Matters to whom want to be an architect: revisiting a 16th century architectural treatise

Author(s)

Sarah Dume

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas
• Defense date: 2023-12-13

Examining board members

Marcos Tognon; Andrea Buchidid Loewen; Maria Luiza Zanatta de Souza

• Advisor: Marcos Tognon

Abstract

The present project aims at promoting the transcription of Codex 3675 of the National Library of Portugal, better known as "Tratado de Architectura" (1576?-1579?) attributed to the Portuguese master builder Antônio Rodrigues. Based on paleographic analysis and an understanding of the artistic, social, and cultural context in which the document was created, we intend, through its transcription, to provide the field of Art History and related areas with a tool for accessing what is considered to be the only underlying treatise on architecture in Portugal. Through the clarification of concepts, ideas, and methods established by art and architecture historiography, we intend to observe and analyze the document as a key to decode the introduction and use of classical architectural language in Portugal, linked to the context of maintenance and defense of the territory through military architecture, a mechanism cherished and promoted by Portuguese rulers, especially in the second half of the sixteenth century. The transcription and analysis of the text will allow a further contribution to the first source of Portuguese architecture that had reached these times, and its position as a rare theoretical testimony of the professional knowledge of the architect based on the postulates of the European architectural treatise of the time, as well as other knowledge circulating in Portugal at the time (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 19/11512-9 - From the master to the apprentice: transcription of the manuscript Treatise About Architecture (1576) by Antônio Rodrigues
• Grantee: Sarah Dume
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master