Hans and Paul Vredeman de Vries’s La haulte & fameuse science, consistante en cinq manieres d’edifices ou fabriques, first published in Dutch and French by Henrick Hondius in 1606, was reissued in French by Johannes Janssonius in 1628 under the title L’architecture contenant la toscane, dorique, ionique, corinthiaque et composée . . . . In their introduction, the artists refer to the architectural work of Vitruvius and his Renaissance interpreter Cesare Cesariano, stressing the importance of the knowledge of geometry, optics, and arithmetic, as well as medicine, music, and astronomy, in relation to architecture. Special attention is given to the Vitruvian definition of symmetry as the agreement of each part to the whole. In the book, each order is defined in terms of its dimensions, drawing on Vitruvius as well as Serlio—particularly for understanding the Composite order. In a preface appended after the discussion of the Tuscan order, the publisher Hondius informs the reader that it took Vredeman de Vries forty years to master his trade and that all of the buildings shown in perspective are the artist’s invention. Thirteen plates represent the orders in elevation and fine detail; short descriptions explain how the proportions of the columns vary depending on whether they are freestanding or engaged. These plates are followed by seventeen more. Five of them show interiors decorated with the five orders, corresponding to each of the five senses: the Tuscan to sight, the Doric to hearing, the Ionic to smell, the Corinthian to taste, and the Composite to touch.
The studies of the Ionic order in this image include detailed drawings of the volutes, a study of the fluting, and a measured drawing of the pedestal.
Bibliography
- Lombaerde, Piet. “La haulte & fameuse science, consistante en cincq manieres d’edifices ou fabriques…” Architectura: Architecture, Textes et Images XVIe-XVIIe siècles. Centre d'Études Supérieures de la Renaissance, Université François-Rabelais, Tours, 2006. http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Notice/Hondius1606.asp.
- Lombaerde, Piet. “L’architecture contenant la toscane, dorique, ionique, corinthiaque et composée…” Architectura: Architecture, Textes et Images XVIe-XVIIe siècles. Centre d'Études Supérieures de la Renaissance, Université François-Rabelais, Tours, 2006. http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Notice/ENSBA_13331.asp.
Image Source
- Vredeman de Vries, Hans. L’architectvre, contenant la toscane, doriqve, ioniqve, corinthiaqve, et composee. Amsterdam: Chez Ian Iansson, 1638.
More Exhibit Items
