Betts, Structural Innovation and Structural Design in Renaissance Architecture

Structural Innovation and Structural Design in Renaissance Architecture
Author(s): Richard J. Betts

Source: Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians , Mar., 1993, Vol. 52, No. 1
(Mar., 1993), pp. 5-25
Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the Society of Architectural
Historians
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/990755
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Structural Innovation and Structural Design in
Renaissance Architecture
RICHARD J. BETTS University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The characteristic structural forms of large Renaissance churches- lack of technical skill was notorious for having caused structural
domes, drums, pendentives, and barrel vaults-were the products of failure at Saint Peter's. On this basis, Ackerman draws a sweep-
innovation in theory and practice during the later fifteenth century in ing conclusion: "This lack of technical discipline," he says,
Italy that culminated in Bramante's projectsfor the new Saint Peter's. "may explain in part why the High Renaissance is one of the
Significant ideas were contributed by Leon Battista Alberti, Francesco few great eras in architectural history in which a new style
di Giorgio, and Leonardo da Vinci. Francesco di Giorgio's geometrical emerges without the assistance of any remarkable structural
methods of design for churches as described in his second treatise in- innovation."2 That Ackerman's view has been widely accepted
corporate a procedure for calculating the thickness of walls bearing is indicated by frequent citations of his article, and by the paucity
vaults. Francesco di Giorgio tested the procedure in his own churches, of modern engineering studies of Renaissance structures.3
and it was later used by Bramante. The state of modern scholarship on the question of structural
innovation is curious in view of the fact that we can know far
more about Renaissance than about medieval structures. Modern
BEGINNING WITH BRAMANTE'S PROJECTS for the new
Saint Peter's of 1505-1506, the Renaissance dome and barrel techniques of structural analysis may tell us much about the
vault, which had been used sporadically in the later fifteenth structural behavior of ribbed vaults and flying buttresses, but we
century, displaced the Gothic ribbed vault as decisively as the know almost nothing about how their architects designed them
because they left no direct records of their secrets. One of the
ribbed vault had displaced the barrel vault of the Romanesque.
fundamental innovations of Renaissance architecture was the
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as in the twelfth century,
the advent of a new style was accompanied by a change in reinvention, by Leon Battista Alberti, of architectural theory as
structural form, but architectural historians have not assigned a self-conscious discipline. Thanks to the treatises of the later
the same significance to structural innovation in both cases. We fifteenth century, we can understand how Renaissance archi-
study the structures of Gothic churches because we believe that tects, including Bramante, thought about the structures of their
structural innovation had a determining influence on their forms., buildings, and we can observe the invention and testing of new
Believing the contrary about Renaissance architecture, we have methods of design for new kinds of structures.
not studied structures of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Renaissance vaulting was not created by simply reviving an-
except Brunelleschi's dome, which is in fact a ribbed vault. cient Roman forms. The Romans used groin vaults, not barrel
Perhaps the most influential modern study of structural design vaults, to cover large spans, and they never dared to put a dome
in Renaissance architecture is James S. Ackerman's article "Ar- on top of them, much less a dome elevated on a drum. The
chitectural Practice in the Italian Renaissance," published in this combination of dome, drum, pendentives, and barrel vaults that
journal in 1954. Professor Ackerman argues that Renaissance we see in Saint Peter's and so many later churches was, at the
architects were concerned primarily with ideal forms and pro-
portions and that they left structural problems to the craftsmen 2. J. S. Ackerman, "Architectural Practice in the Italian Renaissance,"
whom they employed to construct their buildings. As his leading JSAH, VIII, 1954, 3-11. For further arguments on this point, see idem,
example of an artist turned architect who was indifferent to the "Notes on Bramante's Bad Reputation," in Studi Bramanteschi, Rome,
1974, 339-349.
responsibilities of structural design, he cites Bramante, whose
3. See, for example, R.J. Mainstone, "Structural Theory and Design
before 1742," Architectural Review, CXLIII, no. 854, Apr. 1968, 303-
310; and C. Wilkinson, "The New Professionalism in the Renaissance,"
A version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the
in S. Kostof, ed., The Architect: Chapters in the History of the Profession,
Society of Architectural Historians in Albuquerque on 3 April 1992. I
New York and London, 1977, 124-160. The only modern engineering
am indebted to Carol Bolton Betts, Lloyd Leffers, Robert Mark, Henry study of a Renaissance structure known to me is E. C. Robison, "A
Millon, and Sergio Sanabria for good questions and helpful comments.
Structural Study of the Michelangelo and Della Porta Designs for the
1. See, for example, R. Mark, Experiments in Gothic Structure, Cam- St. Peter's Dome," in C. A. Brebbia, ed., Structural Repair and Maintenance
bridge, Mass., 1982. of Historical Buildings, Basel and Boston, 1989, 23-31.
JSAH LII:5-25. MARCH 1993 5

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6 JSAH, LII:1, MARCH 1993
time of its appearance in the fifteenth century, a new structural crossing. The architect of record was Bernardo Rossellino, but
form, neither Roman nor Romanesque. Since Renaissance ar-
the design of the project is usually attributed to Alberti, a close
chitects had inherited nothing in the way of theory to guidefriend of Pope Nicholas, to whom he dedicated De re aedificatoria
in about 1452.6 When Nicholas V died in 1455, the foundations
them in designing these complex systems of vaults, they had to
invent and test methods of design that would allow them to and part of the walls of the choir were standing. Little more
build with reasonable confidence in the success of their enter-was done until after 1506, when Bramante completed the walls
prise. Their success is attested by the fact that incidents of spon-and covered the choir with a barrel vault.
taneous structural failure are rare in the history of Renaissance What we know about the project of Nicholas V comes from
architecture. There is no Renaissance Beauvais. This seems all a description written by Gianozzo Manetti in his biography of
the more remarkable when we consider that it was not until the pope,7 and from several drawings of the early sixteenth
the seventeenth century that architects could take advantage ofcentury that are now in the Uffizi. The most useful of the
inventions in mathematics and mechanics that would lead to drawings is Uffizi 20A, a red chalk drawing made by Bramante
modern techniques of structural analysis.4 or a close assistant, which shows, in plan, the old Saint Peter's,
Bramante's Saint Peter's was the culminating event in a re-the choir and transept of Nicholas V, and two partial projects
markable episode of structural innovation whose history we canfor the new basilica (Fig. 24).8 The paper is gridded, so we can
know in some detail. The story of Renaissance vaulting begins,read dimensions from it, and we can reconstruct in outline the
as do so many stories in Renaissance architecture, with Alberti.plan of the choir and transept as envisaged by Nicholas V and
In De re aedificatoria, he extols the virtues of vaulted ceilings for his architects (Fig. 1).9 The pope and his builders intended to
temples: "I would expect the roof of a temple to be vaulted, forretain the old basilica and replace only the apse and transept
the sake of dignity and also durability."5 He attributes theirwith a new structure. The crossing would have been a square
durability to their superior resistance to fire, and he cites ex- of 44 braccia, or 24.5 meters, corresponding to the width of the
amples of ancient temples that had burned. He goes on to rec-
ommend coffering, as in the Pantheon, and he describes a meth- 6. For the most complete, recent studies of the project of Nicholas
V, see T. Magnuson, Studies in Roman Quattrocento Architecture (Figura,
od for forming coffers, implying that he had used it. But he
IX), Stockholm, 1958, 163-216; and G. Urban, "Zum Neubau-Projekt
says nothing about how to design the structure of a vaultedvon St. Peter unter Papst Nikolaus V," in H. M. von Erffa and H.
Herget, eds., Festschriftfir Harald Keller zum sechzigsten Geburtstag, Darm-
ceiling, nor does he describe it in such a way that we can know
stadt, 1963, 131-173. Rossellino's work is documented by a series of
what particular forms of vaulting he had in mind. From the
payment accounts beginning in 1451. The attribution to Alberti of the
fact that he recommends coffering in vaults, we may infer that design of the project of Nicholas V goes back to a late fifteenth-century
Alberti preferred barrel vaults, and we can attribute to his in-diary and was repeated by Vasari, among others.
7. The entire text of Manetti's vita of Nicholas V is in Magnuson,
fluence the Renaissance preference for that form. We can even
Studies in Roman Quattrocento Architecture, 351-362. Magnuson discusses
attribute to him what may have been the first attempt to combineManetti's description of the project for Saint Peter's line by line on pp.
a barrel vault and a dome at Saint Peter's in Rome, half a century 180-200.
before Bramante's time. 8. Uffizi 20A was first published, in color and at full scale, by H.
Freiherr von Geymiiller, Die urspriinglichen Entwiirfefiir Sanct Peter
In 1451, Nicholas V commissioned a project to remodel the
Rom von Bramante, Raphael Santi, Fra Giocondo, den Sangallo's u. a
old Saint Peter's by adding a new choir, transept, and domedvols., Vienna, 1875, I, 175-196 and passim, and II, pls. 9-11.
9. The solid black area in my Figure 2 shows the project of Nicho
4. For brief surveys of Renaissance structural design and the begin-V as it appears in Uffizi 20A, superimposed on a copy of the drawi
nings of modern practice, see W. B. Parsons, Engineers and Engineering from which I have erased Bramante's projects for the sake of clarit
in the Renaissance, 2d ed. (repr.), Cambridge, Mass., 1968, 481-492; andThe squares in the grid measure 5 palmi, but it is convenient to g
R. Mainstone, "Structural Theory and Design before 1742." Parsonsmost of the dimensions in braccia because Manetti does so. One brac
points out that although Renaissance architects seem to have been awareequals 2.5 palmi, or 0.5585 meter. The grid is not entirely accura
of stresses in structural members, they had no understanding of theirand there are discrepancies between the text of Manetti and the drawin
nature or intensity. A key discovery leading to modern theories ofMagnuson endeavored to resolve these discrepancies, and I have f
structural design was Galileo's analysis of stress in a cantilevered beamlowed his very thorough analysis of the dimensions. All vertical
published in 1638 in the Dialoghi delle nuove scienze. Mainstone regardsmensions come from Manetti.
Giovanni Poleni's analysis of cracks in the dome of Saint Peter's in 1742 Manetti refers to a dome at the crossing, and I have indicated
as the beginning of modern structural analysis; cf. G. Poleni, Memorie probable form using a light line. Magnuson and Urban tried in differ
istoriche della gran cupola del Tempio Vaticano e de' danni di essa, e de'ways to reconstruct the project with a dome, groin vaults, and numero
details including transverse arches and columns. The available inf
ristoramenti loro, divise in libri cinque, Padua, 1748. He suggests that earlier
methods of design were probably geometrical. The results of my ownmation does not fully support their conjectures. The most importan
research confirm Mainstone's supposition.
missing information includes definition of the eastern side of the trans
5. L. B. Alberti, On the Art of Building in Ten Books, tr. J. Rykwert,and crossing. Uffizi 20A shows the western walls, which were not bu
N. Leach, and R. Tavernor, Cambridge, Mass., 1988, 221. Cf. L. B.in the time of Nicholas V, but not the eastern walls. We may surm
Alberti, L'architettura (De re aedificatoria), ed. G. Orlandi, Milan, 2 vols.,
that this area had not been defined by Alberti or Rossellino. Accordi
1966, II, 613: "Templis tectum dignitatis gratia etiam perpetuitatisto Manetti, they intended to build a dome; according to Uffizi 20
maxime esse testudinatum velim."
they did not know how they would do it.

