Mathes Roriczer

Mathes Roriczer, also Matthäus Roritzer (approximate dates 1435–1495), was a 15th-century German architect and author of several surviving booklets on medieval architectural design.

Born into a family of master builders, Roriczer progressed to the position of master builder of cathedrals, or ''Baudommeister'' and in this role contributed to the Regensburg and Eichstätt Cathedrals, and St. Lorenz Church of Nuremberg. While in Regensburg he printed broadsheets and also published several of his own works. It is one of his texts, ''Büchlein von der Fialen Gerechtigkeit'' or ''Booklet Concerning Pinnacle Correctitude,'' that is sometimes credited with revealing the craft secrets of the German medieval master masons. It is more likely that no such secrecy existed, and that the scarcity of contemporary writing combined with the rules that prevented masons from working for a non-trained builder have given this erroneous impression.

There exists a portrait of Mathes Roriczer by Hans Holbein the Elder. Provided by Wikipedia