Between words and drawings: Dissertation on a newly found illustrated version of De architectura

This dissertation is the beginning of a research on the history of a Renaissance manuscript: the illustrated version of Vitruvius\u27s De architectura now in the Biblioteca Ariostea of Ferrara. The Ferrara manuscript is important for several reasons. It is the first attempt to create a complete apparatus of illustrations for De architectura; it shows the procedures which were necessary to create this kind of document; it raises many problems on the relationships between text and illustration. After a general introduction and presentation of the document I investigate the content of the first twelve folios of the Ferrara manuscript, and concentrate my attention on the obverse and reverse of folio 78 where Vitruvius\u27 III,i,1-7 is transcribed and illustrated. The aim of this dissertation is to demonstrate that the systematic introduction of illustrations transformed the meaning of De architectura, written to be read and not to be seen