Imitation in General

We must begin with imitation. In the full body of the classical tradition everyone understands that it is the method used to make a building, painting, or sculpture, but now it needs to be explained. “One way of interpreting the critical relevance of the ancient and Renaissance fixation on imitation is to see it as the equivalent in those times to the modern critic's and historian's fixation on influence.” ¹ Another historian called influence an “astrological metaphor.” ² Influence is so deeply entrenched in the culture of architecture that the profession's accrediting board requires students to know the influences that they must obey as they shape their works. ³