Why are we so fixated on Vitruvius? What is it about this ancient Roman and his treatise De architectura that continues to fascinate us? Ever since its composition more than two millennia ago, architects and scholars have repeatedly returned to this source, some seeking to use it to unlock the mysteries of ancient architecture, others hoping to find clues to explain how new buildings should be built. Despite endless transformations of the physical and political landscape and the practice of architecture itself, Vitruvius remains at the center of the Western architectural canon. And yet after centuries of assiduous study and research, the text remains ambiguous and equivocal, criticized for its patchwork assembly, awkward phraseology, and baffling terminology. Seeking advice in Vitruvius for the enormous building project of the New St. Peter’s, Raphael reportedly observed that the text shed “much light, but not enough.”1

Our modern obsession with Vitruvius can...

You do not currently have access to this content.