Bolognese architect and architectural theoretician, best known for his architectural treatise, ‘The Seven Books on Architecture’, the first treatise to combine illustrations and text. Although very few buildings by him survive, his designs were nonetheless important. Their influence can be seen in both the architectural settings for Venetian paintings, especially those of Tintoretto, and in built architecture in France, the Netherlands and England, where parts of his treatise were of great importance in the spread of the Italian Renaissance style.