The Study of Italian Architectural Treatises …

In addition to the Venetian buildings, architectural treatises of the Cinquecento are further important sources, which helped to extend Holl’s knowledge about Italian architecture after his return to Augsburg.

In the early seventeenth-century, German architects knew well the major translations and comments of De architectura libri decem by the Roman architect Vitruvius (ca. 30–20 BC).⁷⁵ The vernacular editions of the Ten Books by Cesare

72 “[...], da man dadurch Gelegenheit gewinnt, viel und mancherlei fürstliche Paläste, Häuser, Kirchen, Kapellen, Gotteshäuser, Spitäler e.c. zu besichtigen, ihr Maß und Termin zu nehmen, selbige mit allem Fleiß abzuzeichnen und zu beschreiben.” Joseph Furttenbach, Architectura civilis, Ulm 1628, p.

VIII; here quoted after Bergdolt (as note 69), p. 67. See also Jonkanski (as note 53), p. 31.

73 Bernd Roeck, “Anmerkungen zum Werk des Elias Holl. Über den Entstehungsprozeß von Architektur im frühen 17. Jahrhundert,” in: Pantheon 3, 1983, pp. 224, 233; Jürgen Zimmer, “Aus den Sammlungen Rudolfs II.: Baurisse von Elias Holl,” in: Studia Rudolphina 11, 2011, p. 12.

74 Roeck 1983 (as note 73), pp. 224, 233 (source 1; edition of the petition); Zimmer (as note 73), p. 12.

75 Erik Forssman, “Architekturtheorie im Zeitalter Elias Holls,” in: Baer, Kruft and Roeck (as note 43), p. 7; Volker Plagemann, “Von der Pilgerfahrt zur ‘Reise ins Licht’ Künstlerreisen nach Italien,” in:

Arnhold Hermann (ed.), Orte der Sehnsucht. Mit Künstlern auf Reisen, exhibition catalog, Münster, LWL-Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, 28 September 2008–11 January 2009, Regensburg 2008, pp. 36-44; here p. 40.

Cesariano (ca. 1476–1543)⁷⁶ and Walther Rivius (ca. 1500–48)⁷⁷ belonged to the major works among a considerable variety of versions. The most successful works, however, were the high Renaissance treatises written by Italian architects, in the first place Sebastiano Serlio’s (1475–1554) Tutte l’Opere d’architettura et prospetiva (1584), and especially the Regole generali di architettura (1537), which were later integrated into the treatise as Book IV,⁷⁸ the Regola delli cinque ordini d’architettura (1562) by Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola (1507–73) and the Quattro libri dell’architettura (1570) by Andrea Palladio (1508–80). These writings, which all took Vitruvius as a point of departure, were key works for studying sixteenth-century architecture and the use of the orders.⁷⁹ Scholars generally agree that Holl had been familiar with these treatises⁸⁰ and that he might have owned copies of them for the following reasons:⁸¹

76 Cesariano was a court painter, architect and architectural theorist in service of the Duke of Milan.

He published the first translation of Vitruvius’ treatise in Italian language and the first edition with woodcut illustrations. The book was published in Como in 1521 under the title Di Lucio Vitruvio Pollione de Architectura. Evers (as note 71), pp. 26-35; Ingrid D. Rowland, “Vitruvius in Print and in Vernacular Translations: Fra Giocondo, Bramante, Raphael and Cesare Cesariano,” in: Vaughan Hart and Peter Hicks (eds), Paper Palaces. The Rise of the Renaissance Architectural Treatise, New Haven and London 1998, pp. 105-121.

77 The sixteenth-century humanist Walther Rivius published the first German translation of the treatise of Vitruvius, Vitruvius Teutsch, in 1548 in Nuremberg. His edition also contains woodcut illustrations, some of which are copied from Cesariano’s version. Evers (as note 71), pp. 292-303.

78 For the Regole generali di architettura, see John Onians, Bearers of Meaning. The Classical Orders in Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance, Princeton, N.J. 1988, pp. 263-286; Hart and Hicks (as note 76), pp. 140-169; Evers (as note 71), pp. 36-45.

