Vignola - Architettura - 1780

IN-FOLIO ILLUSTRATED – 55 LARGE ENGRAVINGS – THE CLASSICAL ORDERS AND THE FAÇADES OF ROME’S CHURCHES
Fascinating large eighteenth-century in-folio edition of the famous manual derived from the Regola delli cinque ordini d’architettura by Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola (1507-1573), published in Rome by Venanzio Monaldini in 1780 and enriched, as stated on the title page, by the “addition of twelve façades of the most beautiful churches of Rome.” The large format gives the engravings a monumental presence and allows a particularly clear appreciation of columns, bases, capitals, friezes, moldings, and the proportions of the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite orders. The copy preserves 55 engraved plates, of which 45 are numbered in Arabic numerals, in addition to the title page. Alongside Vignola’s celebrated proportional theory, there is a spectacular section devoted to the façades of the main Roman ecclesiastical architectures, transforming the volume into a true visual atlas of classical and monumental architecture. The Regola of Vignola, originally published in 1562, was one of the most influential architecture manuals of the modern era; in this grand eighteenth-century in-folio edition, the didactic clarity of the original model meets the Grand Tour taste for Rome’s monumental grandeur.

WHY TO BUY
GRAND IN-FOLIO EDITION! The wide dimensions turn the plates into truly striking sheets for architects.
55 LARGE ENGRAVINGS! Columns, capitals, friezes, proportions, and monumental Roman façades.
VIGNOLA! The manual that for centuries codified the universal language of the classical orders.
12 FACADES OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CHURCHES OF ROME! Architectural theory and monuments of the Eternal City gathered in a single spectacular atlas.

MARKET VALUE
Large illustrated in-folio editions of the Vignolesque tradition possess markedly higher appeal than common small-format reprints, especially when they preserve a broad corpus of architectural plates and the section dedicated to Roman façades. In this copy, the monumental format, the 55 plates, and the addition of the twelve churches of Rome constitute the main elements of enhancement. For a copy in good condition, a realistic retail value is in the range of €1,700-1,900.

PHYSICAL / CONDITION
Large in-folio volume. Pp. (2), 2 nn., 110 nn., (2). Album comprising 55 engraved plates in total, of which 45 are numbered in Arabic numerals, in addition to the title page of the Roman edition published by Venanzio Monaldini in 1780. The large format particularly enhances the architectural engravings, permitting a sharp reading of ornamental details, proportions, and monumental façades. Quarter parchment binding with plain boards. Delicate restorations. Some foxing, browning, and normal signs of aging on the paper. As with all antique volumes, minor defects or restorations not expressly mentioned may be present.

FULL TITLES & AUTHORS
Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola (1507-1573).
Manuale di architettura con l’aggiunta di dodici facciate delle più belle chiese di Roma.
Rome: at Venanzio Monaldini, 1780.
GRAND IN-FOLIO EDITION.
55 engraved plates, of which 45 are numbered in Arabic numerals, in addition to the title page.
Edition belonging to the long-standing publishing tradition of the Regola delli cinque ordini d’architettura, enriched by a dedicated section devoted to the monumental Roman façades.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola (1507-1573) was one of the greatest Italian architects and theorists of the sixteenth century and a decisive figure in the codification of European classical architecture. Born in Vignola, he worked in Bologna, Rome, and at some of the major Italian courts, becoming a protagonist of architectural culture following Bramante and Michelangelo. He also contributed to the work on St. Peter’s Basilica and designed buildings that would exert a wide influence on religious and civil architecture. His international fame is inseparable from the Regola delli cinque ordini d’architettura, published in Rome in 1562. Vignola transformed the complex Vitruvian tradition of the orders into a highly clear and easily applicable proportional system, based on a module and the mathematical relationship between the different parts of the building. This very simplicity made the Regola a universal manual: for centuries architects, craftsmen, decorators, and students learned the classical orders through its plates. The grand in-folio editions, such as the Roman one of 1780, emphasize the visual and practical character of the Vignola system.

RARITY
The extraordinary diffusion of the Regola produced numerous editions, but the grand in-folio versions with extensive figurative apparatus belong to a collectible category markedly more spectacular than ordinary small-format manuals. The Monaldini edition of 1780 is particularly interesting for the editorial addition of the twelve façades of Rome’s most beautiful churches, which expands the traditional repertoire of the orders with monumental examples from the papal capital. The presence of 55 large plates makes the copy especially desirable for collections of architecture, graphic arts, Rome, and the Grand Tour. It is especially the combination LARGE IN-FOLIO FORMAT + 55 ENGRAVINGS + ROMAN FAÇADES that gives the volume its strong collectible character.

HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE
The Regola di Vignola was one of the texts that most contributed to the international diffusion of the language of classical architecture. Through its plates, generations of architects learned to construct columns, capitals, friezes, moldings, and cornices according to codified and easily reproducible proportions. The manual thus transformed the Orders of Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite into a true common language of European architecture. In the Roman edition of 1780 this didactic function is broadened through the series of Rome’s church façades: to the abstract rule are added great monumental examples actually realized. The large in-folio format is particularly significant because it returns to the engravings a size close to professional architectural drawing, allowing the scholar to observe details, proportions, and decorative solutions with notable precision. The work thus becomes simultaneously a theoretical manual, an architectural atlas, and a repertory of eighteenth-century monumental Rome.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Leopoldo Cicognara, Catalogo ragionato dei libri d’arte e d’antichità.
Lawrence Hall Fowler, The Fowler Architectural Collection of the Johns Hopkins University: Catalogue.
Berlin Katalog, Katalog der Ornamentstich-Sammlung der Staatlichen Kunstbibliothek Berlin.
Angelo Comolli, Bibliografia storico-critica dell’architettura civile.
Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, Regola delli cinque ordini d’architettura, Roma, 1562.
Repertori bibliografici dedicati alle edizioni settecentesche della Regola e alle varianti illustrate pubblicate a Roma.
Studi sulla fortuna europea di Vignola e sulla diffusione dei cinque ordini nell’architettura moderna.