Architectura Regia

'Architectura Regia' is a 2-volume ink and ink wash manuscript in Latin produced in 1683 by Frederik Coenders van Helpen and available online at the Bavarian State Library in Munich.

All of the images above were spliced together, -- 'best fit' from varying magnifications -- cropped and (mostly) extensively background cleaned from single manuscript page images.

'Architectura Regia' is a treatise on the five classical orders of architecture : Ionic, Doric, Corinthian (Greek); Tuscan and Mixed (Roman) --

"Each style has its proper entablature, consisting of architrave, frieze and cornice." [W]

-- the dominating features seen in the images above. These are accompanied by heroic, mythological and even New World figures drawn within the arches of the architectural order sketches.

Van Helpen was an important government official from Groeningen in Holland who was well-travelled in Europe. From the scant information around online, it appears he was a cartographer and draughtsman by trade. As he died in 1618(?), this 1683 manuscript is presumably a copy or expansion of van Helpen's original work. (I remain confused about this {addit: see comments below}, as I also am about whether the online manuscript is actually a combination of both treatises or simply the first volume.). The manuscript is dedicated to Louis XIV, the Sun King, as seen in that final image above.

Manuscript catalogue pages: One [T] & Two [T]. {note: the majority of illustrations are found in the last 100 of the 500 web pages of manuscript images}

Previously in general: Architecture from the delicious bookmarks for BibliOdyssey, where classifying tags and post summaries can be found for all 1000+ entries on this site.