BOOKS ON ARCHITECTURE
In 1539, two years after Serlio’s Regole generali di architectura came out in Venice, and even before the Terzo libro was published, Pieter Coecke published the first translation of this book, essential for the history of European architecture. Serlio, mentioned only in the colophon, had not given his consent, and he would complain about this “pirating” in the second edition of the Quarto libro in 1540. There are several differences compared with the original version: a few passages were cut out, while Coecke added annotations indicated with asterisks, as well as a depiction of two variations of the Doric capital with a plan (f. E1), taken from the Inventie der colommen that he published the same year, an illustration that does not appear in the 1542 French translation. At the end of the book, he replaced the coats of arms, too specifically Italian, with an alphabet of Roman capital letters, probably more useful in lands which were still accustomed to using Gothic letters for inscribing monuments. Yves Pauwels (Centre d’études supérieures de la Renaissance, Tours) – 2013 Critical bibliography
K. De Jonge, “Anticse Wercken: la découverte de l’architecture antique dans la pratique architecturale des anciens Pays-Bas. Livres de modèles et traités (1517-1599)”, M.-C. Heck, F. Lemerle & Y. Pauwels (eds.), Théorie des arts et création artistique dans l’Europe du Nord du XVIe au début du XVIIe siècle, Lille, PUL, collection UL3 Travaux et Recherches, 2002, pp. 55-74. K. De Jonge, “Les éditions du traité de Serlio par Pieter Coecke van Aelst”, S. Deswarte Rosa (ed.), Sebastiano Serlio à Lyon. Architecture et imprimerie, Lyon, Mémoire active, 2004, pp. 263-274. H. de la Fontaine Verwey, “Pieter Coecke van Aelst and the Publication of Serlio’s Book on Architecture”, Quærendo, 6, 1976, pp. 166-194. S. Heringuez, “Les peintres flamands du XVIe siècle et les éditions coeckiennes des livres d’architecture de Sebastiano Serlio”, Revue de l’Art, 180, 2013/2, p. 45-52. W. Kuyper, The Triumphant Entry of Renaissance Architecture into the Netherlands. The Joyeuse Entrée of Philip of Spain into Antwerp in 1549, Renaissance and Manierism Architecture in the Low Countries from 1530 to 1630, Alphen aan den Rijn, Canaletto, 1994. J. Offerhaus, “Pieter Coecke et l’introduction des traités d’architecture aux Pays-Bas”, J. Guillaume (ed.), Les traités d’architecture de la Renaissance, Paris, Picard, 1988, pp. 443-452. M. Vène, Bibliographia serliana. Catalogue des éditions imprimées des livres du traité d’architecture de Sebastiano Serlio (1537-1681), Paris, Picard, 2007, pp. 52-53.
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