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BETTS: STRUCTURAL INNOVATION AND STRUCTURAL DESIGN 7
old nave, surmounted by a dome and lantern reaching 100 braccia

in height. The transepts were to have been 78 braccia long, with
groin vaults 80 braccia high. The choir was to have been 80
braccia long, and although Manetti says nothing about its vault
we can assume that it would have been 80 braccia high, as in
the transepts. The form of the choir vault is problematic.10 If
groin vaults were intended for the transepts, as Manetti says,
then we could reasonably expect the same in the choir. But if
we assume that the bays of the choir were framed by transverse
arches corresponding to the exterior buttresses, then the choir
would have two bays of somewhat different dimensions. This
would be unsuitable for groin vaults, but a choir of that form
could be covered conveniently by a barrel vault. The structural
.
forms shown in Uffizi 20A strongly imply that a barrel vault
of a barrel vault rather than the concentrated loads and thrusts
was intended when the foundations were built. ..., . , , I

According to Uffizi 20A, the walls of the choir and transept
were 30 palmi, or 6.7 meters, thick and reinforced by buttresses.
Torgil Magnuson, assuming the use of groin vaults, argued that
such mighty walls would have been expensive to build and
before 1449. ..St. Lawrence in a basilica with transepts
structurally unnecessary. He accounted for them by proposing
va on cou Fa s archite e i
that the new choir and transept were intended to serve as part
of a new circuit of fortifications around the Borgo Vaticano. In . . ' ' ' . -; , ,
Magnuson's view, the elements shown projecting from the ex-
terior walls in Uffizi 20A would have been defensive towers
Fig. bastions,
surmounted by battlements. But these do not resemble 1. Leon Battista Alberti and Bernardo R
Rome, c. 1451. Reconstruction of the choir
they lack the interior spaces and passageways that would make
V superimposed on Uffizi 20A (author).
them useful as such, and their site would not be appropriate for
fortifications of that kind.'" They are what they appear to be,
solid buttresses intended to reinforce the walls.ofThe
a extraor-
barrel vault rather than the concentr
dinary thickness of the walls can only be attributed to someby groin vaults and ribbed vau
presented
structural purpose, and that seems reasonable if we Two
suppose that items also suggest that a barr
other
the walls were intended to carry the continuous load
forand thrust
the choir. The first is a cycle of fres
from the lives of Saints Stephen and Law
Angelico
10. Magnuson, Studies in Roman Quattrocento Architecture, 199, arguesin the chapel of Nicholas V at
that the choir could have been covered by groin vaults in two 1449.
before bays, St. Lawrence is ordained in a
framed by transverse arches. Recognizing the inadequacy of our infor-
and groin vaults carried by walls and colum
mation, he goes on to say that the ceiling of the choir ". .. could have
alms
been of a different kind of vaulting, or a barrel vault, or a flatin front of a hall closed by an apse a
wooden
ceiling." Urban, "Zum Neubau-Projekt von St.-Peter," 160-161,
vault ob-
carried on columns.' Fra Angelico'
serves that the choir could have been covered by a barrel vault or groin
possible "painter's architecture," but it
vaults, and that he could not conclusively argue for one or the other.
Nicholas
11. Cf. Magnuson, Studies in Roman Quattrocento Architecture, V contemplated barrel vaults as
199-
If we at
200. Urban agreed with Magnuson on this point. A fortress replace
the the colonnades of the "Sai
location of the choir and transept would have been improbable. The
uting Alms" with structurally realistic w
site guards neither the perimeter nor the high ground, and it faces toward
space would resemble the choir of Nich
the Vatican Hill, whose height, according to Magnuson's contour map,
barrel
is 47.5 meters above grade level at the basilica. Furthermore, vault. The second item which sugge
Manetti
clearly says that the choir was to have been illuminated by aintended
was "crown" for the new choir is the fact t
of round windows in its walls, and Magnuson proposes, on documentary
built there by Bramante.
evidence, that large, arched windows would have been installed below
the roundels. The presence of such windows would have greatly di-
Construction of a large barrel vault, 2
44.6
minished the defensive value of the walls and buttresses if meters
they had high, sustained and buttressed
been used as bastions. To paraphrase Magnuson's argument, one might
ask why anyone would go to the trouble and expense to build very thick
walls as a means of defense and then render them useless for that
12. purpose
Cf. J. Pope-Hennessy, Fra Angelico, 2d
by opening them with windows. 212-214, pls. 111-112 and frontispiece.

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have been a very risky undertaking in 1451. Vaults cesco di Giorgio later returned to the form of the choir of
of nearly
that size had been erected during the fourteenth century at used barrel vaults carried by stout walls without
Nicholas V and
Florence cathedral, but they are ribbed vaults and so aisles
could or not
external buttresses at San Bernardino degli Zoccolanti
have served as a useful model for the architects of Nicholas
in Urbino,V.begun in 1483, and at Santa Maria delle Grazie al
The most recent experience in constructing barrel vaults
Calcinaiohad
in Cortona, designed in 1484 (Figs. 12 and 16). The
occurred during the twelth century, in Romanesque naves that
last of the fifteenth-century barrel-vaulted churches is Francesco
were considerably smaller than the choir of Nicholas V and Santo Spirito in San Maurizio in Siena, designed
di Giorgio's
buttressed by aisles and galleries. The extraordinary thickness
about 1498.15 Its nave is covered by a lunette vault, perhaps the
of the walls in the choir of Nicholas V tells us that Alberti and
earliest example of a type that would be commonly used in large
Renaissance churches after 1500.16
Rossellino understood the risk, and in this instance Ackerman's
thesis may well be correct. To Alberti we should attribute the
Of the nine barrel-vaulted churches listed above, four can be
interior proportions of the new choir and transept and, aboveto Francesco di Giorgio. He had more experience in
attributed
all, the radical idea of building a barrel vault surmounted byof aconstruction than any other architect of the fifteenth
this type
dome and drum. But Alberti's treatise shows him to have been
century, and his accomplishments had brought him some rep-
ignorant of structural design.13 We can reasonably attribute
utation asto
an expert in structures. In the summer of 1490 he
Rossellino the key structural decision in the choir of Nicholas
V, which was the determination of the thickness of the walls.
15. For Santo Spirito in San Maurizio, see R. Papini, Francesco di
We have no way of knowing how he did this, so weGiorgio,
can onlyarchitetto, Florence, 1946, 3 vols., I, 111-112, and III, pl. 6, no.
assume that he guessed well and included a large safety4; factor.14
and G. H. Fehring, "Studien iiber die Kirchenbauten des Francesco
di Giorgios," Ph.D. diss., Wiirzburg, 1956, 156-180. The attribution
His walls were certainly adequate, because eventually they did
is not documented. Papini attributes the church to Francesco di Giorgio,
carry a barrel vault. whereas Fehring thinks it was designed by a follower under his influ-
ence, perhaps Peruzzi. Curiously, Fehring remarks on the innovative
The choir of Nicholas V was the first of a series of experiments
aspect of the nave vault, as the first lunette vault in Renaissance archi-
in the construction of barrel vaults that continued through the
tecture, but then he says that it is the weakest part of the church and
end of the fifteenth century. At San Sebastiano in Mantua, begun
therefore could not have been designed by Francesco di Giorgio. Since
c. 1460, Alberti again used barrel vaults carried by solid walls.
Francesco di Giorgio died in 1501, we can be sure that he could not
have supervised construction of the vaults. Construction of the church
A somewhat different system, inspired in part by the Basilica of
was probably carried out by one of his assistants, perhaps Giacomo
Maxentius, was used by an unknown architect at the abbey
Cozzarelli, who had been with him since before he went to Urbino in
church at Fiesole in the 1460s, and by Alberti at Sant'Andrea
1476. The design of Santo Spirito should not be attributed to Cozzarelli
in Mantua, designed in 1470-1472. In both churches,because
the he was not an innovative architect. We can reasonably exclude
high
Peruzzi as a candidate for this attribution because he was not yet twenty
vaults of the nave are buttressed by deep transverse walls rising
years old at the time it was designed. We are left with Francesco di
between the chapels. Another system, essentially Romanesque,
Giorgio as the architect of Santo Spirito, and perhaps the inventor of
with aisles, was used by Francesco di Giorgio in the the lunette vault.
cathedral
16. My survey does not include a group of groin-vaulted churches
of Urbino, probably designed in 1475-1476, and by Bramante
constructed mostly in Rome in the fifteenth century. Among these were
at Santa Maria presso San Satiro in Milan, in about 1478. Fran-
the first completely new Renaissance churches in Rome, Santa Maria
del Popolo, begun c. 1472 by Sixtus IV, and Sant'Agostino, begun c.
13. In De re aedificatoria, III.ii, Alberti discusses foundations and
1478 by says
Cardinal d'Estouteville. Cf. G. Urban, "Die Kirchenbaukunst
that they should be broader than the walls. He cites snowshoes as an in Rom," RomischesJahrbuch fiir Kunstgeschichte, IX-
des Quattrocento
illustration of the principle, and he says that the precise dimensions
X, 1961-1962,of73-288. Use of the groin vault was limited to Rome
the footings must be calculated by a geometrical method that he obviously
and was had inspired by the ruins of ancient baths and the Basilica
described in his mathematical commentaries. Cf. Alberti, Onofthe Art of
Maxentius. All of the Roman churches with groin vaults appear to
Building in Ten Books, 62-64; and idem, L'architettura, I, 176.
us to be "transitional" structures, half Gothic and half Renaissance, full
14. Rossellino might have used an old rule of thumb. Rodrigoof visible Gil,
conflicts between the two styles. The conflicts are due not
writing in the 1540s and 1550s, declares that a buttress willonly
betosound
the immaturity of Renaissance architecture at this time, but also
if its depth equals one-fourth of the span of the vault; cf. S. L.toSanabria,
the fact that groin vaults are best suited to square, or nearly square,
"The Mechanization of Design in the Sixteenth Century: Thebays Structural
in plan. For this reason, the groin vault proved to be inconvenient,
Formulae of Rodrigo Gil de Hontai6n,"JSAH, XLI, 1982, and 281-293.
its use was abandoned after 1500 in favor of the lunette vault, which
Rossellino's walls are approximately one-fourth the span of combines
the vault.
the superior lighting of the groin vault with the advantages
If we assume that he used a rule similar to that described by Gil, then
of design and aesthetics offered by the barrel vault.
we can say more about Rossellino's understanding of the behavior of
A list of barrel-vaulted churches of the fifteenth century might also
the structure. He would have realized that the load and thrust of a barrel
include Brunelleschi's Pazzi Chapel at Santa Croce in Florence, com-
vault occur continuously along its lower edge, and so he thought of in
missioned the
1429, and Giuliano da Sangallo's Santa Maria delle Carceri,
entire wall as if it were the buttress of a ribbed or groin vaultbegun in 1485, in Prato. I do not include these because their barrel
presenting
concentrated loads. Romanesque churches probably showed him
vaults theshort, little more than broad arches, and because their
are very
necessity of adding transverse arches to stiffen the vault, and domes
theseare
would
ribbed vaults. The design of both could have been accom-
require additional buttresses because they present additionalmodated
load and
by the structural theory of Brunelleschi, which was presumably
thrust.
that of the fourteenth century.

