Comment 1:
I chose as my first comparative work La Pratica di Prospettiva by Lorenzo Sirigatti. Like Salomon de Caus’ La Perspective, this book has as its main objective to teach the art of perspective drawing. They are probably two books intended to initiate their readers to drawing. Indeed, there are chapters to learn how to represent simple objects such as lines, surfaces, squares, cubes, etc. At the same time, the two authors continue their introduction to more complex learning at the end of the books. The theory for drawing spheres, arches, stairs is explained and the authors even go so far as to show examples of gardens, rooms, musical instruments, etc.
Both authors also use a similar format: One page is reserved for the drawing and the other one has an explanatory text for the realization of the drawing.
Both books were published more or less at the same time (1596 for Sirigatti and 1612 for De Caus), so they are very similar in style and aesthetics of the drawings.
Comment 2:
I have chosen as my second work of comparison Architectura et perspectiva des fortifications & artifices by Jacques Perret. This book contains examples of perspective architectural drawings and written explanations of how to make them, just as in Salomon de Caus’ La Perspective.
Perret’s book is much more complex than De Caus’s because it teaches the drawing of buildings. It is obvious that Perret’s book is aimed at students of architecture, even architects.
Knowing that Salomon de Caus, like Perret, was an architect, one can assume that his book served as an initiation for the purpose of training architects. Indeed, the drawings he teaches are generally architectural forms (cubes, arches, stairs, fortresses, etc.). Perret’s book is therefore in some ways a continuation of De Caus’ book, intended for more experienced students.
Another similarity caught my eye: Both authors are architects, both French, and both lived between the 16th and 17th centuries. They may have known or at least heard of each other, which implies a potential mutual influence.
Noé Bugnon
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