Perspective is naturally linked to idealised buildings as they conformed to geometric grids, lending themeslves to depiction using graphical or linear perspective.
A Brief History of Idealised Buildings
Idealised buildings dominated Venetian Renaissance pioneer Bellini’s sketchbooks and paintings, particularly in the Baltimore, Berlin, and Urbino panels, though these were early exceptions. Interest in the theme varied in the sixteenth century; in Germany, idealised buildings were rare, with a focus on individual objects, though authors like Lencker sometimes included architectural examples.
During the sixteenth century, the Vitruvian tradition significantly influenced architectural themes in Europe, especially Italy and the Low Countries, with key figures like Cesariano, Caporali, Ryff, Serlio, Palladio, Du Cerceau, and Vredeman de Vries. The Vitruvian tradition is the enduring legacy of De architectura, a 1st-century BC treatise by Roman architect Marcus Vitruvius Pollio.
Sebastiano Serlio (6 September 1475 – c. 1554) was an Italian Mannerist architect, who, through his examples, linked to his interest in scenography, included idealised buildings and architectural drawing methods, mostly found in his other architecture books rather than his perspective book. These featured ancient and contemporary structures, such as Bramante’s Tempietto and Venetian palaces.
Andrea Palladio was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic, who expanded on these themes, particularly with country villas, and his systematic approach to plans and views made his work influential across England, France, and beyond.
Jacques Androuet du Cerceau, also known as Du Cerceau, DuCerceau, or Ducerceau (1510–1584), was a well-known French designer of architecture, ornament, furniture, metalwork, and other decorative designs during the 16th century. Du Cerceau’s engravings featured idealised Roman ruins and buildings, such as Bramante’s Tempietto, blending fact and imagination in his depictions of French châteaux (1576-1579).
Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527 – c. 1607) was a Dutch Renaissance architect, painter, and engineer. Vredeman de Vries is known for his 1583 publication on garden design and for his books with many examples of ornaments (1565) and perspective (1604). Vredeman de Vries’ collections leaned more towards imaginative architectural visions than accurate representations.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, images of idealised buildings took two paths: one led to realistic chateaux and monuments, as seen in Pérelle’s work, and the other to utopian designs by figures like Perret and Decker for imaginary edifices. Idealised buildings also featured in perspective treatises like Dubreuil’s, continuing into the nineteenth century with increasingly subtle blends of ideal and real elements.
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