95.249.247.83 on Fri, 11 Dec 2020 20:07:49 UTC
was called to Milan to design structural modifications to the

crossing of the cathedral so that it could carry a tiburio.17 By
then he had already written two treatises on architecture in
which he described methods of design for all types of cities and
buildings. Included within his methods is a theory of structural
design for barrel vaults that he had tested in his own buildings.
Bramante would later use this theory to design the new Saint
Peter's.
Francesco di Giorgio completed his first treatise in about

1475-1476 and his second in 1489-1492.18 He treats the same
subjects in both, but in quite different ways. Each treatise con-

tains information that cannot be found in the other, and much
of that information is conveyed only in drawings. To understand
Francesco di Giorgio's theory we must correlate the texts and
drawings of both treatises.
17. Several architects from Italy and Germany were summoned to

Milan in the 1480s and 1490s for the same reason. Francesco di Giorgio's
proposal was outlined in a statement and recorded in a model made in
June 1492. His statement and related documents are discussed in A. S.
Weller, Francesco di Giorgio, 1439-1501, Chicago, 1943, 24-26, docs.
LXXVI-LXXXII; and A. Bruschi, "Pareri sul tiburio del duomo di
Milano," in A. Bruschi, ed., Scritti rinascimentali di architettura, Milan,
1978, 319-386. Francesco di Giorgio's model does not survive, so we
do not fully understand his proposal. It has become the subject of some
debate, particularly with regard to Francesco di Giorgio's relationship
to other architects involved in building the tiburio. See C. F. da Passano
and E. Brivio, "Contributo allo studio del tiburio del Duomo di Milano,"
Arte Lombarda, XII, 1967, 3-36; P. C. Marani, "Leonardo, Francesco Fig. 2. Francesco di Giorgio, plans for ideal churches. Turin, Biblioteca
di Giorgio, e il tiburio del Duomo di Milano," Arte Lombarda, LXII, Reale, ms. Saluzzianus 148, fol. 11, c. 1475-1476. Ink on parchment
1981, 81-92; G. Scaglia, "Leonardo e Francesco di Giorgio a Milano (Biblioteca Reale, Turin).
nel 1490," in E. Bellone and P. Rossi, eds., Leonardo e l'etd della ragione,
Milan, 1982,225-254; andJ. Guillaume, "Leonardo and Architecture,"
in P. Galuzzi, ed., Leonardo da Vinci: Engineer and Architect, Montreal, Francesco di Giorgio's first treatise is best known from a
1987, 208-209. parchment manuscript in the Biblioteca Reale in Turin, Saluz-
18. Francesco di Giorgio's second treatise was first published by C.
zianus 148. It contains more than 800 drawings, including thir-
Promis, Trattato di architettura civile e militare di Francesco di Giorgio Martini,
ty-two plans and four elevations of churches (Figs. 2 and 3).
2 vols. and atlas, Turin, 1841. Both treatises were published completely
The drawings explore systematically the types of churches that
with transcriptions of text and illustrations of all drawings, in Francesco
di Giorgio Martini, Trattati di architettura, ingegneria, e arte militare, ed.
can be generated by combining different functional elements,
C. Maltese, 2 vols., Milan, 1967. Another copy of the first treatise, once
owned and annotated by Leonardo da Vinci and later damaged by fire,
geometrical forms, and proportions. They imply that Francesco
was published in facsimile in Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Trattato di
di Giorgio used precise methods of design, but he does not
Architettura: II Codice Ashburnham 361 della Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana
discuss his methods in the text of his first treatise, except to
di Firenze, ed. P. C. Marani, Florence, 1979. All of Francesco di Giorgio's
describe, briefly, the proportions of chapels and round churches.
manuscripts have been listed and described in G. Scaglia, Francesco di
The
Giorgio: Checklist and History of Manuscripts and Drawings in Autograph caption of one of the simplest of his basilican plans says
and Copiesfrom c. 1470 to 1687 and Renewed Copies (1764-1839), Beth- that it is a "Tenpio di tre quadri in nel chorpo e uno la magior
lehem, Pa., 1992. For the dating of Francesco di Giorgio's treatises, see
chapella" (A temple with three squares in the body and one in
R. J. Betts, "On the Chronology of Francesco di Giorgio's Treatises:
New Evidence from an Unpublished Manuscript," JSAH, XXXVI, the main chapel) (Fig. 4).19 That is as much as Francesco di
1977, 3-14. Maltese, Scaglia, and Marani disagree with my datingGiorgio
of says about any of his plans in his first treatise, and it
the manuscripts; they assign the first treatise to the 1480s and the second
appears to say precious little about this one.
to the 1490s. I am more than ever convinced that my earlier arguments
Francesco di Giorgio treats churches very differently in his
on dating are correct, however, and they have received an endorsement
of sorts from Arnaldo Bruschi. In Scritti rinascimentali, 19-20 n.second
3, treatise, which is best known from its final, illustrated
Bruschi observes in passing that the second treatise was clearly written
version, a paper manuscript in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale
under the influence of Federico da Montefeltro, whom Francesco di
Giorgio served as ducal architect from 1476 to 1482, and that the
influence of Urbino is altogether lacking in the first treatise. 19. Cf. Francesco di Giorgio, Trattati, ed. Maltese, I, pl. 19 and 256.

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Fig. 4. Francesco di Giorgio, plan for an ideal church. Turin, Biblioteca

Reale, ms. Saluzzianus 148, fol. 12, c. 1475-1476. Ink on parchment
(Biblioteca Reale, Turin).
In the preface to his second treatise Francesco di Giorgio

proudly claimed his drawings as his own inventions. His meth-
Fig. 3. Francesco di Giorgio, plans for ideal churches. Turin, Biblioteca
Reale, ms. Saluzzianus 148, fol. 13v, c. 1475-1476. Ink on parchment ods for designing churches are based on grids and quadrature,
and they usually involve some combination of the two. He used
grids to achieve correct proportions in the spaces, which he
in Florence, ex-Magliabecchianus II.I.141 (Figs. 5 and 26). The validated with reference to his theory of the Human Analogy,
illustrations of the book on temples in Magliabecchianus II.I.141and he used variations of quadrature to design the structural
forms, among other things. His knowledge of quadrature was
are linear diagrams instead of plans, and the text explains how
probably part of the theory that had been transmitted orally
to draw them. But the second treatise does not fully explain
how geometrical diagrams can be turned into plans with solid from generation to generation of architects throughout the Mid-
dle Ages.
walls capable of bearing vaults and domes. To understand this
point, we must combine information from both treatises, and A simple quadrature series consists of two unequal, concentric
squares, the smaller being erected inside the larger on the mid-
we can do so because when he made the drawings of churches
points of its sides. The series can be extended in both ascending
for his first treatise, Francesco di Giorgio used the geometrical
methods that he would describe only later, in his second trea-and descending manners, and it can include the circumscribed
tise.20 circles of the squares and a second series of squares rotated to
the first by 45 degrees. A more complex quadrature series defines
20. My discussion of two drawings from Saluzzianus 148, below, a variety of smaller squares, rectangles, circles, and line segments
will provide some demonstration of this point, but a full discussion that can be used for many purposes in designing a building.
would be impossible here, given the number of drawings involved.
Suffice it to say that I have studied all of the drawings of churches in
Saluzzianus 148 from this point of view. Only two of them were not no cross-sectional drawings of churches in the first treatise. Francesco
made with methods described in the second treatise. These are the plan di Giorgio began to develop his geometrical methods and make the
of a basilica on the human form on fol. llv, and the diagrammatic drawings for his first treatise probably around 1470. A few of the plans
scheme for a faSade, also on the human form, on fol. 21v. Conversely, for churches in Saluzzianus 148 appear in a copy of an early draft of
only one of the methods described in Magliabecchianus II.I.141 was the first treatise in the Zichy Codex in Budapest; see C. Kolb, "The
not used for drawings in the first treatise, and that is the elaborate method Francesco di Giorgio Material in the Zichy Codex," JSAH, XLVII,
for designing the cross section of a domed church on fol. 41. There are 1988, 132-159.

