Sede di Roma
Introductory Research Guide for Buildings in Rome
Here are some recommended resources for introductory research for buildings in Rome.
E-Resources at Penn State
To access ALL Databases & Electronic Resources that the University Libraries offer, please go to E-Resource
List (A-Z).
for books in the Penn State collection
The CAT - PSU Libraries Web Catalog
The online catalog of materials owned by Penn State Libraries. All formats (books, journals, audiovisuals, maps, recordings, etc.) are included. Circulation status for individual items also provided.
for journal articles & quick reference
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
---A database guide for Avery is posted
here.
References to articles on architecture and design, archaeology, city planning, interior design, historic preservation, and landscape architecture.
Bibliography of the History of Art
The Bibliography of the History of Art indexes and abstracts art-related books, conference proceedings, dissertations, and articles from 2500 periodicals as well as exhibition and dealer's catalogs.
Dictionary of Art - Grove Art Online
The Dictionary of Art is the world’s foremost encyclopedia of the history of the visual arts in all media: architecture, ceramics, decorative arts, design, drawing, sculpture, and others.
Oxford Reference Online
Oxford Reference Online consists of a wealth of facts, figures, definitions, and translations found in dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press.
Items of particular interest are their basic
Encyclopedia; their selection of
Art & Architecture Reference Titles; their
Bilingual Dictionaries, including both Italian-English
and Latin-English; and
Classical Civilization Reference Titles.
Art, Architecture, and Landscape Pictures
This database provides access to digital images from Penn State’s collections, including the
Art History Department Visual Resource Selections and the
Worldwide Building and Landscape Pictures.
Basic Reference Type Books
Rome in Detail: A Guide for the Expert Traveler
Gatti, Claudio
DG804.R695 2003 - Reference Collection -
Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library - 111 Stuckeman
--This guide’s antique-style maps are lovely to look at, although a bit harder to use than others. It does, however, offer much more information about Rome’s neighborhoods and monuments than many others, and is relatively recent.
Rome: DK Eyewitness Travel Series
Ercoli, Olivia
DG806.8.E73 1993 - Reference Collection -
Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library - 111 Stuckeman
--This guide is the inverse of the Rizzoli: DK is known for its strong, legible graphics, which this guide provides in the form of great maps and images. The text is brief, however, but still useful.
The Buildings of Europe: Rome
Woodward, Christopher
NA1120.W66 1995 - Reference Collection -
Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library - 111 Stuckeman
--Organizes Rome’s major buildings into historical periods, from antiquity to 1990s.
The Architecture of Rome: An Architectural History in 400 Individual Presentations
Grundmann, Stefan
NA1120.A73 1998 - Reference Collection -
Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library - 111 Stuckeman
--Also organized chronologically, with longer, more thorough entries for each building.
Architect’s Guide to Rome
Salvadori, Renzo
NA1120.S358 1990 - Reference Collection -
Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library - 111 Stuckeman
--Brief and excellent, with photos of Rome that only an architect would take.
Guide of Modern Rome : Architecture 1870-2000
De Guttry, Irene
NA1120.D413 2001 - Reference Collection -
Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library - 111 Stuckeman
--Focusing on Rome's often neglected modern and contemporary architecture, including those in the Roman suburbs. NOTE: This guide is organized by building types (office buildings, schools, etc.) rather than the usual organization by location or style.
Architecture, from Prehistory to Postmodernity - 2nd ed.
Trachtenberg, Marvin
NA200.T7 2003 Q - Reference Collection -
Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library - 111 Stuckeman
--Your basic, huge architectural history textbook.
Sources With More Detailed Information
An Atlas of Rome: The Form of the City on a 1:1000 Scale Photomap and Line Map
Novelli, Italo ed.
G1989.24.R7A813 1992 Q - Reference Collection -
Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library - 111 Stuckeman
--The Rome Atlas also has excellent introductory essays about the history of Rome maps from antiquity to the present.
Édifices de Rome Moderne...
