Practical Mathematics in the Drawings of Baldassarre Peruzzi and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger

Abstract

Combining technical practice with aesthetic intent, Renaissance architecture was by nature a mathematical art. Although the limitations of surviving documents hinder efforts to discern what Italian Renaissance architects knew of mathematics, where they learned it, and how they applied this knowledge, extant drawings from the period offer one means of addressing these questions. Inscribed numerals and calculations, in particular, abound in the drawings by two leading architects of early sixteenth-century Italy, Baldassarre Peruzzi and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, suggesting that both attained a high degree of numeracy. Comparing these contemporaries is also revealing since, while each incorporated mathematics as a central element in their architectural practice, their approaches diverge in ways that point to and illuminate significant differences in their background and design methods.KeywordsMathematical AbilityFifteenth CenturyPlumb LineScale LineWooden ModelThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.