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that are quite different from those of late medieval architecture

and this gave him grounds to claim his methods as his own
inventions. His theory prescribes that forms, proportions, and
structure for a given building should be designed by a single,
dt. M >- wl Vffi *d 1?r;H * *?A a WIUt* , . ^,H??
integrated procedure.
s^ <2^^^-t~T-S VX & a- w lW- <^< A4U^1,,^
In three of his diagrams, on folios 41 and 41v in Magliabec-
54 tv'n?e5.cjwe s- P W rs J.i*r e^
J#llo t ?pelpn 1al rkV X ol ?I chiLpl?~ A b? GF c1~u?aE?~. chianus II.I.141, Francesco di Giorgio uses a circular arc and its
Î o .^l *? f-*dtet- e ^le.< *:ure ca Sr AS-6*<,î chord to generate a subtended segment of radius, which he calls
St
^ê,je}f *T74il!>w^
^^ ? *(^tyt^ 16 ^1^^'î1^'3^
t^?F ;%1*fi* ' r ,<l1WA w a "module" for the whole building, but he does not say what
ag^^n i*^^M^r.'LW.^^?llf^ ^r)T>^\dS^n*Jn ^ C
the module measures or how to use it.22 For example, he de-
scribes the upper right-hand drawing of folio 41v (Fig. 5) by
the following paragraph:
If the temple should be oblong [and] faceted or round, to give it

proper height and [to ensure] that it should have proportionable
correspondence to the width, first a square is formed of equal sides
which is divided into four parts. Then two lines are drawn from
corner to corner, and two other lines that touch all the four divisions
:!X C
of the square, namely TSVX.23 And [extensions of lines TV and SX]
t,
make another square of angle ZD and it is divided into four parts

like the large square. And in the center line at point Q is drawn a
A . :-- --- '. ' " ' '' - .r.S
semicircle that will make a portion of a circle between the lines [TX
'T. /T f rej; dMe xc^t?t^.^.Uw^ ^ H
.,t. a,. ~*, Jpor .N.r_~v K. ^S. ?l SSC.~t.* and VS], in the middle of which portion is drawn a line from point
- -,.:,
:'5\ ' 1? .~-S. -~,~ ^ K.tl~ ^, w,l**,.,, -- Q to G called AB. And this portion will be the module for the whole
/' X \ Jl ? *<S iûi4 <A;L *(W;?<M Ann *x ^ll x je'^?M<h 'M n l*Xi
V / XK!/ jllW 4^ w -fr w * l<?^ c W Sm^ lMtt<l <4NA t l building,
a HT -0 with which is divided the diagonal line, and as many parts
as :1
:4 -yit ?.t.> <U- ^w1 * N A-M eZÂ-- S W * is found
o to be the portions of this line, so many is given to the
' -*m f.w..r FT* S t. ,,,^-h ,-^ ?>, Pf;F height, always adding one part more. Then it will have just height
qf^- sitw .Yw?A? -pfAtkr: kJ-4L .. r~Sowo.%.U; e s?<r.2l<,?SU^^lwi^.A<
i^ r e ? wr W-^ -; S^4;e,lt s ol g-0v. L- to width, following the order of the present figure.24
von der Fialen Gerechtigkeit, Faksimile der Originalausgabe Regensburg 1486,

ed. F. Geldner, Wiesbaden, 1965; L. R. Shelby and R. Mark, "Late
Gothic Structural Design in the 'Instructions' of Lorenz Lechler," Ar-
chitectura, IX, 1979, 113-131; Mainstone, "Structural Theory and De-
sign before 1742," 303-310; and Sanabria, "The Mechanization of
Fig. 5. Francesco di Giorgio, geometrical method for designing a church.
Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, ms. ex-Magliabecchianus Design in the Sixteenth Century," 281-293. The methods of Rodrigo
II.I.141, fol. 41v, c. 1490-1492. Ink on paper (Biblioteca Nazionale, Gil, as described by Sanabria, address the problems of sizing piers and
Florence). buttresses, but they are not the methods of Francesco di Giorgio, which
means that there was more than one tradition of structural design among
Procedures of this kind were well known to architects of the medieval masons.
Middle Ages, and although we are poorly informed about their 22. Cf. Francesco di Giorgio, Trattati, ed. Maltese, II, pls. 233-234,
and 399-401. The procedure on fol. 41, describing the cross section of
methods, there is some reason to believe that they used elements
a church with aisles and dome, was first published in 1572 by Philibert
of quadrature to calculate the dimensions of structural forms, Delorme in his Architecture; he did not, of course, acknowledge his
source.
including piers and buttresses.21 Francesco di Giorgio's treatises
23. There is a small discrepancy between text and
contain a large inventory of quadrature procedures, perhaps the
point marked D in the upper left side of the drawing
most complete we shall ever have, but we may not recognize point T in the text. In the next line of text the lett
them as such because he adapted them to forms and proportions another point at the bottom of the drawing. Thus it a
error is in the drawing. The point marked D in the up
21. Quadrature was one of the well-kept secrets of the medieval drawing should be marked T, as it is in my Fig. 6.
masons. Villard de Honnecourt knew it as a method of design, although 24. Magliabecchianus II.I.141, fols. 41-41v: "Sia il tem
perhaps not of structural design; see H. R. Hahnloser, Villard de Hon- facciato o tondo per darli debita alteza et che alla largh
necourt: Kritische Ausgabe des Bauhiittenbuches ms. fr. 19093 der Pariser abilmente abbi conrispondentia formisi inprima uno qu
Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, 1935, pl. 39. There are no known written lati ilquale Sia quadripartito Dipoi sitiri due linee [fol
descriptions of quadrature or of any technique of structural design that ad angulo et due altre linee che tochino tuctti & Quatro
predate the treatises of Francesco di Giorgio. For quadrature and other Quadro Cioe TSVX & faccino unaltro quadrato fuore
aspects of late medieval design theory, see L. R. Shelby, Gothic Design & sia Quadripartito come ilmagior quadrato & nella linea
Techniques: The Fifteenth-Century Design Booklets of Mathes Roriczer and Q Sitiri uno Semicirculo che in fra lelinee fara portion
Hanns Schmuttermayer, Carbondale, Ill., 1977; M. Roriczer, Das Biichlein mezo della qual portione sitiri una linea dal ponto Q al

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i I tq . - *I * I- ^> I "
t
c
'i 11 f iD d 1; P _ i
TX r,po _ _
T
eVt* I C s
a^^"t: ,:.
G
( _r I*
Fig. 6. Francesco di Giorgio, geometrical method for designing a church.

Magliabecchianus II.I.141, fol. 41v. Redrawn with proportional analysis
Fig. 7. Francesco di Giorgio, plan for an ideal church. Turin, Biblioteca
(author).
Reale, ms. Saluzzianus 148, fol. lv, c. 1475-1476. Ink on parchment
Text and drawing correspond exactly, except for one small

error of labeling when he used the letter D twice in the diagram. the baseline ZD. Francesco di Giorgio does not specify the
But if the text tells us how to make the drawing point by point, dimensions of this rectangle, but its short side equals the "mod-
it does not explain to what the points refer. Francesco di Giorgio ule," the line segment AB. Study of this drawing shows that
says that you divide the diagonal line with the module AB and the height of the church is made from an apparently arbitrary
give so many parts to the height of the church, always adding mixture of modules, five of one kind plus one of another.
one part more. AB divides the diagonal QG by approximately The large unlabeled square with which this procedure begins
4.8, or 5 when rounded up to the nearest integer. The "part" also appears to be arbitrary, for it serves no real purpose in the
making up the height is not AB, obviously, but a small square stated procedure. Its presence is all the more curious when we
that is one-fourth of the square VXDZ (Fig. 6). Five of the realize that the very next paragraph and drawing of folio 41v
small squares measure the height of the diagram, from the base- describe essentially the same procedure for obtaining the height
line ZD to the apex of the large square. We still have to add of a church, without the large square and without adding dif-
"one part more," and that appears to be the rectangle below ferent modules.25 For the upper drawing on folio 41v, there is
Et questa portione sara modulo actuctto lo edifizio conla quale Siparti 25. Magliabecchianus II.1.141, fol. 41v: "And wanting to imitate the
lalinea diagonia et quante parti sitroverra essa linea di Portioni tanto in same form, two connected squares of equal faces is made. A line called
nella alteza sidara agiongendo sempre una parte piu allora hara iusta CD is drawn through the middle of both, and in the middle of this, a
alteza alla largheza Seguendo lordine della presente figura." semicircle is drawn [with its center] at point N and from V to K. Then
Cf. Francesco di Giorgio, Trattati, ed. Maltese, II, 401. Maltese's from the end of the semicircle terminated [at] K, a diagonal line is
transcriptions of both treatises are unreliable because they were exten- moved, passing through the intersection of the center line to the end
sively altered for the sake of partially modernized spelling and punc- of the angle X, which line makes a portion of the circle lined [sic] from
tuation. The above translation and the transcription are my own. The N to T, of which OS is taken, which width will be the module for the
transcription reproduces Francesco di Giorgio's text exactly except for whole temple, of which 5 parts is given to the center line from point
expanded abbreviations and ligatures. Francesco di Giorgio's prose im- N [to] A. And this will be the height of the whole, terminated by the
proved greatly between his first and second treatises, but it was never transverse line BF, so that it will make 7 parts in its diameter, as [in]
quite perfect. The text of Magliabecchianus II.I.141 has very little punc- the figure. And this can also be taken from the top of the semicircle
tuation and capitalization, its orthography is archaic and sometimes [at] Q its height descending along the center line to the baseline [at]
irregular, and words are often run together. The grammatical errors D." (Et per volere la medesima forma inmitare faccinsi due conexi quadri
that appear in my translation are those of Francesco di Giorgio. I have dequali faccie tirata una linea perlo meso danbe due Sengniata CD et
endeavored to translate his text in such a way as to convey the quality nel mezo dessa alponto N & dal V al K Sitiri uno Semicirchulo Dapoi
of his prose as well as its meaning. dalla estremita del Semicirchulo terminato K Simuovi una linea di-

