The Seven Books of Architecture (in Italian, I Sette libri dell'architettura di Sebastiano Serlio bolognese) is a work by Sebastiano Serlio, published between 1537 and 1551, which is considered the first architectural treatise whose approach was both practical and theoretical, and the first that codified the five orders. The work spread the language of Bramante and Raphael throughout Europe, offering a vast repertoire of motifs.

They appear in irregular orders: IV (orders), III (ancient architecture), I and II (mathematical problems and prospective representation, including spectrographic), V (religious architecture), VII (“of the habitations of all grades of men”, up to urban planning: adaptation to the new culture, then external perspective that internal structure-symmetry, acceptance of historical fragmentism, this is the cohabitation of various styles in the city), VI (same arguments but which remained unpublished during centuries), VIII (military architecture). Although it remained unpublished for centuries, Book VI is very well known by the Cremonese architects of the Cinquecento Francesco e Giuseppe Dattaro.

The fantastic portal designs in the latter part of the treatise were often imitated by Mannerist architects.

In his treatise Serlio theorized about the central arch window secured by two rectangular openings that, due to their name, were soon called Serlian.

Contenido

El libro V[1]​ de Sebastián Serlio tiene como eje temático la arquitectura religiosa. Concretamente describe las diferentes formas válidas, según su mirada, que hay de construir un edificio de culto religioso.

Development

The text proposes various morphological typologies that are explained through the analysis of a representative temple. In this study, the author makes a detailed description of all the parts that make up the work, its distribution, its measurements and even in some cases, details of its materialization or explanations about the meaning behind the project operations described. The text is also supported by images, mainly plants, sections and views, which help with better understanding. In some cases, details of sectors of the building are also used to describe particularities.

Structure

The text presents a structure that is repeated almost identically throughout the entire book. It begins by analyzing each typology with a descriptive text of the generalities of the building in question. Then a plan of it is shown, which contrasts what the author previously wrote. This description-image operation is repeated once or twice, depending on the case, and specifies qualities of the temple that are reflected in the sections, views and details provided.

Typologies

There are 12 morphological typologies proposed by Serlio for the construction of temples: