JF Ptak Science Books Quick Post
Over the years I've seen many architectural prints, and I've come to determine that I most enjoy the comparative views. It is uncommon to see a single-sheet engraving dedicated to different forms of columns, as we see here in plate 93 (page 307) of volume one of A.C. Daviler's Cours d'Architecture qui comprend les Ordres de Vignole...published in Paris in 1710. Daviler (1653-1701),was an architect and a student of Jean-Francois Blondel (1683-1756) who worked very extensively on the architectural theory of Giacomo Barozzi or Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola (1507-1573). Here he identifies and classifies 20 different types of columns, just to make sure that everyone was on the same page, so to speak:
Actually, the very first engraving in the work is dedicated to a definition of terms, establishing the basis for the forms that would be discussed over the following thousand pages. It is an excellent way to start a book, making sure that everyone has a common identification for what standard words would mean. It is a standard and very good idea but not often illustrated:
Even though these are relatively small engravings in the originals, they are filled with detail, as we can see in this exploded view of a piece of detail of two columns, which makes them very entertaining to investigate:
Comments