95.249.247.83 on Fri, 11 f on Thu, 01 Jan 1976 12:34:56 UTC
i ,, , ..... . ?. ? ..
- . ?..?..::-'
.. iT.. ?
,S.:.:,. ,. i--:
- : .- / -
.......T
......../..... / ''~~ ' \ 4'~`
G
4 I 'D
>2
. X.
.
. .. .. :,
... . ;
. , ' ' j:.. . . . . .
V
z D
Fig. 8. Francesco di Giorgio, geometrical method for designing a church, Fig. 9. Francesco di Giorgio, geometrical method for designing a church,
superimposed on a plan for an ideal church, step 1 (author). superimposed on a plan for an ideal church, step 2 (author).
a discrepancy between text and image that is more than a mis- When the width of the descending square, VXDZ, is set to the
taken label. The unexplained larger square makes the drawing span of the nave, the square TSXV aligns with the crossing,
resemble a plan more than a cross-sectional elevation of a church, and the lateral apices of the large square align with the end
and that is probably what the procedure is meant to be. When walls of the transept. Francesco di Giorgio's theory encourages
Francesco di Giorgio refers to the height of the church in this variations in the use of his methods, so if we add another square
context, he is referring to the height of the drawing representing of the same size to VXDZ we obtain the full length of the nave
the length of the church. To judge from their appearance, the (Fig. 9). The resulting overall length of the church equals seven
drawings on folio 41v describe correlated methods for designing of the smaller squares, an approved proportion in Francesco di
both the plan and the elevation of a church. This seems plausible Giorgio's theory, and the one he seems to have preferred.27 The
because the upper diagram closely fits one of the plans in Sa- new baseline of the diagram now reaches to the middle of the
luzzianus 148 (Fig. 7). faSade wall, and the apex lies at the centerline of the wall at
Figure 8 shows the diagram of Magliabecchianus II.1.141,
folio 41v, drawn over a plan on folio lv in Saluzzianus 148.26
the drawings in Saluzzianus 148. They were not constructed on the
folios but were copied, in my opinion by Francesco di Giorgio himself,
from notebooks in which he made drawings at the scale intended for
aghonia passante perla intersecazione della linea media insino alla ex- the parchment manuscript. He used a compass to transfer dimensions
tremita dellangulo X la quale linea fara una portione di circulo lineato and draw circles, and a ruler for the straight lines. The resulting drawings
dal N al T della quale sipigli OS Laquale latitudine sara modulo actuctto appear to be precise, but they are all slightly asymmetrical. Conse-
iltempio Deleq[u]ali senedia parti 5 alla linea media dal ponto NA et quently, a precisely drawn geometrical procedure will not fit exactly
Questa Sara lalteza del tuctto terminata La transversa linea BF siche fara onto both sides of a plan. I assume that the procedure explains the plan
parti vii insuo diamitro come la figura et questa Sipuo ancho pigliare if I can obtain precise correlation with respect to one side of a drawing
dal sommo del Semicirculo Q La Sua alteza discendendo perla linea and approximate correlation on the other side.
media infino allinbasamento D.) Cf. Francesco di Giorgio, Trattati, ed. 27. Believing that he was following the theory of Vitruvius, Fran-
Maltese, II, 401. cesco di Giorgio correlated the proportions of plans with the human
26. Cf. Francesco di Giorgio, Trattati, ed. Maltese, I, figs. 18 and form. Various of the orders, according to Vitruvius, were first made to
256. The plan in question is at the center of the bottom margin of the imitate the forms of men and women who were six, seven, and eight
folio, in a group of three plans. It is captioned "Tenpio acrociera essenza heads tall, and then they were made higher, with the Corinthian reach-
navi" (Temple with crossing and without aisles), and its crossing is ing a proportion of 10:1. Francesco di Giorgio allowed for all of these
labeled "chuppola hover trebuna" (dome or tribune). Graphic analysis proportions in plans and elevations as well as in columns, and he added
of Francesco di Giorgio's plans must take account of irregularities in 5:1 for good measure. In his columns as in his plans, he preferred 7:1.

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Fig. 11. Quadrature series drawn on a project for an ideal church by

Fig. 10. Quadrature series drawn on a project for an ideal church by
Francesco di Giorgio, step 2 (author).
Francesco di Giorgio, step 1 (author).
by one step, the resulting segment A'B' exactly equals the thick-
the other end of the church. The line segment AB, which
ness of the walls (Fig. 11). This shows that Francesco di Giorgio
Francesco di Giorgio says is the "module" for the whole build-
added a safety factor to his design by deriving his wall thickness
ing, measures the thickness of the walls. With this, we at
canone step up in the quadrature series based on the span of the
nave. He must have done this because in the mid-1470s, when
understand why his procedure specifies the addition of one mod-
he made the drawings of Saluzzianus 148, his ideas were still
ule to the plan. When proportions are determined by a geo-
metrical method using points, lines, and planes that have no
untested. His first opportunity to test his theory for barrel vaults
thickness, structural walls must detract from the ideal. Francesco
carried by walls came in 1483, with a commission to build a
di Giorgio effected a compromise by adding one thickness of dedicated to San Bernardino at the monastery of the
church
wall to his plan, and by dividing that thickness betweenZoccolanti
the just outside Urbino (Figs. 12 and 13).
two end walls. San Bernardino degli Zoccolanti was begun soon after Fed-
Analysis of the drawing on folio 1 lv in Saluzzianus 148 shows erico da Montefeltro died, a melancholy substitute for the gran-
that Francesco di Giorgio's procedure for deriving the module diose mausoleum Francesco di Giorgio had designed for his great
AB is in fact a geometrical method of structural calculation patron.28 In its original state San Bernardino had a barrel-vaulted
based on the span of the vault. The method is a variant of nave without aisles and a domed transept with three hemicycles.
quadrature, since the line segment AB is equal to one-half the
difference between the sides of the inner and outer squares in 28. The only documents for San Bernardino are scattered records of
a two-step quadrature series. The walls could be made thicker payments and donations in the 1480s; cf. L. Serra, "Nota sulla chiesa
simply by performing the procedure at one or more steps up in di S. Bernardino ad Urbino," Rassegna Marchigiana, X, 1932, 247-257;
P. Rotondi, "Quando fu costruita la chiesa di San Bernardino in Ur-
the quadrature series, and Francesco di Giorgio did that, too.
bino," Belle arti, 1947, 191-202; Fehring, "Studien uber die Kirchen-
The plan of the "Tenpio di tre quadri in nel chorpo.. ." in bauten des Francesco di Giorgios," 82-108; and G. Volpe, Francesco di
Saluzzianus 148 gives some insight into his thinking on this Giorgio: Architettura nel ducato di Urbino (Stella Polare Guide di Archi-
tettura, 10), Milan, 1991, 28-31. The little church has been attributed
point (Fig. 4). A quadrature series drawn on the clear span of
to a number of other architects, including Bramante, but its documen-
the nave produces a line segment AB that is considerably less tation, though sparse, leaves little doubt that it was built when Francesco
than the thickness of the walls (Fig. 10). If we expand the series di Giorgio was ducal architect and so it should be attributed to him.

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- C-
~co
Fig. 12. Francesco di Giorgio, San Bernardino degli Zoccolanti, Urbino,

c. 1483-1489. Nave (author).
The great Montefeltro altarpiece of Piero della Francesca stood crn
upon its high altar. Sometime in the 1560s, the apse was re-
Fig. 13. San Bernardino degli Zoccolanti. Plan (author, after Papini).
moved and replaced by an extended monk's choir. The follow-
ing analysis depends upon a reconstruction of the original plan
walls,
of San Bernardino based on a plan published by Roberto just as he had in the drawing in Saluzzianus 148, by going
Papini.29
When the method of Magliabecchianus II.I.141, folio 41v,
up one step in the quadrature series to generate the module (Fig.
15). This
is drawn on the plan of San Bernardino, with the width oflarger
the module can be obtained by drawing the in-
scribed
descending square set to the span of the nave vaults, circle in the larger square, or it can be obtained more
it appears
readily bybut
that the module AB measures the walls of the hemicycles rotating that larger square by 45? as in Figure 15.
not the walls of the nave, which are considerably thicker
The latter (Fig.
is the more likely method since it generates the form
14).30 Francesco di Giorgio added a safety factor to the
of the naveas well as the thickness of the walls.
transept
Francesco di Giorgio used a similar method to add a safety
factor to the thickness of his walls in the second of his barrel-
29. A drawing of the interior showing the original apse is in a scrap-
vaulted now
book of architectural drawings, probably assembled by Vasari, churches,
in Santa Maria delle Grazie al Calcinaio in Cor-
the Biblioteca Laurenziana, ms. Ashburnham app. 1928; see H. Burns,
"Progetti di Francesco di Giorgio per i conventi di San Bernardino e
Santa Chiara di Urbino," in Studi Bramanteschi, 293-312. For a recon-
of the
struction of the original plan, see Papini, Francesco di Giorgio, church was blocked on two of its sides by monastery walls and
architetto,
III, pi. 6. a hillside, and on the other two sides by a steeply descending slope with
30. The square does not reach to the front wall of the nave, the loose soil. To use as much of the site as he did, Francesco di Giorgio
length of which does not correspond to any rational multiple or fraction had to add large splayed buttresses toward the weak edge of the hill
of the base square. The nave of San Bernardino is ill-proportioned even though they make the facade asymmetrical. In the second sentence
according to Francesco di Giorgio's theory, but its proportions were of his first treatise, before he says anything at all about proportions, he
partly determined by its site, which is restricted and difficult. Extension instructs architects to pay attention to the site above all else.

95.249.247.83 on Fri, 11 Dec 2020 20:07:49 UTC
Fig. 15. San Bernardino degli Zoccolanti. Plan with diagram from
Fig. 14. San Bernardino degli Zoccolanti. Plan with diagram from
Magliabecchianus II.I.141, fol. 41v, step 1 (author). Magliabecchianus II.1.141, fol. 41v, step 2 (author).
San Bernardino in Urbino and Santa Maria delle Grazie al

tona, begun in 1484 (Fig. 16).31 Figure 17 shows that the thick-
ness of the walls corresponds to the module generated by Calcinaio
the in Cortona allow us to observe a Renaissance architect
superior step in a quadrature series based on the span of testing

the his own theory of structural design for a new and un-
nave.32 The resulting walls are 2.25 meters thick for vaults
familiar type of vault. Francesco di Giorgio took his responsi-
spanning 11.7 meters. Their thickness is readily visible in bilities
the as a structural designer very seriously, and he was cau-
tious. His designs were profoundly innovative, but still he had
splayed windows of the clerestory and gives the impression that
not developed a theory of structural design for barrel vaults to
the church was enormously overbuilt. It probably was overbuilt
because it was a daring experiment for Francesco di Giorgio,the
a point where Bramante could use it to design Saint Peter's,
where the vaults would have more than twice the span of the
church nearly twice the size of San Bernardino of the year
before.33 vaults in Cortona and the spaces would be formed by complex
piers rather than simple walls.
31. The church was built to house a miracle-working image of the The next step in the development of Renaissance vaults, lead-
Madonna on the wall of a lime pit (calcinaio) on the hill below Cortona.
ing toward Saint Peter's, can be found in Leonardo da Vinci's
For the documents, see Weller, Francesco di Giorgio, 15-16, docs. XLII-
XLVII. Measured drawings were published in Papini, Francesco di Gior- projects for domed churches in Manuscript B, usually dated
gio, architetto, III, pls. LV-LXI. A complete set of measured drawings, 1487-1490.34 They include plans, perspective views, and sec-
made during restoration in the 1970s, has been published in P. Ma-
tracchi, La chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie al Calcinaio presso Cortona e
l'opera di Francesco di Giorgio, Cortona, 1991. 34. Manuscript B includes both the codex with that signature in the
32. In this case the overall form was generated by a grid such as Institut de France and another manuscript that was once joined to it,
those on fol. 42v in Magliabecchianus II.I.141. Cf. H. Millon, "The also in Paris, ms. 2037 in the Bibliotheque national. Facsimiles of both
Architectural Theory of Francesco di Giorgio," Art Bulletin, XL, 1958, have been published. Cf. C. Ravaisson-Mollien, Les manuscrits de Leonard
257-261. Millon argued that the plan of the church in Cortona was de Vinci de la Bibliotheque de l'Institut, publies par Charles Ravaisson-Mollien,
based on the upper drawing on fol. 42v, but it more closely resembles Paris, 1881-1891, 6 vols.; and Leonardo da Vinci, II Codice B nell'Istituto
the lower plan on that same folio. di Francia, ed. E. Carusi, R. Marcolongo, and M. Pelaez (I manoscritti
33. The span of San Bernardino, according to Papini's plan, is 6.3 e i disegni di Leonardo da Vinci pubblicata dalla Reale Commissione
meters, and the walls are 1.35 meters thick. Vinciana sotto gli auspici del Ministero dell'Educazione Nazionale, 5),

