I dieci libri dell'architettura di M. Vitruvio tradutti et commentati da monsignor Barbaro eletto patriarca d'aquileggia

I dieci libri dell'architettura di M. Vitruvio tradutti et commentati da monsignor Barbaro eletto patriarca d'aquileggia

Marcus Pollio Vitruvius

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The ten books of architecture by Marcus Pollio Vitruvius are the only text devoted to the art of building that remained from Roman Antiquity. The text was a great resource for Renaissance artists and architects who wished to learn and apply the Antique principles for their modern constructions. Initially, the text was hard to access, however, as it was written in Latin and was unillustrated. During the fifteenth century the first vernacular translation appeared in Italy, and in 1511, Fra Giovanni Giocondo published the first illustrated edition of the text. Vitruvius’ text became a point of reference for all subsequent architectural treatises and as such, the genre of Renaissance architecture publications is marked by a high level of inter-referentiality. This specific copy of Daniele Barbaro’s translation of Vitruvius is a very special case, however, as the text was (partially) illustrated by the well-known architect Andrea Palladio, who later published his own architectural treatises, and the book was owned by his direct successor, the architect Vincenzo Scamozzi.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

I dieci libri dell'architettura di M. Vitruvio tradutti et commentati da monsignor Barbaro eletto patriarca d'aquileggiaI dieci libri dell'architettura di M. Vitruvio tradutti et commentati da monsignor Barbaro eletto patriarca d'aquileggiaI dieci libri dell'architettura di M. Vitruvio tradutti et commentati da monsignor Barbaro eletto patriarca d'aquileggiaI dieci libri dell'architettura di M. Vitruvio tradutti et commentati da monsignor Barbaro eletto patriarca d'aquileggiaI dieci libri dell'architettura di M. Vitruvio tradutti et commentati da monsignor Barbaro eletto patriarca d'aquileggia

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.