Giovan Antonio Rusconi. On Architecture (1590)

Translation by Francesco Mazzaferro
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Giovan Antonio Rusconi

Della Architettura [On Architecture]

Presentation by Giuseppina Dal Santo, Introduction by Anna Bedon, Preface by Howard Burns

Vicenza, Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio, 1996

Front-cover of the book
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[1] Facsimile reprint of the work Della Architettura di Gio. Antonio Rusconi (On Architecture by Gio[van] Antonio Rusconi), published in Venice in 1590 by the print house of Giovanni Giolito and preserved in the Ancient Collections of the Library of the Andrea Palladio International Centre for the Study of Architecture. Writings by Giuseppina Dal Santo (Presentation), Howard Burns (Preface) and Anna Bedon (Introduction) are displayed before the reprint.

The Tower of the Winds by Andronicus of Cyrrhus (Book I)
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[2] Giovanni Antonio Rusconi was a disciple of the great mathematician Nicolò Tartaglia, a friend of Sansovino, and an associate to Palladio; he was considered by his contemporaries as one of the main Venetian architects of the time. The events leading to the publication of his work were unfortunately rather disorderly, as recalled by Anna Bedon in her Introduction; we might indeed wonder whether the work published in 1590 is eventually one still to be considered as the fruit of his mind. Certainly, the initial design used to be very different. Rusconi aimed to publish an annotated and illustrated translation of On Architecture (De Architectura) by Vitruvius; what remains of it are however only 160 tables, often accompanied by brief editorial explanations, which were due to illustrate the Vitruvian Treaty. Translation and commentary have unfortunately been lost.

The human body inscribed in a circumference (Book III)
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[3] Rusconi was born around 1520. Since 1547 he devoted himself to the translation of De Architectura, alongside his architectural activities. "The young Giovan Antonio begins... a thoughtful translation of Vitruvius, that - starting right from the specifically technical ninth and tenth books (regarding ballistics, mechanics, and hydraulics) - turns into an editorial project including all books, to be accompanied by commentaries... "(p. X). The translation is completed by 1552; the engravings to illustrate the book are produced in the Florentine printing house of Giolito de' Ferrari. 300 copper engravings for the iconographic apparatus are prepared. On February 26, 1553, the Venetian Senate grants Giolito the privilege for the new edition of Vitruvius; so does the Grand Duke of Tuscany on 29 March. At that point, however, everything is suddenly blocked.

The Vitruvian Man (Book Three)
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[4] It is hard to say what happened. The (anything but unrealistic) hypothesis advanced by Anna Bedon is that it was Giolito himself to pull back. In scholar and editorial circles, it was known that Daniele Barbaro was working to an annotated and illustrated translation of De Architectura (since 1547), and that he had moved a few months to Rome along with the Palladio in 1553, to deepen his studies while having the ancient ruins as models. "A new Vitruvian endeavour, conducted by a person of great influence and with a critical apparatus that would justify a stay of months in Rome, had persuaded Giolito to withdraw from a project that might have proven an economic disaster" (p. XII). The fact is that the Barbaro edition was published in 1556. It would experience a great success, while the project by Rusconi had long ended up in a drawer.

Vitruvian water clock (Book X)
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[5] In 1578 Giolito de’ Ferrari passes away and the year after also Rusconi dies. One of the two sons of Giolito, Giovanni, carries on the business of his father, but by publishing texts of a much lower ambition. We reach 1590. Also Giovanni dies. It is decided not to publish anything still unreleased, but to make the most of all activities finalised in previous years (the print shop will be closed fifteen years later). The engravings for the illustration of the Rusconi edition are recovered (it is not known if the Venetian architect, who had died eleven years earlier, ever got back the translation) and to publish them. Naturally, the new edition has to produce the maximum revenue with the minimal effort. It is therefore decided that in the cover page should appear the name of Vitruvius, which always serves as a catchword, and also that, far from being unknown, of Rusconi. But only 160 illustrations are published, accompanied by short editorial texts. In short, all the work, as a whole, is downplayed. It is a real shame, because many evaluate today the etchings made by Rusconi as outstanding. Hanno-Walter Kruft writes for example, in A history of architectural theory. From Vitruvius to the eighteenth century  (p. 72 of the 1994 Princeton edition by Zwemmer): "In general, his illustrations display an unusual degree of independence compared to all earlier Vitruvian editions and commentaries, and they reveal a marked anti-classic attitude.”