95.249.247.83 on Fri, 11 Dec 2020 20:07:49 UTC
Fig. 16. Francesco di Giorgio, Santa Maria delle Grazie al Calcinaio,

Cortona, 1484-1490. Nave (author). Fig. 17. Santa Maria delle Grazie al Calcinaio. Plan with quadra
series superimposed (author).
tions showing various combinations of architectural elements

composed according to several different geometricalbeen stimulated by the failure, in 1490, of his project for
methods.
Leonardo clearly intended to focus on the composition
tiburioof
ofa Milan cathedral, for which he had wanted to pr
a dome al-
domed church as a single problem in architectural theory, on a drum. He may also have been stimulated by co
with
though his reasons for doing so remain obscure.35 He mayFrancesco
have di Giorgio in the summer of 1490. He m
have gained access to a copy of Francesco di Giorgio's f
Rome, 1941. A few other drawings of domed churches by Leonardo

are in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle, in the Codex Trivul-
zianus, and in the Codex Atlanticus. For a complete list of the drawings
he attempted
and illustrations, see L. H. Heydenreich, Die Sakralbau-Studien Leonardo to reconstruct its outline, assuming that Leonardo's in
in the
da Vincis, Engelsdorf, 1929; 2d ed., Munich, 1971. The earliest subject was largely theoretical and not practical. S. Lang, "L
datable
item in Manuscript B was entered in 1482 and the latestardo's Architectural
in 1492; see Designs and the Sforza Mausoleum,"Journal o
Warburg
C. Pedretti, "The Missing Folio 3 of MS B," Raccolta Vinciana, and Courtauld Institutes, XXXI, 1968, 218-233, took th
XX,
1964, 211-224. None of the drawings of central-plan posite
churches inof view, arguing that Leonardo's architectural studies
point
always
Manuscript B is dated. Most scholars of Leonardo date them rooted in opportunities for real commissions, even thoug
to 1487-
1490, although Heydenreich thought some entries might was usually
be as late asfrustrated in his pursuit of them. In the preface to the s
1495. In my opinion, the drawings of churches appear to (1971)
haveedition
been of the Sakralbau-Studien, Heydenreich brusquely
misses
made in a burst of creative energy during a relatively short Lang's
period of thesis and all attempts to reconstruct a putative arc
tural
time lasting a few months or even a few weeks. For reasons oeuvre for Leonardo. His view has been widely accepted, bu
explained
my opinion Lang's arguments are not without merit. The questio
below, I would place that period in late 1490 or early 1491.
35. Heydenreich, Sakralbau-Studien, 77-84, believed thatwhether Leonardo planned to write a treatise on architecture mig
the draw-
reopened.
ings of Manuscript B were intended for a treatise on architecture, and

95.249.247.83 on Fri, 11 Dec 2020 20:07:49 UTC
Fig. 18. Leonardo da Vinci, projects for domed churches, c. 1490. Paris,
Fig. 19. Leonardo da Vinci, project for a domed church, c. 1490. Paris,
Institut de France, Manuscript B, fol. 17v (from Carusi, Marcolongo,Institut de France, Manuscript B, fol. 18 (from Carusi, Marcolongo,
and Pelaez, eds., II Codice B nell'Istituto di Francia, 1941). and Pelaez, It Codice B nell'Istituto di Francia).
treatise at about the same time, because its influence is clearplans

in with spaces centered on domes.37 Some of his plans are
Manuscript B.36 little more than diagrams, and in others the structural forms are
One of Francesco di Giorgio's innovations in architectural
only roughly indicated and appear to be purely arbitrary. In the
projects that he chose to delineate most carefully, Leonardo
theory was to use drawings to study systematically the possi-
created structural forms by filling in the gaps between the lines
bilities of formal composition in a given building type, and this
is nowhere more evident than in the book on temples in Sa-
that define the spaces in plan, and then he studied the resulting
luzzianus 148. In Manuscript B, Leonardo picked up the prob-
37. Leonardo did not use any of the geometrical procedures of Fran-
lem of church design where Francesco di Giorgio had left it
cesco di Giorgio's second treatise, including the method for calculating
and continued the process of exploration, concentrating on domed
a structural module. He seems not to have had access to the second
churches. He used a variety of geometrical procedures to create
treatise until 1501, when he went to Urbino in the company of Rodrigo
Borgia. He then copied parts of the second treatise into one of the
recently rediscovered Madrid codices; see Leonardo da Vinci, The Madrid
Codices, New York, 1974; and L. H. Heydenreich, "Bemerkungen zu
36. Leonardo owned and annotated a copy of the first treatise, now
den wiedergefundenen Manuskripten Leonardo da Vincis in Madrid,"
in Florence, Biblioteca Laurenziana, ms. Ashburnham 361. For a fac-
Kunstchronik, XI, pt. 4, 1968, 92-96. Marani, "Leonardo, Francesco di
simile of and commentary on this manuscript, see Francesco di Giorgio
Giorgio, e il tiburio," 81-92, has argued that Francesco di Giorgio
Martini, Trattato, ed. Marani. Leonardo's marginal annotations are very
brief and have little to do with the content of the treatise. Maraniintroduced
is geometrical procedures into his second treatise under the
influence of Leonardo, and I once shared that opinion. I now know,
certain that the annotations postdate 1500, but that may not correspond
however, that most of those procedures were invented by Francesco di
to the date when Leonardo acquired the manuscript. The most striking
Giorgio himself some twenty years before he saw Leonardo in Milan.
evidence of its influence on Leonardo's thinking is his famous drawing
Since Leonardo did not use the procedures in 1490, their invention
of so-called Vitruvian man in the Accademia in Venice. This drawing,
cannot be attributed to him. Obviously, Francesco di Giorgio did not
usually dated to c. 1490, is clearly based on Francesco di Giorgio's
tell all when he and Leonardo met in 1490, so Leonardo was left to
drawing of the same subject in Saluzzianus 148, fol. 6v, and Ashburnham
361, fol. 5. invent his own methods of design, which he did.

95.249.247.83 on Fri, 11 Dec 2020 20:07:49 UTC
Fig. 21.
Fig. 20. Graphic analysis of Leonardo's Manuscript B, Graphic analysis
fol. 18, stepof Leonardo's
1 Manuscript B, fol. 18, step 2
(author). (author).
forms in three-dimensional sections and perspective views (Figs. nardo brought Renaissance theory to the point where Bramante
18 and 19). could use it to design the new Saint Peter's.39
For example, the plan on folio 18 (Fig. 19) is based on a pair Bramante's design for Saint Peter's went through several stages
of concentric circles centered on the dome, the inner circle being of revision before Julius II laid the foundation stone of the
two-thirds of the diameter of the outer circle (Fig. 20). This is northwestern pier with proper ceremony on 18 April 1506.
one of the proportions that Francesco di Giorgio recommends Two preliminary projects are known from drawings made dur-
for round churches in his first treatise.38 But while Francesco di ing the period of Bramante's tenure as capomaestro at Saint Pe-
Giorgio simply made plans out of concentric circles and poly- ter's. The most important of the drawings are in the Uffizi in
gons, Leonardo used the figure as the starting point for a more Florence (Figs. 23 and 24). Together Uffizi 1A and Uffizi 20A
complex geometry. He drew the orthogonal and diagonal radii
and located the centers of the chapels where the radii intersect 39. From the point of view of Francesco di Giorgio's theory, the
the outer large circle (Fig. 21). The chapels are formed by small projects of Manuscript B are deficient because they do not involve
calculation of structural dimensions based on the spans of vaults. In
circles whose radii equal the difference between the two large 1490 Leonardo was apparently unaware that such calculations could be
circles. The outer perimeter of the building is made by drawing incorporated in geometrical procedures of design. Eventually, after 1500,
a square tangent to the circles of the chapels (Fig. 22). To form he speculated about the behavior of structures from the point of view
of Archimedean mechanics, of which he was a keen student. See A.
the structure, Leonardo simply filled in the gaps between the Chastel, "The Problem of Leonardo's Architecture in the Context of
circles and added walls to the outside and inside. He thereby His Scientific Theories," in Galuzzi, ed., Leonardo da Vinci: Engineer and
reinvented the ancient Roman method of using complex pier Architect, 193-206; C. A. Truesdell, "Fundamental Mechanics in the
Madrid Codices," in Bellone and Rossi, eds., Leonardo e l'etd della ragione,
forms in concrete construction as a means to solve the design
309-319; M. Clagget, "Leonardo da Vinci: Mechanics," in Dictionary
problems invoked by the Renaissance dome. With this, Leo- of Scientific Biography, 15 vols., New York, 1973, VIII, 215-234; C.
Zammattio, "Mechanics of Water and Stone," in L. Reti, ed., The
Unknown Leonardo, New York, 1974, 190-215. Though his results were
not immediately useful for purposes of architectural design, Leonardo's
38. Cf. Saluzzianus 148, fol. 13: "He tenpi circhulari hovero tondi investigations anticipate modern structural mechanics. In at least one
preso el diamitro disua larghezza laterza parte desso dentro efuore Edop- instance his intuition is startling. In Madrid ms. I, fol. 143r, is an
po queste circhular terminationi inellultimo cinto difuore lechonpartite isometric view of a barrel vault carried by massive walls. The walls are
cholonne auna auna chollocharai hovero adue adue Cholle medexime marked by diagonal lines representing the force exerted by the vault.
mixure epartitioni Elsimile dala parte didrento hordinato sia." (And These are not the catenary curves described in the modem theory of
circular or round temples: take the diameter of its width, the third part the arch, but they clearly indicate Leonardo's understanding of structural
of it outside and inside. And after these circular terminations you will design in vaulted masonry as a three-dimensional problem. The thick-
put the compartmented columns in the last circle outside, one by one ness of the walls must be governed by the height and volume of the
or two by two. With the same measures and partitions. And the same vault as well as by its span. The essential weakness of Francesco di
is ordered on the inside part.) Giorgio's theory is that it is entirely two-dimensional.

