Vitruvius

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A prominent Roman architect and engineer known for his influential treatise on architecture, valuing proportion and beauty
2. A figure revered in classical studies for his comprehensive guidelines on design and construction principles
3. The author of a significant work that encompasses theories on symmetry, aesthetics, and the application of technology in buildings

Etymology: Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman military engineer and architect who worked under Julius Caesar and later Augustus, and whose ten-book treatise "De architectura" is the only architectural text from antiquity to survive largely intact. Its influence was enormous: it shaped Renaissance architects, who rediscovered it in the fifteenth century, and it gave us the idea that a building should reflect the proportions of the human body. The most famous image linked to his name is Leonardo da Vinci's drawing of a man with arms and legs outstretched inside a circle and square, often called the "Vitruvian Man." Leonardo based it on Vitruvius's description of the ideal human body as a model for harmonious design, so the name now stands for that link between human form and proportion.