Vitruvius is the author of
De architectura, the only text dedicated to architecture that survives from Greek or Roman antiquity. Its title, when translated as
On Architecture, can mislead: Vitruvius’ definition of
architecturaencompasses a wide range of subjects that extend far beyond current understandings of architecture, to include hydraulics, machines of war, and astronomy. One of the great ironies of
De architecturais that while post-classical readers, from Leonardo da Vinci and Andrea Palladio to Le Corbusier, have pored over the treatise and labored to realize Vitruvius’ theories in practice, there is very little evidence that Vitruvius’ precepts were widely read, let alone implemented, during his own time.
Life
LifeInternal references to people and events imply that De
1813 words
Citation: Nichols, Marden. "Vitruvius ". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 June 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14463, accessed 21 November 2024.]