95.249.247.83 on Fri, 11 Dec 2020 20:07:49 UTC
Project" (Fig. 25).40 More recently, Graf Metternich tried to

dimension this project by assuming that it would be built on
the existing walls of the choir of Nicholas V. But Uffizi 1A has
no dimensions or any indications of the context and existing
structures at the site, so we must suppose that it was made to
demonstrate what Bramante could do on a clean site if he were
not constrained by considerations of function, if he had a free
40. See Geymiiller, Die urspriiglichen Entwiirfe. Since 1875, the lit-
erature on Bramante's Saint Peter's has grown enormously, and it is
contentious. For a review of literature up to 1969, see A. Bruschi,
Bramante architetto, Bari, 1969, 532-592, 883-908. The most extensive
recent studies of Saint Peter's are by the late Count Metternich and his
colleagues at the Bibliotheca Hertziana in Rome. See F. Graf Wolff
Metternich, Die Erbauung der Peterskirche zu Rom im 16. Jahrhundert.
Erster Teil (Rimische Forschungen der Bibliotheca Hertziana, 20), Vi-
enna, 1972; idem, Bramante und St. Peter, Munich, 1975; C. L. Frommel,
"Die Peterskirche unter Papst Julius II. in Licht neuer Dokumente,"
RomischesJahrbuchfu'r Kunstgeschichte, XVI, 1976, 57-136; C. Thoenes,
"Erste Skizzen: St. Peter," Daidalos, V, 1982, 81-92; F. Graf Wolff
Metternich
Fig. 22. Graphic analysis of Leonardo's Manuscript B, fol. 18, step 3 and C. Thoenes, Diefriihen St.-Peter-Entwirfe, 1505-1514
(author). (Romische Forschungen der Bibliotheca Hertziana, 25), Tiibingen, 1987;
C. L. Frommel, "Il cantiere di San Pietro prima di Michelangelo," in
A. Chastel and J. Guillaume, eds., Les chantiers de la Renaissance, Paris,
1991, 175-190.
show us how Bramante applied the theory of the fifteenth cen- Somewhat different opinions have been expressed by H. Giinther,
tury to the task of designing a structure that he and his client "Werke Bramantes im Spiegel einer Gruppe von Zeichnungen der
Uffizien in Florenz," MiinchnerJahrbuch der bildenden Kunst, XXXIII,
surely knew would point the way toward the future of a new
1982, 77-108; M. Licht, L'edificio a pianta centrale: Lo sviluppo del disegno
style in architecture. architettonico nel Rinascimento, Florence, 1984; H. Hubert, "Bramantes
Uffizi 1A carries inscriptions by Antonio da Sangallo the St. Peter-Entwiirfe und die Stellung des Apostelgrabes," Zeitschriftfiir
Younger identifying it as a plan of Saint Peter's "di mano di Kunstgeschichte, LI, 1988, 195-221; idem, review of Metternich and
Thoenes, Diefriihen St.-Peter-Entwirfe, in Zeitschrift fir Kunstgeschichte,
Bramante che non ebbe effetto" (by the hand of Bramante, [a LIV, no. 1, 1990, 226-239. A summary of recent studies of Bramante's
project] that was not carried out). In 1875 Heinrich Geymiiller projects for Saint Peter's may be found in an important and intelligent
reconstructed the project of Uffizi 1A by mirroring the half- article by A. Bruschi, "Problemi del S. Pietro bramantesco: ... 'ad-
modum surgebat non inopia pecuniae sed cunctatione Bramantis ar-
plan to create a centralized plan in a drawing that has been
chitecti,'" in Saggi in onore di Guglielmo De Angelis d'Ossat, Quaderni
generally accepted and frequently published as "Bramante's First dell'Istituto di storia dell'architettura, n.s., fasc. 1-10, 1983-1987, 273-
292.
r
It t
rt"-:?CI?
r I
I,
I ,
Fig. 23. Bramante, Saint Peter's, Rome, c. 1505. Project for new Saint Peter's. Brown ink on parchment
(Florence, Uffizi, Dis. Arch. 1A; from H. Geymiiller, Die urspriinglichen Entwiirfefi'r Sanct Peter in Rom von
Bramante, II, pl. 3).

