Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Codex Mellon

037. Folios 35 verso–36 recto
038. Folios 36 verso–37 recto
039. Folios 37 verso–38 recto
040. Folios 38 verso–39 recto
041. Folios 39 verso–40 recto
042. Folios 40 verso–41 recto
043. Folios 41 verso–42 recto
044. Folios 42 verso–43 recto
045. Folios 43 verso–44 recto
046. Folios 44 verso–45 recto
047. Folios 45 verso–46 recto
048. Folios 46 verso–47 recto

This sketchbook of architectural drawings is one of the most significant documents of the appearance and structure of antique and contemporary buildings in early sixteenth-century Rome. Containing interior and exterior views, elevations, and ground plans of Roman buildings, as well as a variety of decorative details, it is of great importance as an example of an architect’s model book of the early sixteenth century. The draftsman’s numerous notations of measurements and his various inscriptions in a precise and meticulous hand provide valuable information on individual projects but also demonstrate the diverse sources from which a Renaissance architect drew his inspiration.

Some of the most notable drawings in the Codex are related to the designs for St. Peter's by both Bramante and Raphael, but it also records many contemporary and antique Roman structures including the Palazzo dei Tribunali and its church of S. Biagio della Pagnotta, both planned by Bramante for Pope Julius II; the interior of the Pantheon; and the elevation and cross section of the Colosseum.

Little is known about the draftsman responsible for the sketchbook. It has been variously attributed to Domenico Antonio (also called Menicantonio) de Chiarellis, a member of a family of stone carvers associated with Bramante, or to the sculptor-architect Domenico Aino da Varignana.