Leon Battista Alberti
Renaissance polymath who shaped art, architecture, and cryptography.
Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons
Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) was a key figure of the Italian Renaissance—a humanist who worked as an author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer. He embodied what we now call a polymath. Along with Johannes Trithemius, he is credited as a founder of European cryptography. Though often thought of mainly as an architect, art historian James Beck argued that isolating any one of Alberti’s fields from the others doesn’t help in understanding his wide-ranging work in the fine arts. Alberti was also a mathematician and made important contributions there. His most famous buildings include the churches of San Sebastiano (1460) and Sant’Andrea (1472), both in Mantua. His life appears in Giorgio Vasari’s *Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects*. Alberti was born in Genoa in 1404 to Bianca Fieschi and Lorenzo di Benedetto Alberti, a wealthy Florentine exiled from his city (he was allowed back in 1428). Alberti attended boarding school in Padua and later studied law in Bologna. After a period in Florence, he went to Rome in 1431, took holy orders, and joined the papal court. While there, he studied ancient ruins, which sparked his interest in architecture and shaped his building designs. He was tall, strong, and a skilled athlete, especially at horseback riding. As a child at school, he stood out as a writer, and by age twenty had written a play that was mistaken for a genuine Classical work. In 1435, he began his first major text, *Della pittura*, inspired by early fifteenth-century Florentine painting. In it, he analyzed painting and explored perspective, composition, and color. In 1438, he turned more toward architecture, encouraged by Marchese Leonello d’Este of Ferrara, for whom he built a small triumphal arch supporting an equestrian statue of Leonello’s father. In 1447, he became architectural advisor to Pope Nicholas V and worked on several Vatican projects. His first major architectural commission came in 1446: the façade of the Rucellai Palace in Florence. In 1450, Sigismondo Malatesta hired him to turn the Gothic church of San Francesco in Rimini into a memorial chapel, the Tempio Malatestiano. In Florence, he designed the upper façade of Santa Maria Novella, using ornate scrolls to bridge the nave and lower aisles—a solution that influenced church architecture for four centuries. In 1452, he finished *De re aedificatoria*, a treatise on architecture based on Vitruvius and ancient Roman buildings, though it wasn’t published until 1485. In 1464, he wrote *De statua*, a less influential work on sculpture. His only known sculpture is a self-portrait medallion, sometimes attributed to Pisanello. Alberti designed two churches in Mantua: San Sebastiano (never completed, so his intentions are uncertain) and the Basilica of Sant’Andrea. The latter’s design was finished in 1471, a year before his death; construction ended after he died, and it’s considered his most significant work. As an artist, Alberti stood apart from ordinary workshop-trained craftsmen. He was a humanist who studied Aristotle and Plotinus, part of a growing group of intellectuals and artists supported by noble courts. As a member of a noble family and the Roman curia, he had special status. He was a welcome guest at the Este court in Ferrara and spent time with soldier-prince Federico III da Montefeltro in Urbino, a military commander who generously funded artists. Alberti planned to dedicate his architecture treatise to him. His minor but pioneering works include an essay on cryptography, *De componendis cifris*, and the first Italian grammar. He collaborated with Florentine cosmographer Paolo Toscanelli on astronomy, a science then close to geography. He also wrote a short Latin work on geography, *Descriptio urbis Romae* (The Panorama of the City of Rome). Shortly before his death, he completed *De iciarchia* (On Ruling the Household), a dialogue about Florence under Medici rule. Alberti took holy orders and never married. He loved animals and had a pet dog, a mongrel, for which he wrote a panegyric (*Canis*). Vasari described him as “an admirable citizen, a man of culture… a friend of talented men, open and courteous with everyone. He always lived honourably and like the gentleman he was.” He died in Rome on 25 April 1472 at age 68. Alberti saw mathematics as the foundation of arts and sciences.
