Perspectiva Pictorum et Architectorum: the perspective for painters and architects, by Andrea Pozzo, SJ

Author(s)

Mateus Alves Silva

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas
• Defense date: 2020-06-30

Examining board members

Marcos Tognon; André Guilherme Dornelles Dangelo; Andrea Buchidid Loewen; Magno Moraes Mello; Patricia Dalcanale Meneses

• Advisor: Marcos Tognon

Abstract

In Rome, at the end of the XVIIth century, the Jesuit brother Andrea Pozzo (Trento, 1642 - Wien, 1709) published a treatise called The Perspective for Painters and Architects, a Latin-Italian edition (Perspectiva Pictorum et Architectorum - Prospettiva dei Pittori ed Architetti). This treatise has two volumes, printed in 1693 and 1700, respectively. It aimed to show an easy and quick way to represent architectural designs in perspective. This work was largely known thanks to these practical methods and was re-edited, reprinted and translated in several idioms during the XVIIIth century. This treatise was used in quadratura paintings, architecture, carving and theater scenography in several places in the world, including Portugal and Brazil. This thesis aims to understand the ways that made this treatise largely spread, not just because of the images in its editions but mainly the didactical and pragmatical ways to draw in perspective, in different forms. One of the biggest examples of this spread was the three manuscripts translations in Portuguese made in the XVIIIth century used in the artistic practice. To understand this work we need to know what was the artistical context at the end of the XVIIth century. Andrea Pozzo was an artist that traveled to several places in Italy until arriving in Wien, then it is important to know his biographical aspects that could create a great repertoire of artworks presented in the treatise. We studied the different editions and formats of his treatise to understand the context of the translation manuscripts in Portugal. Considering the importance of Perspectiva Pictorum et Architectorum in the Portuguese-Brasilian artistical scene, we present a commented translation of the treatise in Portuguese, showing the method and the questions that could explain its circulation (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/19534-0 - Architecture, space, perspective: the treatise "Perspectiva Pictorum et Architectorum" by Andrea Pozzo (1642-1709)
• Grantee: Mateus Alves Silva
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate