Di Lucio Vitruvio Pollione De architectura Libri Dece traducti de latino in vulgare affigurati: commentati: & con mirando ordine insigniti

Art Historical Context

This remarkable 1521 printed volume represents the first Italian translation of Vitruvius’s ancient Roman treatise *De Architectura*, the only surviving architectural text from classical antiquity. Originally written in the first century BCE, the ten books offered practical guidance on everything from city planning and temple design to machines and materials. By rendering the Latin text into the vernacular and enriching it with extensive commentary, Cesare Cesariano and his collaborators made this foundational knowledge newly accessible to Renaissance builders, patrons, and scholars across Italy. The book’s numerous woodcut illustrations are among its most striking features. These images translate Vitruvius’s sometimes cryptic descriptions into clear visual diagrams, showing plans, elevations, and details of classical orders alongside imaginative reconstructions. As an early example of an illustrated printed architecture manual, the volume helped standardize visual language for architects and influenced generations of designers, including Bramante and Palladio. Housed today in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection, this edition marks a pivotal moment when the printing press transformed the transmission of architectural ideas, bridging ancient wisdom with the creative ferment of the Renaissance.

About the Artist

Marcus Pollio Vitruvius|Cesare Cesariano|Benedetto Giovio|Bono Mauro|Cesare Cesariano|Agostino Gallo|Luigi Pirovano|Gottardo da Ponte (Italian|Italian) · 1530 |-0100 –1545 |0001

Florence, ca. 1530–1545|Roman, active late 1st century BCE