79 In addition to Italian treatises, German vernacular architectural theory was another important source for the local architects. Texts and illustrations were mostly influenced by Italian examples. The so-called column books (Säulenbücher), such as the treatise Von den fünff Sülen (1550) by Hans Blum (ca. 1520/30–after 1552), the Architectura von Außtheilung, Symmetria und Proportion der Fünff Seulen (1598) by Wendel Dietterlin (1550–99), Den Eersten Boeck, Ghemaect Opde Twee Colomnen Dorica en Ionica (1565) and Das ander Buech, gemacht auff die zvvay Colonnen Corinthias und Coposita (1581) by the Dutch architect Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527–1607) were significant examples studied by German architects. Forssman 1985 (as note 75), pp. 7-14; Bernd Roeck, “Kulturtransfer zwischen Bayern und Italien in der Renaissance,” in: Riepentinger [et al.] (as note 58), pp. 32-33.

80 Among the abovementioned titles, Serlio’s treatise must have been well-known to Holl; it is probable that he owned a copy. Book IV of Tutte l’opere d’architettura et prospetiva, which focusses on the architectural orders and their application on façades, was already published in German language in 1542 by Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1502–50) in Antwerp. This edition had been translated by Jacob Rehlinger, a merchant from Augsburg, who was active in Venice. Holl and his father both worked for this merchant family. It is therefore possible that Holl had acquired Serlio’s treatise through this connection. Forssman 1985 (as note 75), pp. 7-14; Roeck 2010 (as note 79), pp. 32-33.

81 Forssman 1985 (as note 75), pp. 7-14; Ulrich Schütte, “Elias Holl als Stadtwerkmeister und

1) Many Renaissance architects of the northern countries used the treatises not only as theoretical texts, which they admired for their erudition and virtuosity, but they also used them as manuals for their own designs.⁸² To possess a treatise not only meant an intellectual enrichment, but was also of practical help. This is proved by Heinrich Schickhardt⁸³ and Inigo Jones.⁸⁴ Both of them owned an extensive collection of architectural treatises. Particularly, Jones had taken a copy of Palladio’s treatise (Venice 1601) with him on his journey to Italy and had left many marginal annotations and comments on Palladio’s building in the pages, which is written during or after Jones’s observation.⁸⁵ It shows, in the seventeenth century, the young architects on their Grand Tour were more than the common tourists. They knew how to use the treatise to make a comparison and re-think of what they had seen in situ in order to study the correct Italian Renaissance architectures.

2) Although large parts of Holl’s collection were sold after his death in 1646 and

Architectus. Hinweise auf seinen Teilnachlaß in Wolfenbüttel,” in: Zeitschrift des historischen Vereins für Schwaben 84, 1991, pp. 61-63; Bernd Roeck, “‘AMPLISS: REIPVB. AVGVSTANAE ARCHITECTVS.’ Augsburg und sein Stadtwerkmeister: einige Anmerkungen zum Forschungs- stand,” in: Markus Hörsch and Elisabeth Oy-Marra (eds), Kunst – Politik – Religion. Studien zur Kunst in Süddeutschland, Ö sterreich, Tschechien und der Slowakei. Festschrift für Franz Matsche zum 60. Geburtstag, Petersberg 2000, p. 72; Roeck 2010 (as note 79), pp. 32-33.

82 For architects of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the printed treatise popularized not only the architectural study, but provided architects with practical knowledge of geometrical measurement, building materials and technique, design methods and rules of proportion. Forssman 1985 (as note 75), p. 12; Hanno-Walter Kruft, “Vorbilder für die Architecktur von Elias Holl,” in: Baer, Kruft and Roeck (as note 43), p. 26.

83 Following Schickhardt’s inventory list in 1631, the court architect of the Duke of Württemberg had possessed a Vitruvius edition of 1548 published in Basel. All important sixteenth-century treatises, such as those by Philibert de l’Orme (ca. 1514–70), Jacques I Androuet du Cerceau (1510–84), Giovanni Antonio Rusconi (1520–87), Serlio, Palladio as well as the column books by Vredeman de Vries, Blum, Dietterlin and Gabriel Krammer (ca. 1550–ca. 1611) were also present in his library.