Letarouilly, Paul Marie
NA1120.L47 Q - Ask at Desk - smaller, reprint edition from 1982 -
>NA1120.L6 v.1-v.3 F - Ask at Desk - enormous, first reprint from 1911
Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library - 111 Stuckeman
--Letarouilly presents engraved plans and views of Rome’s most famous “modern” buildings, which means anything since Christianity was legalized. However, many of the drawings have been “perfected”, such as crooked medieval church plans are drawn to look perfectly straight, etc., so cross-check drawings with other sources.
Letarouilly on Renaissance Rome: the Student’s Edition of Paul Letarouilly’s Edifices de Rome Moderne and Le Vatican et la Basilique de Saint-Pierre
Letarouilly, Paul Marie
NA1121.R6L47 1984 - Reference Collection -
Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library - 111 Stuckeman
--A useful, concise introduction to what Letarouilly’s works are about.
Rome 1748: the Pianta grande di Roma of Giambattista Nolli in facsimile; with an introductory essay by Allan Ceen
Nolli, Giambattista
G1989.24.R7N58 1991 F - Ask at Desk -
Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library - 111 Stuckeman
--The mother of all Rome maps. Enough said. See also the amazing website: http://nolli.uoregon.edu/
Ruins of Ancient Rome: the Drawings of French Architects who won the Prix de Rome, 1786-1924
Cassanelli, Roberto
NA2695.F8A25313 2002 Q - Reference Collection -
Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library - 111 Stuckeman
--These are the studies of Roman monuments carried out by French Architects in Rome at the French Academy, which served as the Ecole des Beaux-Arts’ visual “database” back in Paris. The projects are stunning, but like Letarouilly, are not always accurate reconstructions of the buildings they present, so verify.
Forma Urbis Romae
Lanciani, Rodolfo
CG1989.24.R7L3 1990 Q - Reference Collection -
Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library - 111 Stuckeman
--Set of maps showing the excavations conducted by Lanciani, the head archaeologist for the city of Rome, first published from 1893-1901. These drawings document exactly where he excavated and what was found, practically stone by stone, with line drawings identifying ancient remains, in black, in relation to “modern” streets and buildings, shown in red, with blue lines representing planned changes from his day. In addition, the Danish website: http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/290_Lanciani_Forma_Urbis_Romae.html presents Lanciani’s maps online.
The Architecture of the Roman Empire
MacDonald, William Lloyd
NA310.M2 1982 v.1 & v.2
Pattee Library Stacks 1A
--The standard introduction to Ancient Roman architecture.
Architecture in Italy, 1400-1500
Heydenreich, Ludwig Heinrich
NA1115.H49132 1996
Pattee Library Stacks 1A
Architecture in Italy 1500-1600
Lotz, Wolfgang
NA1115.L666 1995
Pattee Library Stacks 1A
--Both of these books from the Pelican series (originally one volume) provide excellent introductions to Renaissance-era architecture in Rome.
The Architecture of Modern Italy, vol 1: The Challenge of Tradition, 1750-1900
The Architecture of Modern Italy, vol 2: Visions of Utopia, 1900-Present
Kirk, Terry
NA1114.K574 2005 v.1 - General Collection -
NA1114.K574 2005 v.2 - General Collection -
Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library - 111 Stuckeman
--Kirk provides the first coherent study of Italian architecture from Neoclassicism to the present in any language.
The first volume includes concise, useful discussions of Nolli, Piranesi, and the early architecture of the newly unified
Italian Kingdom. The second volume focuses on Rome's often neglected modern and contemporary architecture.
Index to Italian Architecture: A Guide to Key Monuments and Reproduction Sources
Teague, Edward H.
NA111.T4 1992 - Reference Collection -
Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library - 111 Stuckeman
--This is not a book about Italian architecture, but a book that indexes other books that do discuss Italian architecture, and can help determine which references are relevent. The author has analyzed an extensive list of books (in code at the front), then charted certain types of information, like which books discuss any one particular building. In the “Site Index” chapter – look under “Rome”.
Rome: an Oxford Archaeological Guide to Rome
Claridge, Amanda
DG62.C53 1998 - Reference Collection -
Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library - 111 Stuckeman
--Excellent starting point for recent information about Rome’s ancient monuments.
This guide created by:
Denise R. Costanzo - 2006
updated: T. AumAn - March 2008
