João Pedro Xavier

António Rodrigues, a Portuguese Architect with a Scientific Inclination

Antonio Rodrigues’s Onze Mil Virgens Chapel (ca. 1565) at Alcacer do Sal is a classic temple built as a mausoleum. Here we are able to discern the omnipresence of geometry, always in association with number. Although this temple is tied to a pre-existing one, it has a rigorous geometric plan based on the square, detected at different scales. An ad quadratum geometry is almost always present in the definition of the general proportions of the Chapel, as the side of the squared modular piers and pilasters and its diagonal are related with the measures of the whole. Other clearly discernable proportions are 5:4 and 7:6. The use of the 5:4 rectangle is related to the height of the celestial pole at Alcacer, evidence of Rodrigues’s “scientific inclination”. Further, the geometry is used to propose a hypothesis for a possible design of the main facade, one of the most puzzling aspects of this temple.

Perspective in António Rodrigues’s Tratado de Arquitectura

The significance of the Liuro de Perspectiva (Book of Perspective), attributed to Antonio Rodrigues, lies mainly in the introduction of an innovative perspective rule designed to solve questions raised by the propagation of inaccuracies and insufficiencies of previous methods. However, the author’s scientific limitations prevented him from fully understanding the enormous potential of his geometrically accurate construction. Decoding and verifying the validity of this peculiar perspective rule leads to the center of the debate surrounding the origins of perspectiva artificialis. Rodrigues’s work demonstrates a striking fidelity to central perspective, especially obvious in one centrally-planned composition with ad quadratum and ad circulum geometry. Rodrigues’s own Onze Mil Virgens Chapel, built some time before 1565 in Alcacer do Sal is a prime example of these concepts.

The Cambridge Companion to Piero della Francesca

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Nexus 2002 Post-Conference Excursion

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