Wilhelm Heyd (ed.), Handschriften und Handzeichnungen des herzoglich württembergischen Baumeisters Heinrich Schickhardt, Stuttgart 1902, p. 331; Dietrich Erben, “Augsburg als Verlagsort von Architekturpublikationen im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert,” in: Helmut Gier and Johannes Janota (eds), Augsburger Buchdruck und Verlagswesen, Wiesbaden 1997, p. 964.

84 Inigo Jones possessed Daniele Barbaro’s (1514–70) edition of Vitruvius (1556) and the treatises by Serlio, Palladio, Vignola, the Libro d'Antonio Labacco appartenente a l'architettura nel qual si figurarano alcune notabili antiquita di Roma (Rome 1552) by Antonio Labacco (1495–1570) and De origine et amplitudine civitatis Veronæ (Verona 1540) by Torello Sarayna (†1550). Anderson (as note 51), pp. 34-35 and 250.

85 This copy, published by Bartolomeo Carampello, and other book collections of Jones are now preserved in the Worcester College in Oxford. Ibid. For Jones’s reception of Palladio’s treatise, see John Newman, “Inigo Jones’s architectural education before 1614,” in: Architectural History 35, 1992, pp. 18-50.

the original inventory of his property is lost, it is possible to get an idea of the treasures he had kept in his library. When in 1651 Holl’s heritage was partially acquired by Duke August II of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (1579–1666), Johann Martin Hirt (†1661), an art agent from Augsburg,⁸⁶ made a transcript registering Holl’s original partial inventory.⁸⁷ Hirt’s copy reveals that Holl had actually owned books on architecture,⁸⁸ although it is impossible nowadays to reconstruct the whole extension of his collection.

3) Renaissance Venice was the center of printing. Nearly two-thirds of the total amount of printed books in Italy was produced there. Many architectural treatises were printed in the working shops near the Rialto Bridge and Fondaco dei Tedeschi, where Holl accommodated.⁸⁹ He might thus have purchased and came to know Italian treatises during his stay.

4) Since the late sixteenth century, the highest building authority (Baumeisteramt) of Augsburg was continuously acquiring architectural treatises as reference books for the city’s various building projects.⁹⁰ In 1615, the city had acquired five treatises

86 Hirt was citizen of Augsburg and worked as an art agent between 1647 and 1661 for the Duke of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel. Schütte (as note 81), p. 62.

87 According to the inventory drawn up by Hirt in November 1651, Duke August II had purchased five books, twenty-eight items of different office utensils like compasses, circles and some architectural engravings. Schütte (as note 81), pp. 55-68.

88 Five books on architecture were acquired by the Duke August II in 1651, the Ornamenti di fabriche antichi et moderni dell’alma città di Roma (Rome 1600) by Bartolomeo Rossi, Eine newe und schöne Art der Vollkommenen Visier-Kunst (Frankfurt, M. 1603) by Johann Hartmann Beyer (1563–1625), the Vestigi delle antichtià di Roma Tivoli Pozzolo et altri luochi (Prague 1606) by Aegidius Sadeler (ca. 1570–1629), the Optica (Augsburg 1616) by Paul Pfinzing von Henfenfeld, Architectur des Maintzischen Churf. neuen Schloßbawes St. Johannespurg zu Aschaffenburg (Mainz 1616) by Georg Ridinger (1568–1617). Each of them has a small engraved portrait of Elias Holl, designed by Lukas Kilian (1579–1637) in 1619, as ex libris on the cover page. Among them, the works of Rossi, Sadeler and Ridinger are all related with descriptions of topography in a real location, while books of Beyer and Pfinzing are focused on measuring and optics. All these topics are correlated with practical study of an architect and further imply a possible existence of Holl’s collection of architectural treatises. Schütte (as note 81), p. 62.

89 Palladio’s Quattro Libri, the Books III and IV of Serlio’s Tutte l’Opere and Vincenzo Scamozzi’s (1548–1616) L’idea della architettura universale were published in Venice. Roeck 1999 (as note 42), pp. 53-54.

