Drawing after Architecture: Renaissance Architectural Drawings and Their Reception

In Drawing after Architecture (Marsilio), Yerkes examines how Renaissance architects used images to explore structures, create biographies and write history. Looking at a wide spread of records and manuscripts, her book presents a new examination of the architectural drawing from the 16th and 17th centuries. One question raised is why contemporary architects often choose to copy drawings rather than reprint them. Modern technology enables architects to reinvent the way they produce drawings, but there is something inherently valued about the task of copying sketches by hand in the field. Yerkes uses historical records to investigate the history of this pattern and learn from the manuscripts that have information about modern and ancient buildings, including the Pantheon and Saint Peter’s, that is not known from any other sources.