Il cantiere nella Roma di metà Settecento: il trattato Origine e Lode dell’Architettura

The treatise “Origine e Lode dell'Architettura" (Origin and Praise of Architecture”) is a precious but as yet little-examined document on building practice in 18th-century Rome, preserved in Palazzo Braschi. In spite of its title, the work devotes only a few pages to historical and theoretical issues, and instead the volume is mainly devoted to managerial and economic aspects of good management of buildings, subdivided by type and analysed from a variety of perspectives, from the foundations to the decorations. A unique feature of the treaty is the inclusion of extensive excerpts from the diaries of construction sites of renowned buildings, considered exemplary also in the running of the works.