Plans, Plana and Pendulo: A Proto-History of Architectural Drawing in Richard of St Victor’s De Ezechielis

Karl Kinsella
Trinity College Dublin
Department of History of Art and Architecture
2010
BA

Subject: Architecture and Manuscripts
Country: England and France
Period: 12th and 13th Century

10,000 words

Few writers have attempted to trace the origins of architectural drawing before the appearance of Villard de Honnecourt’s Portfolio. This paper traces earlier forms of architectural drawing to the last quarter of the 12th century. Richard of St Victor’s exegetical text, with its highly detailed and well organised plans and elevations provides an opportunity to examine this proto-history of architectural drawing. The manuscript indirectly testifies to the existence of relatively sophisticated drawing sixty years before Villard’s work. Formalist analysis will be carried out to contextualise Richard’s work with earlier and subsequent representations of plans and elevations. The exegetical text will also be examined. This results in a prologue to many surveys of architectural drawings which begin in the early 13th century.

Irish Georgian Society

Education Theses Register

Plans, Plana and Pendulo: A Proto-History of Architectural Drawing in Richard of St Victor’s De Ezechielis