitr_0}}</ref>
* Frank Granger, [[Loeb Classical Library|Loeb]] Edition, 1931<ref>{{cite book|last1=Granger|first1=Frank|title=Vitruvius: On Architecture|date=1931|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=0674992776|pages=368|language=en}}</ref>
* [[Ingrid Rowland]], 2001<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rowland|first1=Ingrid|title=Vitruvius: 'Ten Books on Architecture'|date=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0521002923|pages=352}}</ref>
* Thomas Gordon Smith, The Monacelli Press (5 January 2004)<ref>{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=Thoma Granger|title=Vitruvius on Architecture|date=2004|publisher=The Monacelli Press|isbn=1885254989|page=224}}</ref>