Full-scale tracings, drawn in plaster surfaces or engraved in stone walls and floors, were used frequently in Renaissance construction, in order to control the execution of ashlar masonry. In many occasions, these tracings furnished the shape of the templates used in the dressing process, either in true size or orthogonal projection.

This paper deals with the study of a rectangular plan sail vault built by brick slices in the Roman villa of Carranque in Spain in the fifth century, in the context of a research project on the constructive configuration of Mediterranean vaults of this kind. The project aims to identify technical links to trace their expansion and examine the possibilities of using this technique in present-day building practice. The case at Carranque confirms the arrival of this vaulting technique to the Iberian Peninsula prior to a possible diffusion through the Arab world. The analysis of a 3d photogrammetric model of the remains allows posing that the solution used to solve the slices meeting at the diagonal is different from Byzantine ones; the large perimetral arches were lowered, almost matching the height of the small ones, and a vertical area was placed, being arranged as if it were part of the vault itself. With this design, it is not easy to notice the rectangular form of the vault.

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