The architectural culture of Early Modern Europe revolved around a number of common references, which became the object of respect, admiration and intense discussion throughout the continent. These references provided not only models to be imitated – and transformed – in projects for new buildings, but also symbols acting within broader imaginaries expressed in media that could include paintings, prints, stage sets and literary texts, without forgetting scholarly enquiries led by antiquarians. The story of each of these architectural references’ cultural impact can be charted over periods covering several centuries, and constitute one of the most varied and alluring areas open to exploration within architectural history.

One of these stories is followed in the present book. It examines Early Modern Europe’s take on the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus – hailed since Antiquity as one of the Seven Wonders of the World – and considers the entire array of texts, images and architectural projects that engage with this legendary model. Much new material has been uncovered and is discussed here for the first time, while other examples – sometimes widely known, even famous – have never before been gathered and examined as part of a common thematic strand. The volume brings together an international and interdisciplinary selection of specialists from throughout Europe and North America, including archaeologists, historians, art historians and architects. It succeeds in establishing a coherent and thorough overview while opening both onto more detailed case studies and broader artistic, historical and social issues. These qualities testify just as much to the dedication and perseverance of its editors as to the distinction of the individual authors. They also reflect the stimulating exchange of knowledge and ideas that occurred during a conference organised in preparation for the present publication, which was held – I am particularly glad to write – at the Faculty of Architecture of RWTH Aachen University.

Since the volume examines architects’, painters’ and antiquarians’ takes on the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus at a time when they did not have access to the building – whose destroyed remains were only rediscovered in the nineteenth century – its afterlife raises a number of theoretical questions regarding the representation or imitation of an invisible reference. I would like to briefly address some of these issues in this foreword, by bringing in a second architectural reference, equally important to European culture: another ‘tomb of tombs’, namely the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, understood to be the site of Christ’s burial.

Although the Holy Sepulchre had not been destroyed, it was for a long time almost as unavailable and ‘invisible’ to Europeans as the Mausoleum, being known only through oral or written accounts by pilgrims. Descriptions, of course, can never reproduce objects or buildings as completely as exact drawings or photographs do, instead reducing them to a few selected features. This specificity raises important questions regarding the choices made in reports concerning the appearance of works of architecture: which of their features were considered sufficiently relevant to be included, and which were omitted? Which properties of the original building were suitable for oral transmission in the first place?

Available descriptions naturally had a bearing on the form of the numerous attempted replicas of the Holy Sepulchre that sprung up in medieval and Early Modern Europe, and which reflect different processes of imitation that can be classified into three types. Firstly, ‘selective imitation’, which rested on observers’ ability to recognise a prototype even if replicas quoted only a few of its salient features. This was especially true in medieval times, which were not yet accustomed to the exact visual reproduction enabled by the invention of printing.Footnote ¹ As pointed out by Günter Bandmann: ‘A few reminiscences are enough. The prototype is broken down into typical parts and these are regrouped in the replica.’Footnote ²

Yet the pilgrims’ descriptions made use of an entirely different method when it came to the inner core of the Holy Sepulchre, namely the rock tomb itself: here, exact measurements of length, width and height were specified. This was obviously an expression of the relic-like veneration granted to the burial site, but also – in turn – permitted the erection of replicas in Europe as ‘metric relics’ of the original, according to a process of appropriation that can be named ‘exact imitation’: it was believed that the transferral of a prototype’s dimensions onto a replica would be accompanied by a transferral of its salutary effects.Footnote ³

In addition to these methods of ‘selective’ and ‘exact’ imitation, a third strategy – named ‘topical imitation’Footnote ⁴ – can be identified. Here, the replicas’ formal properties evoke fundamental topoi or archetypal patterns of imagination. In the present case, these comprise the monolithic character of the rock tomb, the eloquent contrast of darkness and light, and the topos of the small, precious object contained in a large and rough envelope.Footnote ⁵ Each of these topoi from the Jerusalem tomb can be identified – for instance – in the powerfully theatrical rock-cut church of Aubeterre-sur-Dronne.Footnote ⁶

Most replicas of the Holy Sepulchre, of course, did not select only one of these methods of imitation, instead making simultaneous use of all three. They also revealed the somewhat paradoxical advantage conferred by an incomplete knowledge of the prototype – namely the freedom it leaves to the imagination. The resulting combination of imitation and invention (imitatio and inventio) is perhaps most eloquently expressed in Leon Battista Alberti’s Holy Sepulchre Tempietto in Florence. This structure reproduces the essential, iconic features of its prototype, yet does not simply imitate the latter, instead proceeding to intellectually reconceive it: references to the Jerusalem model, combined with elements derived from the classical tradition or from medieval Florentine decorative patterns, become the starting point for a creative take on a highly original architectural programme.Footnote ⁷

The Holy Sepulchre and its European imitations have been taken, here, as a case study for some brief theoretical observations on the reception of a prominent architectural reference. Similar questions, though with some interesting differences reflecting their individual specificities, are raised by the offspring of other illustrious buildings: this book will follow those interrogations that emerge from Early Modern engagement with the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Over the following pages, you will discover the story of this ancient Wonder’s afterlife, a fascinating read that will, I am sure, bring you much enjoyment and inspiration.