March 14, 2025
Athens, GR 14 C
Expand search form
Blog

Ruth Leon recommends… Conserving Rusconi: Vitruvius’s Ten Books on Architecture

Ruth Leon recommends… Conserving Rusconi: Vitruvius’s Ten Books on Architecture

Conserving Rusconi: Vitruvius’s Ten Books on Architecture

Vitruvius was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, and served as an artilleryman, the third class of arms in the Roman army. Little is known about Vitruvius’ life, but he is famous and revered for his multi-volume work titled De architectura.  . As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissance as the first book on architectural theory,   as well as a major source on the canon of classical architecture.     It is not clear to what extent his contemporaries regarded his book as original or important.

The first illustrated edition was published in Venice in   1511 by Fra Giovannie Giocondo,  , with woodcut illustrations based on descriptions in the text. Bramante, Michelangelo, Palladio, Vignola and earlier architects are known to have studied the work of Vitruvius, and consequently it has had a significant impact on the architecture of many European countries.

And now, here, in the Met Museum, is a copy of Vitruvius’s Ten Books on Architecture, in the Rusconi edition. It is in very poor shape and this little film is about how the curators lovingly restored it so that it could be displayed in the Met’s galleries.

When Met fellow Yeo-Jin Katerina Bong came across a 17th century copy of Ruconi’s edition   of Vitruvius’s Ten Books on Architecture in the Department of Drawings and Prints, she was elated by her discovery—but disheartened by the book’s physical condition.

Behind the scenes at The Met curator  FemkeSpeelberg   and book conservator  Claire Manias   discuss the book’s history and extensive illustrations as it is conserved for an upcoming exhibition.

Read more

The post Ruth Leon recommends… Conserving Rusconi: Vitruvius’s Ten Books on Architecture appeared first on Slippedisc.

Previous Article

Reconsider the Familiar: Glasgow Cathedral Festival returns with its eighth season

Next Article

German conductor Anja Bihlmaier has been appointed principal guest conductor of the BBC Philharmonic,

You might be interested in …

Vienna loses an iconic establishment

Vienna loses an iconic establishment

The Musikverein in Vienna has been home to the music publisher Universal Edition since 1914. That arrangement has now come to an end, reports Axel Brüggemann. The publisher has (been) given notice to leave by […]

French opera picks an outsider

French opera picks an outsider

The opera of Angers Nantes has appointed a successor to the retiring Alain Surans. She is Alexandra Lacroix, founder of la Cie mpda, an independent music theatre company. Not the normal Paris École nationale d’administration […]

Two singers quit ENO’s Elixir

Two singers quit ENO’s Elixir

Uncertainty at English National Opera is affecting long-term casting plans. The company says: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Innocent Masuku and Nmon Ford have withdrawn from playing the roles of Nemorino and Belcore respectively in Donizetti’s […]