90 According to Norbert Lieb, the Baumeisteramt had already purchased an “art book on architectural works engraved in copper plate” in 1578 (Kunstbuch von Bauwerk, in Kupfer gestochen) and a “book on all sort of buildings for fortification” (Buch von allerlei Festungsgebäuten), engraved by Dominicus Custos (1560–1612), in 1597 for Augsburg’s city chief architect. Norbert Lieb,

from the library of the humanist Paul Welser (1555–1620), brother of the above-mentioned Marcus Welser; these books later entered Holl’s library.⁹¹

Apart from Holl’s study of architectural treatises, it is likely that the humanist circle in Augsburg played a decisive role concerning Holl’s reception of Italian architectural theory. Especially, Marcus Welser (1558–1614), head of the city’s administration at the time (Stadtpfleger), was a leading figure among the local humanists, exercising great influence on Holl’s idea of the architecture designs.⁹² As a cooperator of David Höschel (1556–1617), the rector of the St. Anna Gymnasium, Welser had founded the publishing house Ad insigne pinus to distribute the humanistic literature⁹³ and published Bernardino Baldi’s (1553–1617) commentary on Vitruvius in 1612.⁹⁴ In order to give his book a modern typographical layout, Welser commissioned Aldus Manutius’s (1449–1515) workshop to print these books on

“Augsburger Baukunst der Renaissancezeit,” in: Hermann Rinn (ed.), Augusta 955-1955.

Forschungen und Studien zur Kultur- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte Augsburgs, Munich 1955, p. 232.

91 Leonhard Lenk put forward that one of the purchased titles was an edition of Vitruvius, without, however, identifying the edition or giving the titles of the other books purchased from Paul Welser’s collection. Leonhard Lenk, Augsburger Bürgertum im Späthumanismus und Frühbarock 1580–1700, Augsburg 1968, p. 159; Lieb (as note 90); Markus Völkel, “Marcus Welser und die Augsburger Baukunst der Hollzeit. Einige Skeptische Anmerkungen,” in: Baer, Kruft and Roeck (as note 43), p.

128.

92 Welser was a significant writer, publisher, historian, politician and humanist in Augsburg. He had studied in Padua, Rome, and Paris and was active as consul of the German merchants at the Fondaco dei Tedeschi in 1582. As the successor of Octavian Secundus Fugger, Welser was Stadtpfleger of Augsburg between 1600 and 1614. Völkel (as note 91), pp. 126-134; Alois Schmid, “Die Korrespondenz zwischen P. Matthäus Rader SJ und Marcus Welser,” in: Gernot Michael Müller (ed.), Humanismus und Renaissance in Augsburg: Kulturgeschichte einer Stadt zwischen Spätmittelalter und Dreißigjährigem Krieg, Berlin and New York 2010, pp. 421-442.

93 The Ad insigne pinus was founded in 1594 and brought ca. 70 titles to the market. The program of this publishing house focused on Greek patristic literature, historical, astronomical, mathematic titles and Latin law books. The published house was closed in 1617 after the death of Höschel in the same year. For history of Ad insigne pinus and its publishing programs, see Völkel (as note 91), p. 133;

Schmid (as note 92), pp. 429-430; Bernd Reock, Als wollt die Welt schier brechen. Eine Stadt im Zeitalter des Dreißigjährigen Krieges, Munich 1991, pp. 148-149.

94 Völkel put forward the hypothesis that the new City Hall in Augsburg had been influenced by suggestions from Welser on the one hand and by the reception of Baldi’s edition of Vitruvius on the other. Völkel (as note 91), p. 133. Although it is difficult to judge the real influence of Baldi’s edition on the design of Holl’s building, its cube form and the cross-like saddle roofs reveal clearly the knowledge of the Vitruvius’ reconstruction of the ancient Basilica Iulias in Fano, which was regarded by Vtruvius as an edifice built under the Roman Emperor Augustus and described in his De architectura (Book V, chapter I). The similar form of both buildings should be a result of Welser ’s suggestion. See also Roeck 1985 (as note 41), pp. 174-175; Eva-Maria Seng, Stadt – Idee und Planung. Neue Ansätze im Städtebau des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts, Munich 2003, p. 146.

humanistic themes.⁹⁵ He further owned a library containing more than 2,266 titles,⁹⁶ including the Cinquecento architectural treatises.⁹⁷ His two brothers, Paul and Anton (†1661), also kept collections of architectural treatises in their extensive libraries, especially various Vitruvius editions and the books of Serlio.⁹⁸ After Paul Welser had died in 1614, mathematical and mechanical instruments for measurement went from his collection directly into the property of Holl.⁹⁹ This implies that Holl might have had an easy accessibility to the Welser libraries, thus benefitting from ideal conditions for studying books on architecture.

