 Pacheco characterized him as "a writer of painting, sculpture and architecture".In the marginalia that El Greco inscribed in his copy of Daniele Barbaro's translation of Vitruvius' , he refuted Vitruvius' attachment to archaeological remains, canonical proportions, perspective and mathematics.He also saw Vitruvius' manner of distorting proportions in order to compensate for distance from the eye as responsible for creating monstrous forms.