Abstract: This paper focuses on the way Antonio da Sangallo the Younger studies and designs the Ionic capital according to the rules recorded in the third book of the De Architectura. The analysis of Antonio’s annotations and drawings raises several questions. How much of the contents of the treatise could be transformed into real architecture ? What was missing in the text, and what could the architect do to fill the gap ? What did it really mean to be a Vitruvian architect ?
