Alberti was first published in 1485, while publishers reprinted Vitruvius's treatise a year later. The advent of mass printing allowed both authors to gain wider audiences. Alberti incorporated numerous literary sources into his work, including Plato (427?-347 b.c.) and Aristotle (384-322 b.c.), to create a sociology of architecture. Vitruvius's influence was so great that Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472) imitated his style in his own De Re Aedificatoria, even though he was critical of the Roman master. Nevertheless, Vitruvius still supplied the best blueprint to date and his work was regarded as the exemplary text for hundreds of years. Although Vitruvius's efforts gave architecture an intellectual footing it lacked prior to his study, he still was unable to cover the discipline completely. Palladio's spiritual mentor was ancient Roman architect Vitruvius, whose work Ten Books on Architecture,was the first attempt to outline the theoretical principles of the field. Quattro Libri is widely regarded as the finest architectural textbook ever produced. Quattro Libri allowed Palladio's contemporaries and future generations of architects to examine his philosophies on the design of houses, bridges, civic and public buildings, and ancient temples. The book solidified his standing as one of the greatest architects in history. Andrea Palladio and Developments in Western Architecture OverviewĪt the height of his popularity and influence in 1570, Italian architect Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) published his masterpiece, a treatise titled I Quattro Libri Dell' Architettura ( Four Books of Architecture).

Palladio the four books of architecture