On Architecture
Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius Pollio, creator; Morgan, M. H. (Morris Hicky), 1859-1910, translator
1. THE design of a temple depends on symmetry, the principles of which must be most carefully observed by the architect. They are due to proportion, in Greek a)nalogi/a. Proportion is a correspondence among the measures of the members of an entire work, and of the whole to a certain part selected as standard. From this result the principles of symmetry. Without symmetry and proportion there can be no principles in the design of any temple; that is, if there is no precise relation between its members, as in the case of those of a well shaped man.