Cesare Cesariano, Milanese architect and the first to prepare a translation and com-

mentary of Vitruvius published in 1521, equates ichnographia with the Latin word vesti-

gium or ‘vestige’ – a word Vitruvius uses to describe the footprints of philosopher

Aristippus and the geometrical tracings he found on the sandy beach of Rhodes after a

shipwreck (Cesariano 1521: I.XIIIv). In this way, the footprint is joined with the geomet-

rical drawing, both of which provide a sign of human presence. Cesariano clearly

included site marking as part of his understanding of ichnographia, describing the prac-

tice of laying out the site by using stakes and ropes, drawing on site in dirt and plaster

and walking a snowy site to mark out the future building’s plan (Krinsky 1965: 100).