Welser’s influence on Holl and on the architect’s understanding of art theory, in particular, has not yet been thoroughly researched. Nowadays, Welser’s role as spiritus rector is generally accepted, not only with regard to the urban renovation projects, undertaken in Augsburg around 1600, but also to form and decorative program of Holl’s early architectures.¹⁰⁰

95 As consul of the German merchants at the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, Welser had been well acquainted with the workshop of Manutius. In the beginning, Welser could not find any local printing workshop, which matched his requirements concerning the quality of typography. Reock 1991 (as note 93), p.

148.

96 Schmid expressed doubts about Lenk’s account about the amount of titles kept in Marcus’s library, because the single-leaf prints (Einblattdrucke) were also included. In the Catalogus bibliothecae amplissimae reipublicae Augustanae, compiled by Elias Ehinger (1573–1653) in 1633 only 871 titles were counted. Lenk (as note 91), pp. 158-159; Roeck 1985 (as note 41), p. 175; Hans-Jörg Künast,

“Welserbibliotheken. Eine Bestandsaufnahme der Bibliotheken von Anton, Marcus und Paulus Welser,” in: Mark Häberlein and Johannes Burkhardt (eds), Die Welser: Neue Forschungen zur Geschichte und Kultur des oberdeutschen Handelshauses, Berlin 2002, pp. 558-564; Schmid (as note 92), p. 431.

97 The treatise of Gian Paolo Lomazzo (1538–1600), published in 1584, several editions of Vitruvius and descriptions of the paintings at the Palazzo Ducale in Venice were collected in Marcus’ library.

Roeck 1985 (as note 41), p. 175.

98 Paul possessed a library of 1,161 books, while Anton’s collection was with its ca. 6,300 titles even more extensive. In the inventory of Paul’s library compiled in 1615, several treatises of Serlio, such as the Regole generali di architettura (1537), the Extraordinario libro di architettura (1551) and the Sette libri di architettura (1584) were listed together with writings by Dietterlin (1593), Ducerceau (1559) and de l’Orme (1567). Furthermore, following the inventory of Anton’s collection issued in 1619, the Vitruvius editions by Giunta, Fra Giocondo (1522), Cesariano (1521), Barbaro (1567) and Rusconi were shown in the list. Anton had also owned the treatises of de l’Orme (1567), Palladio (1570), Lomazzo (1584), and Serlio (1600). Völkel (as note 91), p. 128; Erben (as note 83), pp.

963-964; Künast (as note 96), pp. 553-558; Valeriani (as note 46), p. 105; Schmid (as note 92), p.

431.

99 Furthermore, the graphic collections of Paul Welser were integrated into the collection of the Augsburg’s city painter Johann Matthias Kager. Erben (as note 83), p. 963.

100 Roeck’s idea was accepted by scholars, who focused on the close and interactive relationship

The façade design of the detroyed Siegelhaus, known from seventeenth-century representations, can show Welser’s role as a counselor for Holl’s architecture.¹⁰¹ The Siegelhaus was erected in 1605 on the south side of the former wine market (Weinmarkt, now Maximilianstraße; fig. 5) as an official building for controlling the wine trade and the storage of the city’s wine barrels.¹⁰² Its façade and side walls were mainly structured by a colossal order of Ionic pilasters. An antique limestone relief, which shows the transport of a wine barrel, was re-used on the balcony above the main portal (fig. 6), thus matching with the building’s function. The slab is lost, but we have a drawing of it from Holl’s hand.¹⁰³ The use of this ancient spoil as building’s ornament is significant for learning the Italian Renaissance architecture. Its installation had not only referred the usage of the building, but also demonstrated a new, positive attitude towards the antiquity in the Renaissance and recognized it as a part of city’s history. Those were inspired by Welser.

