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The correspondence between the architectural image and its architectural form posits ‘illustration’ as an interface that documents the formation of architectural visibility and knowledge. Referring to the word, ‘to illustrate’ translates as ‘enlightenment’, which corresponds with visibility and the act of ‘knowing’. The act of illustration combines text and image as a hybrid architectural production. Palladio’s illustrations are evidence of this correspondence. The relationship between image, form and their formation corresponds to the theory and practice of architecture and the projection of architectural knowledge. The meaning of the word ‘formation’ provides further ways for thinking about Palladio’s work. The visual and textual formation of architecture can be read throughout the parts of Il Quattro Libri. Palladio’s continuous and evolving lines as material, space, depth (1715) Palladio’s continuous and evolving lines as material, space, depth (1570). And although he presents detailed images of known orders, components and rules, the etchings focus on the continuous thickness of the material, and on the space and depth, not the ‘contours’ of the components. Palladio does not illustrate an ‘outline’ for any component, but rather his lines emerge from within the space. The etchings and engravings printed in Il Quattro Libri are architecture in themselves, with their meticulous line variations corresponding to solids, voids, shades and shadows. Robert Tavernor has posited that Palladio’s illustrations are almost anatomical, and regards their line quality as a design component that illustrates various spatial conditions. His visual experiences of images of ruins and his architectural imagination result in illustrations of various types of building, in which his lines are both the mould and the material. During his travels, Palladio learned a lot by seeing and understanding these formations and he contextualises ruins against their original edifice, as they are often partially buried under centuries of debris. These constructional requirements are meticulously presented and anchored to specific architectural formations that deploy the technique – he refers to ‘the walls of Turin in Piedmont’ and ‘the walls of Arena in Verona’, for example. Different types of etchings for different formations of walls (1715) Different types of wood-cut marks for different formations of walls (1570)Įach illustration presents a different line composition, changing according to the construction material and building technique. Palladio’s written explanations are intricately intertwined with the visual presence of the illustrations they are interspersed between passages of text, acting like mortar, balancing word and image. The plates of the ‘Several Sorts of Walls’ can be seen as visual texts illustrating each step in the formation of walls. Il quattro libri dell’architettura (Venice, 1570). Illustrations and descriptions of different wall constructions.
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Palladio’s commentary begins with the ‘things considered and provided before one begins to build’ and starts by introducing materials and foundations, before turning to walls. The dual formation of building and image can be seen in the development of the first book’s textual and visual narration. Although the woodcut and print editions differ, illustrations in both can be regarded conceptually as ‘Palladio’s Lines’. In the 1715 edition, the engravings were refined by Bernard Picart, Michael Vandergucht and John Harris. In the first illustrations from 1570 and in Giacomo Leoni’s 1715 edition in English this dual formation is apparent. The work conveys both the formation of a ‘building’ in construction terms but also the representational formation of the ‘image’. The formation of this knowledge is documented within Palladio’s work textually and visually.
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The treatise projects the knowledge of both architectural form and its image. Andrea Palladio’s Il Quattro Libri dell’architettura (Venice, 1570) is a seminal document in the history and theory of architecture.