Ricerc@Sapienza

The success of the Quincunx plan in the religious architecture of
15th and 16th century Italy is generally related to the suggestions coming from
some monumental sacred buildings, from the places where these buildings are
located and their ancient and oriental origin. Added to this, this scheme
demonstrated an ability to adapt to different sites and themes and to be contaminated
by forms and types coming from distant sources. Some of Leonardo
da Vinci’s studies on centralized temples, which are collected in the Codex B at
the Institute de France, in the Codex Ashburnham 2037, and in the Codex
Atlanticus, testify above all the value of the Quincunx as a flexible geometric
and compositional device with great semantic and didactic potential, providing a
medium for the subsequent 16th century developments by Bramante and his
Roman followers.