- born
- 14 February 1404, Genoa
- died
- 25 April 1472, Rome
- field
- Architecture, art, cryptography, mathematics, philosophy, linguistics
- nationality
- Italian
- known_for
- Founder of European cryptography; architectural treatises; design of San Sebastiano and Sant'Andrea in Mantua
Quick Facts
- Birth Date
- 14 February 1404
- Birth Place
- Genoa, Republic of Genoa
- Death Date
- df=y · 1472 · 4 · 25 · 1404 · 2 · 14
- Death Place
- Rome, Papal States
- Field
- Architecture, linguistics, poetry
- Movement
- Italian Renaissance
- Works
- Tempio Malatestiano, Palazzo Rucellai, Santa Maria Novella, Basilica of Sant'Andrea
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Alberti was born in 1404 in Genoa. His mother was Bianca Fieschi. His father, Lorenzo di Benedetto Alberti, was a wealthy Florentine who had been exiled from his own city but was allowed to return in 1428. Alberti was sent to boarding school in Padua, then studied law at Bologna. He lived for a time in Florence, then in 1431 travelled to Rome, where he took holy orders and entered the service of the papal court. During this time, he studied the ancient ruins, which excited his interest in architecture and strongly influenced the form of the buildings that he designed. He was thought to be a tall, strong athlete skilled in horseback riding. He distinguished himself as a writer while still a child at school, and by the age of twenty had written a play that was successfully passed off as a genuine piece of Classical literature. In 1435 he began his first major written work, Della pittura. In 1438, he began to focus more on architecture and was encouraged by the Marchese Leonello d'Este of Ferrara, for whom he built a small triumphal arch to support an equestrian statue of Leonello's father. In 1447 Alberti became architectural advisor to Pope Nicholas V and was involved in several projects at the Vatican. His first major architectural commission was in 1446 for the façade of the Rucellai Palace in Florence. This was followed in 1450 by a commission from Sigismondo Malatesta to transform the Gothic church of San Francesco in Rimini into a memorial chapel, the Tempio Malatestiano. In Florence, he designed the upper parts of the façade for the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella. In 1452, he completed De re aedificatoria, a treatise on architecture. It was followed in 1464 by his less influential work, De statua. Alberti's only known sculpture is a self-portrait medallion, sometimes attributed to Pisanello. Alberti was employed to design two churches in Mantua, San Sebastiano (1460) and the Basilica of Sant'Andrea (1472). The design for Sant'Andrea was completed in 1471, a year before Alberti's death; the construction was completed after his death and is considered as his most significant work. Alberti took holy orders and never married. He loved animals and had a pet dog, a mongrel, about whom he wrote a panegyric. Alberti died in Rome on 25 April 1472 at the age of 68.
Reader's Guide
Alberti considered mathematics as the foundation of arts and sciences. In Della pittura (also known in Latin as De Pictura), he relied on the study of classical optics to approach perspective. His knowledge of optics was connected to the tradition of Alhazen, transmitted by Franciscan optical workshops. In both Della pittura and De statua, Alberti stressed that all steps of learning should be sought from nature. The ultimate aim of an artist is to imitate nature, but the artist should be especially attentive to beauty. Beauty was for Alberti 'the harmony of all parts in relation to one another.' His detailed observations in De re aedificatoria were inspired by Vitruvius. The work was the first architectural treatise of the Renaissance. Alberti also wrote I Libri della famiglia in the Tuscan dialect. Among his minor but pioneering studies were an essay on cryptography, De componendis cifris, and the first Italian grammar. He collaborated with Paolo Toscanelli in astronomy and wrote a small Latin work on geography, Descriptio urbis Romae. Just a few years before his death, Alberti completed De iciarchia (On Ruling the Household), a dialogue about Florence during the Medici rule.
Did You Know?
- Alberti was a cryptographer and is considered a founder of European cryptography, along with Johannes Trithemius.
- He wrote a play by age twenty that was successfully passed off as a genuine piece of Classical literature.
- Alberti's only known sculpture is a self-portrait medallion, sometimes attributed to Pisanello.
- He loved animals and wrote a panegyric for his pet dog, a mongrel.
Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)
"Anche le persone ben sensate, quando voglion penetrare i secreti Divini, si fanno simili a i bambini." — Leon Battista Alberti "Even sensible people, when they attempt to penetrate the secrets of the Divinity, become as little children." — Leon Battista Alberti "Favole, "Il Fanciullo, i Raggi del Sole, e l'Ombra" — Leon Battista Alberti "È necessario di conoscere il forte ed il debole del suo nemico, prima di venir con esso a cimento." — Leon Battista Alberti
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