precedent and had a relative amount of autonomy in construction ( 1977 ). Vitruvius advocated
the implementation of graphia(plan), orthographia(elevation), and scaenographia(perspective)
( 1934 ). Hambly states that Romans utilized dividers, set squares, scale rulers and calipers.
Although these items were primarily builders’ instruments, ruling pens and styli have been
found which may have a more direct relationship to architecture and engineering drawings
( 1988 ). Temporary notation involved inscribing a wax tablet with a stylus that could be easily
erased with the blunt end of the tool. Working plans and sketches most likely were drawn on
temporary materials such as clay tablets (Kostof, 1977 ).
Although paintings and various types of documents survive from the Middle Ages, very
few drawings exist. It has been suggested by the historian Robert Scheller that this dearth of
preparatory sketches may be due to the lack of value given to them. They were viewed only
as process and consequently destroyed ( 1995 ). He also proposes that the media used for
sketches and drawings may have been too scarce and expensive for common use. Most
probably, artists and architects sketched on whatever materials were available, i.e., wood,
stone, or parchment, and as process these have not endured. One example of a clearly archi-
tectural drawing dates from approximately 820 to 830 AD. The Plan of St. Gall was drawn
on parchment and describes an ideal monastery. Measuring 113 cm vertically and 78 cm
horizontally, this drawing indicates the spatial relationships of buildings within a com-
pound. Substantially schematic, the plan has been arranged on a grid, drawn in both red
and black ink, with single lines to represent doors and columns (Price, 1982 ).
Far more common were the model and pattern books of medieval architects. Guild books
(or lodge books) recorded methods of construction and architectural theory for use by the
building trades. Largely practical, they characterized Gothic building practices (Bucher,
1979 ). These books were organized into categories of theory, figure drawing, and carpentry.
They served the lodge members, and the lodge itself was the repository for this inherited
knowledge. A preserved sketchbook by Villard de Honnecourt displays the value these types
of pattern books had for medieval architects. They accompanied the architects on journeys,
retained visual notes and acted as professional licensure to prove the bearer’s skills and repre-
sent their interests as they were searching for employment. De Honnecourt’s sketchbook
chronicled framing drawings, patterns for details and ornament, construction methods, eleva-
tions, plans, and patterns for tracery (Bucher, 1979 ). The sketches date from the early 1200 s
and are drawn on parchment in graphite, scored, and filled with ink. The Dictionary of
Architecturefrom 1892 indicates that drawings on parchment delineating ground plans and ele-
vations exist from the eleventh century, although these may not resemble the scale and artic-
ulation expected from contemporary architectural drawings. The architects of the Middle
Ages were craftsmen, refining the cathedral image primarily without the use of visual repre-
sentation. Large incisions have been found on many of the walls of these cathedrals, most
likely functioning as templates for details such as tracery (Kostof, 1977 ). Architectural draw-
ings prior to the Renaissance were not common, and architects/builders did not conceive of
the building in its entirety before construction. Rather, buildings such as cathedrals were a
process of experimentation on the site: ‘Projecting the geometric physiognomy of a building
or city was a prophetic act, a form of conjuring and divining, not merely the personal will of
the author. Architectural drawings, therefore, could not be conceived as neutral artifacts that
might be transcribed unambiguously into buildings’ (Péréz-Gomez and Pelletier, 1997 , p. 9 ).H5719-Introduction 7/15/05 3:06 PM Page 8