In the Hauschronik, Holl simply indicated that “a painter, Joseph Heintz, had (as note 81), pp. 69-76; Seng (as note 94), p.146; Thomas Fichtner and Kain Wenzel, “Elias Holl,” in:

Arnold Bartetzky (ed.), Die Baumesiter der deutschen Renaissance. Ein Mythos der Kunstgeschichte?, Beucha 2004, pp. 213-236; Jachmann (as note 54).

101 See Simon Grimm, Weinsiegelhaus und Salzstadel, 1678, engraving.

102 The Siegelhaus was demolished in 1809. Baum (as note 43), pp. 54-57; Bruno Bushart (ed.), Augsburger Barock, exhibition catalogue, Augsburg, Rathaus and Holbeinhaus, 15 June–13 October 1968, Augsburg 1968, pp. 40-41; Roeck 1983 (as note 73), pp. 228-229; Sylviane Dequet, “Skizze eines römischen Reliefs mit Darstellung eines Weintransports,” in: Baer, Kruft and Roeck (as note 45), pp. 340-342; Roeck 1985 (as note 41), pp. 104-107; Miller-Gruber (as note 41), pp. 50-51;

Zimmer (as note 73), p. 16.

103 As Holl had recorded in the Hauschronik, the rectangular slab was found in 1604 in the foundations of the late Gothic Barfüßerkirche. A copy after the scene on the relief by Holl’s hand is on the same sheet as a detailed drawing of an Ionic base (brown ink with pen on paper, 13.3 x 19.6 cm, Städtische Kunstsammlung, Augsburg, inv. G 1660). The sketch shows the side view of four groups of figures one behind the other. Each group, composed of two or three men, is rolling a wine barrel under an open loggia. For the excavation and sketch of this relief, which is missing now, see Meyer (as note 41), pp. 46-47, 49; Dequet (as note 102), pp. 340-341; Roeck 1985 (as note 41), pp. 105-106.

wobey Hr. Welser wohl daran hat die äußere Viesier gemacht).¹⁰⁴ The further information of Heintz’s decoration at the façade and Welser’s drawing are not handed down to us. It is likely that the use of the Ionic order and the placement of an antique showpiece on such a prominent location were inspired by a person, who possessed broad knowledge of antique culture like the humanist Welser.¹⁰⁵ It might be that not only the relief but also the Ionic order referred to the building’s function. According to Vitruvius, the orders used at temples should be in accordance to the nature of the god or goddess venerated there. The Ionic order was considered as a suitable decoration for a temple dedicated to the wine god Bacchus.¹⁰⁶ In his Book IV, it was Sebastiano Serlio, who, on this basis, extended the rule on the iconography of orders from sacred to secular buildings. Serlio mentions that the order should be applied according to the rank and function of a building (secondo lo stato & le professioni loro).¹⁰⁷ The Italian Cinquecento architecture and the purpose of his reception of theoretical writings can be attributed to following aspects: To many architects of the northern countries in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, treatises on building served as formal repertoire for architecture designs. ¹⁰⁹ Holl’s Neuer Bau and the

104 Meyer (as note 41), p. 47.

105 Roeck 1985 (as note 41), pp. 104-105.

106 Vitruvius, De architectura (Book I, chapter 2); see also Onians (as note 78), pp. 36-39.

107 Sebastiano Serlio, Tutte l’opere d’architettura et prospetiva, Venice 1584, p. 126v; English translation by Vaughan Hart and Peter Hicks (eds), Sebastiano Serlio. On Architecture, New Haven and London 1996, p. 254; Onians (as note 78), pp. 271-273; Erik Forssman, Der Dorische Stil in der

107 Sebastiano Serlio, Tutte l’opere d’architettura et prospetiva, Venice 1584, p. 126v; English translation by Vaughan Hart and Peter Hicks (eds), Sebastiano Serlio. On Architecture, New Haven and London 1996, p. 254; Onians (as note 78), pp. 271-273; Erik Forssman, Der Dorische Stil in der