95.249.2fff:ffff:ffff:ffff on Thu, 01 Jan 1976 12:34:56 UTC
jq i "; * .1'u
~~~~~~~~~ iI . . .a
o 0
Fig. 24. Bramante,

Peter's and the ch
Die urspriinglichen
hand Scholars
with regar
if he had an
and un
the
such conditions
as to pro
partakes of both
41. The diary of

Pope Julius refu

95.249.247.83 on Fri, 11 Dec 2020 20:07:49 UTC
Fig. 26. Francesco di Giorgio, method for designing the plan of a

church, c. 1489-1492. Magliabecchianus II.I.141, fol. 42 (Biblioteca
Nazionale, Florence).
Then four other intermediate lines are drawn for each side of this
[countersquare]. And four other counterlines which make hemicycles

in the points of the angles as in that of BCD. The counterlines are
called EFMNIL.44 Then other transverse lines is drawn from point[s]
EF and from GH and from MN and from N [sic], which terminate
the points of the angles and the placement of the lines and the four
Fig. 25. Bramante, Saint Peter's, Rome, c. 1505. First project as re- hemicycles, as that of BCD. And so they will have proportioned
constructed by H. Geymiiller, 1875 (from Geymiiller, Die urspringlichen measure. And if by chance a dome or cupola should happen to be
Entwiirfe, II, pl. 4). formed, its circumference [can be] drawn at the median intersections
of the lesser or greater square as the figure shows more clearly. And
figures similar to this, the form taken from the method, can be adapted
liminary studies for Bramante's Saint Peter's.42 But if the struc-
to many different compositions of temples.45
tural forms of Uffizi 1A resemble some of those in Manuscript
B, the spatial forms are very different. Bramante centered the
dome of Saint Peter's on four barrel-vaulted naves of equal
length, and in the corners he repeated the same scheme at ashould have been marked B. The point marked B should have had
smaller scale to create open, domed chapels that also serve asanother designation, possibly N. The letter A appears twice, once in
the nodes of an ambulatory around the four piers of the crossing. the upper right-hand corner to mark an apex of the countersquare, and
again in the left-hand corner to mark a hemicycle.
Nothing like this can be found among Leonardo's drawings,
44. The "counterlines" in question are actually extensions of another
but Uffizi 1A does resemble a diagram in Francesco di Giorgio's"countersquare" produced by carrying the quadrature series through
second treatise, Magliabecchianus II.I.141, folio 42 (Fig. 26).two more steps. In the drawing they are marked EFMI. The letter L
does not appear in the drawing, but the letter I appears twice. The text
The method of the drawing is a variant of quadrature, which
becomes ambiguous at this point because there should be either four or
Francesco di Giorgio explains as follows: eight "counterlines," but not five.
45. Magliabecchianus II.I.141, fol. 42: "Archo sifacci uno Quadrato
Also one makes a square of equal sides and each face is divided into dequali lati & ciascuna faccia sia Quadripartita tirate le linee dalluno
four parts [with] lines drawn from one partition to another [i.e., across partimento allaltro sitiri unaltro Contra quadrato che lelinee medie sieno
the square]. Another, countersquare, namely ABCD, is drawn so that eltermine desso cioe ABCD Dipoi Sitiri quatro altre linee intermedie
the middle [points of the sides of the large square] are its corners.43per ongni faccia ad Queste Et quatro altre contralinee lequali faranno
nelle estremita delli anguli liemicicli Si come quelle della BCD Lequali
contra linee Si c[h]iamano EFMNIL Dipoi sitiri altre transverse linee
42. Cf. Geymiiller, Die urspriinglichen Entwiife, 6 and passim. Hey- dal ponto EF & dal GH & dal MN & dalli N lequagli extremita danguli
denreich, Sakralbau-Studien, 89-92, argued that Bramante made use of& posamento di linee terminaranno & quatro emicicli Si come quelle
Leonardo's drawings as preliminary studies for Saint Peter's. della BCD Et cosi verranno havere proportionata misura Et accadendo
43. Again the markings of the drawing are in error. The "counter- formare il tolo over Cipola Sidia tirare lacirqumferentia alle interse-
square," called ABCD in the text, is marked AECD in the drawing. chationi medie del minore ho magiore quadrato Si chome perla figura
Since the letter E is used elsewhere in the drawing and in the text, we piu Chiaramente Sidimostra & queste Simili figure preso La forma el
can assume that the lower right-hand point marked E in the drawing modo Sipossano ad piu varie conmpostioni di templi adacttare."

95.249.247.83 on Fri, 11 Dec 2020 20:07:49 UTC
BETTS: STRUCTURAL INNOVATION AND STRUCTURAL DESIGN
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With this prescription we can draw Francesco di Giorgio's

diagram over the plan in Uffizi 1A (Fig. 27).46 When the outer
square of the diagram is aligned with the squared corners of the
plan, its interior lines align with the centerlines of the piers and Fig. 28. Overlay of Magliabecchianus II.I.141, fol. 42, on Uffizi 20A,
step 1 (author).
apses and define the major spaces of the domed crossing, naves,
and apses. The two circles define the depth of the crossing piers,
which is their critical structural dimension. These circles have himself obliged to use the foundations and walls of the choir
the same function as the semicircle in the diagram on folio 41v of Nicholas V and was compelled to place the dome and crossing
(Fig. 5), and they achieve the same values. According to Fran- of the new basilica over the tomb of Saint Peter, which the
cesco di Giorgio's theory, the proper depth for the piers, based pope forbade him to move. Uffizi 20A reveals his struggle with
on the span of the crossing, would be the dimension marked ab the problems invoked by these conditions (Fig. 24).48
in Figure 27. But the actual depth of the piers, marked as xy in At least two projects are visible in Uffizi 20A. The first,
Figure 27, is the module generated at one step up in the quad- tentative, project is represented by the northeastern pier of the
rature series. Bramante thus incorporated a safety factor exactly crossing. Bramante quickly abandoned this attempt, perhaps
as Francesco di Giorgio had done.47 Whether the safety factor because he thought the pier too small, and proceeded to make
would have been sufficient is a moot question because the project a very different design for the other three piers and the spaces
in Uffizi 1A "non ebbe effetto." In the end, Bramante found around them. We can draw over this project the method of
Magliabecchianus II.I.141, folio 42, by aligning the central
guidelines with the centerlines of the piers and apses (Fig. 28).
46. C. Thoenes, "S. Lorenzo a Milano, S. Pietro a Roma: Ipotesi sul
As in Uffizi 1A, the lines of the grid clearly establish the spaces
piano di pergamena," Arte Lombarda, LXXXVI-LXXXVII, 1988, 94-
100, suggests that the projects for Saint Peter's did not originate in of the crossing, choir, nave, transepts, and domed corner chapels.
Leonardo's projects so much as in churches such as San Lorenzo Mag-
giore in Milan and perhaps the Byzantine quincunx. He offers a set of
four schematic diagrams as a hypothetical reconstruction of the steps 48. Geymiiller was the first to recognize Uffizi 20A as a study by
leading to Uffizi 1A. In fact, the diagram for Uffizi 1A already existed Bramante for Saint Peter's, and he treated the drawing at great length.
in Magliabecchianus II.I.141. His discovery, he says, occurred at the beginning of his research in the
47. Metternich and Thoenes, Die friihen St.-Peter-Entwirfe, 41-44, then little-known collection of architectural drawings in the Uffizi, and
comment at length on the structural properties of the project in Uffizi it led him to undertake his extended study of the drawings and docu-
1A, without reaching any conclusions. Metternich reports that Gey- ments for Saint Peter's; see Geymiiller, Die urspriinglichen Entwu'rfe, I,
miiller commissioned studies of the structural values in Uffizi 1A by 151-201, and III, pls. 9-11. Metternich also studied Uffizi 20A in detail,
engineers in Paris and Berlin. Geymiiller did not publish their results, and he arrived at somewhat different conclusions regarding the details
probably because they were inconclusive, and Metternich did not publish of Bramante's projects for Saint Peter's; see Metternich and Thoenes,
Geymiiller's correspondence on this point. Diefriihen St.-Peter-Entwiirfe, 81-94.

95.249.247.83 on Fri, 11 Dec 2020 20:07:49 UTC
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t i 3. Fig. 30. Bramante, Saint Peter's, c. 1514. Plan of crossing piers and
" i
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i i choir. Ink drawing (Sir John Soane's Museum, London, Codex Coner,
\ aq' ;"??? i:
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f ?pB;lil ??-?
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Fig. 29. Overlay of Magliabecchianus II.I.141, fol. 42, on Uffizi 20A,

step 2 (author).
I 41
The two circles in the center of the diagram define the pen- 0
dentives, and a third circle, drawn at one step up in the quad- l
rature series, defines the basic depth of the piers, which were
further extended to form the inside corners of the domed chap-
els. Here Bramante has combined the ideas of Leonardo and
Francesco di Giorgio, and in the process he included a larger

safety factor than he had in Uffizi 1A. The depth of the piers,
apart from the extension, is the difference between the second
and third steps in the quadrature series based on the span of the
crossing. Finally, he laid in the ambulatories by drawing semicir- Fig. 31. Overlay of Magliabecchianus II.I.141, fol. 42, on Codex Con-
er, fol. 31 (author).
cles centered on the sides of the square, with radii set to the
internal guidelines of the diagram (Fig. 29).
The project in Uffizi 20A is a compromise between the ideal a plan of his "final" project.49 We have only an incomplete plan,
of Uffizi 1A and the real necessity to accommodate and use in the Codex Coner, folio 31, of the choir of Nicholas V, four
existing structures at Saint Peter's. The difficulty of Bramante's crossing piers, and six adjacent piers (Fig. 30). This corresponds
task is evident in Uffizi 20A, where his new apse and ambulatory to views of Saint Peter's drawn by Marten van Heemskerck in
occupy only part of the wall of Nicholas V. His attempt at the 1530s, so it is probably a reliable record of what Bramante
compromise was no more successful than the design in Uffizi
49. Metternich assumed that there was a "final project," and he tried
1A. The compromise demanded by the pope proved to be im- to reconstruct it in great detail; see Metternich and Thoenes, Diefriihen
possible, and that may explain why Bramante eventually aban- St.-Peter-Entwiirfe, 105-176 and pls. XV-XXIV. Bruschi, "Problemi del
S. Pietro bramantesco," 279-280, argues that Bramante did not have
doned the project sketched on Uffizi 20A.
in hand a finished, "final" project when he began construction. This is
It is difficult to know how Bramante calculated the structural
understandable given the intractable problems invoked by the demands
dimensions of the piers he actually built because we do not have of the pope.

95.249.247.83 on Fri, 11 Dec 2020 20:07:49 UTC
built before he died in 1514. An overlay of Francesco diBramante's

Gior- plan. He intended that the crossing piers should be
gio's method on the plan from the Codex Coner indicatesloaded
that with the weight of a dome and drum and abutted by
the dimensions of the piers were determined as in Uffizi 1A, of piers and arches extending to massive walls enclosing
systems
by generating a module at the second step up in the quadrature
the apses. He did not intend that the crossing piers and arches
series (Fig. 31). Nothing else in this plan corresponds to the stand alone for more than thirty years, as they did when
should
diagram because Bramante had to use the existing walls of the
construction stopped in 1514. Heemskerck's drawings of Saint
choir, which had not been designed according to Francesco di show that the piers were buttressed to the west by the
Peter's
Giorgio's theory, and he had to align his piers with thechoir
naveof Nicholas V, but on the other three sides they were
and aisles of the old basilica. subjected to asymmetrical loads from the unbuttressed thrust of
The new piers and arches of Saint Peter's began to show signs the arches. The resulting turning moments would, over time,
of failure, and they had to be strengthened within a few years force the piers out of plumb and cause the arches to crack, which
after Bramante died. He was and still is blamed for this structural might not have happened if construction had proceeded as Bra-
failure, but the mode of the failure and its remedy were not mante had intended.
documented. We can say that the structural problems at Saint From Vasari onward, historians have taken the failure of Bra-
Peter's cannot be attributed to neglect of structural calculation mante's piers as certain evidence of his incompetence in the
or to an artist's notion that responsibility for structural stability realm of structural design. The cruel wits of Rome called him
does not reside with the designing architect. Uffizi 20A shows "Bramante rovinante." Today, we excuse him because we be-
that Bramante was very much concerned about the strength of lieve that a great architect is not a craftsman but an artist who
his piers. He used the best available theory, and he had reason cannot be held accountable for structural design so long as the
to trust it because he believed it had been tested, albeit at a forms and proportions are right. But is this really true of Bra-
much smaller scale. He had no means to predict how the change mante? Given the unprecedented forms and size of Saint Peter's,
in scale would affect the behavior of his structure, but even so and the lack of adequate means to predict the performance of
his calculations were not too far off. The structure did not fail its structure, we should say that Bramante was among the sharp-
catastrophically. Bramante's successors were able to reinforce est and boldest of structural engineers, and that he did what
his piers and eventually complete the new basilica. only the greatest of them have ever done. He exploited new
Before we attribute structural failure to the inadequacies of developments in structural theory to create the defining forms
the architect or his theory, we should take account of the fact of a new era in architecture.
that construction at Saint Peter's did not proceed according to

95.249.247.83 on Fri, 11 Dec 2020 20:07:49 UTC

Betts, Structural Innovation and Structural Design in Renaissance Architecture

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Betts, Structural Innovation and Structural Design in Renaissance Architecture

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Structural Innovation and Structural Design in Renaissance Architecture

Author(s): Richard J. Betts

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/990755

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RICHARD J. BETTS University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

JSAH LII:5-25. MARCH 1993 5

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old nave, surmounted by a dome and lantern reaching 100 braccia

was intended when the foundations were built. ..., . , , I

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was called to Milan to design structural modifications to the

Francesco di Giorgio completed his first treatise in about

subjects in both, but in quite different ways. Each treatise con-

17. Several architects from Italy and Germany were summoned to

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Fig. 4. Francesco di Giorgio, plan for an ideal church. Turin, Biblioteca

In the preface to his second treatise Francesco di Giorgio

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that are quite different from those of late medieval architecture

If the temple should be oblong [and] faceted or round, to give it

make another square of angle ZD and it is divided into four parts

von der Fialen Gerechtigkeit, Faksimile der Originalausgabe Regensburg 1486,

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Fig. 6. Francesco di Giorgio, geometrical method for designing a church.

Text and drawing correspond exactly, except for one small

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......../..... / ''~~ ' \ 4'~`

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Fig. 11. Quadrature series drawn on a project for an ideal church by

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Fig. 12. Francesco di Giorgio, San Bernardino degli Zoccolanti, Urbino,

The great Montefeltro altarpiece of Piero della Francesca stood crn

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San Bernardino in Urbino and Santa Maria delle Grazie al

superior step in a quadrature series based on the span of testing

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Fig. 16. Francesco di Giorgio, Santa Maria delle Grazie al Calcinaio,

tions showing various combinations of architectural elements

Rome, 1941. A few other drawings of domed churches by Leonardo

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treatise at about the same time, because its influence is clearplans

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Project" (Fig. 25).40 More recently, Graf Metternich tried to

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Fig. 24. Bramante,

41. The diary of

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Fig. 26. Francesco di Giorgio, method for designing the plan of a

[countersquare]. And four other counterlines which make hemicycles

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r..?,-..,g,i,. . ... ...s-- -.

Fig. 27. Overlay of Magliabecchianus II.I.141, fol. 42, on Uffizi

With this prescription we can draw Francesco di Giorgio's

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Fig. 29. Overlay of Magliabecchianus II.I.141, fol. 42, on Uffizi 20A,

dentives, and a third circle, drawn at one step up in the quad- l

Francesco di Giorgio, and in the process he included a larger

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built before he died in 1514. An overlay of Francesco diBramante's

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