ViTruViO Tra cOnTraDDiziOni e FrainTenDiMenTi suGli OrDini archiTeTTOnici

Abstract

account of the development of the architectural orders and the
evidence of their use in ancient architecture. The historical context
of De architectura remains the principal starting point for approaching
it, alongside the buildings on which Vitruvius drew to
formulate his canon. Although his treatise dates from the early Augustan
period, as far as the architectural orders are concerned Vitruvius
adopted in toto architectural precepts established in the
late Classical and Hellenistic ages prevail, which only occasionally
did he metabolise and revise. The lack of correspondence between
certain Vitruvian ‘rules,’ such as omitting dentils from pediments,
and the archaeological remains reveals his failure to bring
the De architectura up to date, at least as far as the syntax of
the orders went. The complete absence of any allusion to the
“Theatermotiv”, which became widespread from the end of the
2nd century B.C. and into the next, is proof of this. This contribution
therefore reflects on the various layers of Vitruvius’ thought
as well as the philological and antiquarian character of his work,
which is already evident in his theory of the historical origins of
the architectural orders.