Arrangement
Three key words:
- Symmetry
- Geometry
- Design
The concept I chose for my book “Inventioni d’ornamenti d’architettura di Michel Angello Buonaruotti e d’altri” from the author Gio Francesco Baroncelli is the arrangement. I chose this concept because I noticed the arrangements of the various shapes of the various drawings the most.
The book is filled with illustrations of openings, entries, and decorative methods of columns and there are no texts at all. For every opening, Buonarroti had drawn, shapes like rectangles, triangles, and circles are recognizable. You can see very nicely how Buonarroti examined and sketched the various methods and types of design of the openings.
Each drawing is different from the others. However, they have one thing in common: their arrangement. Most of the openings in Buonarroti’s drawings are rectangular and end with a triangular or rounded upper edge. The interaction of these three forms brings a certain harmony and a sense of order. In other words, these shapes are placed so that their proportions can be recognized.
In order to strengthen this harmony, various decorative options are recorded in his drawings. Angels were most often used as a decorative means to give the whole structure a sacred status. Animal sculptures can also be seen in his illustrations. At one point there is even a kind of opening with two sculptures of dogs. It is unclear to me why Buonarroti found this important, but I thought it would be interesting to write about it. The design is a way of placing objects so that the whole gives off a certain elegance. In this sense, it is again a kind of proportion, but not determining the perception.
Buonarroti examined not only the openings, but also the types of columns. There are separate drawings of columns and those that are integrated into the openings. It seems that Buonarroti was also interested in new types of capitals. Here, too, he tries to place animals and angels in such a way that symmetry is restored.
The Book has only illustrations and no text. In order to understand the book, you have to know at least the six principles of architecture. The one who defined these six principles is Vitruvius. The six principles are: ordinatio, dispositio, eurythmia, symmetria, décor and distributio. They are always present in every architectural building. However, as you can see, the arrangement is a very important part of this book.