Vitruvian Proportions in the Design of the Architectural Orders of the Basilica of San Lorenzo

Aroni, Gabriele ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1343-613X (2019) Vitruvian Proportions in the Design of the Architectural Orders of the Basilica of San Lorenzo. Annali di Architettura, 31. pp. 7-21. ISSN 1124-7169

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Abstract

The aim of the article is to analyze the proportions of the various parts of the Corinthian order inside the basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence taking Vitruvius' De architectura as a reference , in order to verify whether the treatise could have been a source for the design of the architectural order in the church. This analysis attempts to offer explanations to some of the still unanswered questions regarding the project, in particular the decoration of the Old Sacristy and the cruciform pillars of the transept. The study measures all parts of the architectural order in relation to the classical module and shows how their proportions were part of the lexicon of the architects of the time, and therefore that it is important to "read" them in the right frame of reference.