Vitruvio e l'eredità teorica del De architectura (Libri III e IV)

The contribution intends to investigate the relation ship between Vitruvius and Greek-Hellenistic sources, in relation to the theories of architectural orders discussed in Book III and IV. The question is related to the relationship between Italic and Greek architecture, also in the wake of the Renaissance interpretations of De architectura, which have partly oriented the history of studies. Vitruvius' work must be read as a strong and precise desire to “homologate” the norms that governed the construction of a trilithic elevation through the de velopment of architectural orders. Therefore, the interdisciplinary approach to analysing Vitruvian orders must necessarily take into account the forced categorisation advanced by the Latin author with respect to Greek trilithic elevations.

The creation of Book III and IV is by far indebted to the experiences gained during the history of Greek architecture, which were presumably only recorded in official treatises from the Hellenistic period onwards. However, Vitruvius does not consider the progressive metamorphism that orders underwent in the course of Greek experiences, just as he does not express his views on the intense architectural debate that was taking place in Rome, at the time he wrote his work. To put Vitruvian theories on orders into the right context is therefore the main purpose of this contribution, in order to reiterate, as already expressed by P. Gros, a particular caution in the use of the De architectura, especially in the approach of a typological study of architectural orders in the Italic context. [Publisher's text]