Graphic and Constructive Resources in the Manuscript “Secretos de Arquitectura”

Secretos de Arquitectura (Secrets of Architecture) is the title of a brief manuscript treatise from the 18th century that is preserved in the city of Xàtiva (near Valencia, Spain). This work constitutes a late example of the great dissemination of stonemasonry treatises in the Hispanic world (16th–18th centuries), and consists of a collection of traces with complementary texts (42 in total), many of them coming from authors and previous sources. Some authors, mainly in the field of art history, have noted the importance of the work, and have even carried out approximate studies, but to date no complete critical study of the manuscript has been carried out from an architectural point of view. On the other hand, there is a singular aspect of the treaty that deserves attention: the direct relationship of some parts of its content with the construction of the main Church of the city of Xàtiva,de Colegiata. The article is divided into two blocks: To begin with, it presents the main issues that place the manuscript in its historical context: authorship, origin of the traces, and used source. In addition, it presents the study of graphic and constructive procedures. That is, the study of the systems, ways and graphic tools used by the author, and the appli-cations to the constructive field. The relationship of all these procedures shown in the manuscript with the context of Hispanic stonemasonry, local construction, and the construction of the Colegiata of Xàtiva is also stated in the article. This last case is especially important, since it gives a specifically practical dimension to the manuscript, relating it not only to architectural typologies, but to actual work. The article ends with a brief reflection on the theoretical and practical nature of the work, and its possible constructive purpose. On the one hand, the format of the manuscript is inserted in the classical Spanish tradition. On the other hand, it participates in the tradition of the 18th century, which presents the traces as mathematical prob-lems (giving predominance to the theoretical character). And finally, the links of the manuscript with built works are evident. This, therefore, requires approaching the analysis from a dual perspective: both practical and theoretical.