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Drawing 2: Colosseum
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Reference number
SM volume 115/41b
Purpose
Drawing 2: Colosseum
Aspect
Orthogonal cross section, with measurements
Scale
To an approximate scale of 1:220
Inscribed
eiusdem. (‘Of the same [width]’); altitudinis est. b 851/1 (‘The height is 85½ braccia’); [numerous other measurements]
Signed and dated
- c.1513/14
Datable to c.1513/14
Medium and dimensions
Pen and brown ink and grey-brown and brown wash over stylus lines and compass pricks
Hand
Bernardo della Volpaia
Notes
This drawing is the fourth of the Coner sections through the Colosseum, and it includes just the outermost of the annular corridors. It is identical to two of the previous ones (Fol. 25 verso of flap/Ashby 39A and Fol. 25v/Ashby 40), except that it has been enlarged to correspond closely, although not exactly, in its horizontal alignments with the exterior elevation of the building immediately to its left.
The drawing’s purpose is, in part, to show how the section relates to the building’s external articulation rather more clearly than in the two other drawings and, in part, to serve as a vehicle for providing measurements, which were excluded from them and only minimally given in the third earlier section (Fol. 25r and flap/Ashby 39). Like these other drawings, however, it records the progressive setting back of successive storeys and their orders, as well as the gradual diminution of wall thickness, giving that of the lowermost storey as 4½ braccia, and those above as 4¼ braccia and then 3⅔ braccia, but no measurement for the top storey. The word eiusdem in the upper corridor indicates that it is the same in width as the one below, specified as being 8½ braccia.
The drawing is closely related to the section in the Codex Barberini, as is evident not only from some of the details but also from the given measurements. There are some discrepancies, however, such as showing the guttering above the fourth-storey cornice and giving measurements for ground-level steps (evidence for which is far from clear), which suggests either that the two drawings had a common prototype or that the Barberini section was here modified to provide more information. A similar orthogonal section is also found on a sheet by Baldassare Peruzzi that also appears next to a depiction of a part of the exterior which is likewise represented perspectivally, which suggests that such pairings were well established.
RELATED IMAGES: [Giuliano da Sangallo] Rome, BAV, Barb. lat. 4424 (Codex Barberini), fol. 68r (Hülsen 1910, 1, p. 71; Borsi 1985, pp. 254–59).
OTHER IMAGES MENTIONED: [Baldassare Peruzzi] Florence, GDSU, 480 Ar (Bartoli 1914–22, 6, pp. 52–53; Wurm 1984, pl. 451)
OTHER DRAWINGS IN CODEX CONER OF SAME SUBJECT: Fol. 2r/Ashby 2; Fol. 2v/Ashby 3; Fol. 3r/Ashby 4; Fol. 3v/Ashby 5; Fol. 25r and flap/Ashby 39; Fol. 25 verso of flap/Ashby 39A; Fol. 25 verso/Ashby 40; Fol. 66r/Ashby 113; Fol. 66v/Ashby 114; Fol. 83v/Ashby 137
The drawing’s purpose is, in part, to show how the section relates to the building’s external articulation rather more clearly than in the two other drawings and, in part, to serve as a vehicle for providing measurements, which were excluded from them and only minimally given in the third earlier section (Fol. 25r and flap/Ashby 39). Like these other drawings, however, it records the progressive setting back of successive storeys and their orders, as well as the gradual diminution of wall thickness, giving that of the lowermost storey as 4½ braccia, and those above as 4¼ braccia and then 3⅔ braccia, but no measurement for the top storey. The word eiusdem in the upper corridor indicates that it is the same in width as the one below, specified as being 8½ braccia.
The drawing is closely related to the section in the Codex Barberini, as is evident not only from some of the details but also from the given measurements. There are some discrepancies, however, such as showing the guttering above the fourth-storey cornice and giving measurements for ground-level steps (evidence for which is far from clear), which suggests either that the two drawings had a common prototype or that the Barberini section was here modified to provide more information. A similar orthogonal section is also found on a sheet by Baldassare Peruzzi that also appears next to a depiction of a part of the exterior which is likewise represented perspectivally, which suggests that such pairings were well established.
RELATED IMAGES: [Giuliano da Sangallo] Rome, BAV, Barb. lat. 4424 (Codex Barberini), fol. 68r (Hülsen 1910, 1, p. 71; Borsi 1985, pp. 254–59).
OTHER IMAGES MENTIONED: [Baldassare Peruzzi] Florence, GDSU, 480 Ar (Bartoli 1914–22, 6, pp. 52–53; Wurm 1984, pl. 451)
OTHER DRAWINGS IN CODEX CONER OF SAME SUBJECT: Fol. 2r/Ashby 2; Fol. 2v/Ashby 3; Fol. 3r/Ashby 4; Fol. 3v/Ashby 5; Fol. 25r and flap/Ashby 39; Fol. 25 verso of flap/Ashby 39A; Fol. 25 verso/Ashby 40; Fol. 66r/Ashby 113; Fol. 66v/Ashby 114; Fol. 83v/Ashby 137
Literature
Ashby 1904, p. 30
Census, ID 43745
Census, ID 43745
Level
Drawing
Digitisation of the Codex Coner has been made possible through the generosity of the Census of Antique Works of Art and Architecture Known in the Renaissance, Berlin.
If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk