Vitruvius, Roman architect and military engineer during the reign of Augustus (first century B.C.), was the author of the only ancient treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, De Architectura. Vitruvius laid down the proportions and taught the correct use of the classical orders. Andrea Palladio (1518-70) took Vitruvius as the foundation for his own study of classical forms. His Four Books of Architecture combine Vitruvius with the study of existing architectural evidence in Italy. Both Vitruvius and Palladio influenced the architecture of Inigo Jones and , a century later, the Neo-Palladians headed by Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington.
Villa Capra, 1566-1571
Villa Capra, 1566-1571
Palazzo Chiericato, 1550-1580
Interior, San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, 1560
Teatro Olimpico, 1584
Villa Capra, 1566-71
Chiswick House, London, 1725
Old Governor's Mansion, Milledgeville, Georgia
The following website lists most of the important treatises on classical architecture published from Vitruvius through the eighteenth century: