维特鲁威的《建筑十书》,从文艺复兴时期以来一直被看作是有关古典建筑的权威观点。其对建筑学的六个概念:秩序、布置、协调、比例、得体和经营的规定.实际来源于当时盛行的修辞学。例如“得体”,便经历过希波克拉底、亚里士多德和西塞罗分别在各自著述中的阐发和运用。维特鲁威援用了古典拉丁文学中成熟的批评范畴来表述对建筑的审美评价,并将之确立为造型艺术的风格批评标准。《建筑十书》由此也成为了艺术批评术语的文献来源。
Vitruvirus s The Ten Books on Architecture has been set as the authentic notions on ancient architecture since Renaissance. Its six concepts of order, arrangement, eurythmy, symmetry, propriety and economy, were actually borrowed from then current rhetorics. For the concept of decorum, has been explained and illuminated by Hippocrates, Aristotle and Cicero in their writings. In fact, Vitruvirus has employed then sophisticated categories in ancient Latin literature to express his esthetic judgments on architecture, and eventually set them as the criteria for artistic style. Thus The Ten Books on Architecture has become the literal sources of terminology in art criticism.