Leon Battista Alberti
Renaissance polymath who shaped art, architecture, and cryptography.
Leon Battista Alberti · via Wikipedia: Leon Battista Alberti · CC0
He was a tall, strong athlete skilled in horseback riding and distinguished himself as a writer while still a child at school.[1] European cryptography's founding is credited to both Alberti and Johannes Trithemius.[2]
Quick Facts
- Born
- 14 February 1404
- Birthplace
- Genoa, Republic of Genoa
- Died
- 25 April 1472
- Place of death
- Rome, Papal States
- Field
- Architecture
- linguistics
- poetry
- Movement
- Italian Renaissance
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
After a period in Florence, he went to Rome in 1431, was ordained, and began working for the papal court.[3] While in Rome, his examination of ancient ruins sparked an architectural interest that shaped his later building designs.[3] The Rucellai Palace in Florence received its façade in 1446, marking Alberti's first major architectural commission.[4] In Mantua, Alberti designed San Sebastiano (1460) and Sant'Andrea (1472).[5]
Alberti died in Rome on 25 April 1472 at age 68.[6]
What the cited sources add
The Treccani encyclopedia notes that Alberti made optical experiments with mirrors and the camera obscura that amazed his friends.[7] He wrote a work on the education of horses, De equo animante, dedicated to Leonello d'Este in 1441.[7] He later declared it his own work, dedicating it to Leonello d'Este.[7] The Treccani source also records that Alberti suffered a period of bitterness due to family disputes over patrimony and inheritance.[7]
He wrote the vernacular work Teogenio to console himself in his adverse fortunes, sending it to Leonello d'Este in 1441 to console him on his father's death.[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Leon Battista Alberti" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jacob Burckhardt in The Civilization of the Renaissance Italy, 2.1, 1860.; Melissa Snell, Leon Battsta Alberti , About.com: Medieval History. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Leon Battista Alberti" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Leeuw, "The History of Information Security: A Comprehensive Handbook", Elsevier, 28 August 2007, p. 283; Holden, "The Mathematics of Secrets: Cryptography from Caesar Ciphers to Digital Encryption", Princeton University Press, 2 October 2018 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Leon Battista Alberti" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Treccani encyclopedia, Leon Battista Alberti; Melissa Snell, Leon Battsta Alberti , About.com: Medieval History.; The Renaissance: a Illustrated Encyclopedia, Octopus (1979); The Renaissance: a Illustrated Encyclopedia, Octopus (1979) (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Leon Battista Alberti" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: The Renaissance: a Illustrated Encyclopedia, Octopus (1979); Joseph Rykwert, ed., Leon Baptiste Alberti, Architectul Design, Vol 49 No 5-6, London (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Leon Battista Alberti" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Williams, "The Mathematical Works of Leon Battista Alberti", Birkhauser Verlag AG, August 27, 2010, p. 1; Norwich, "Oxford Illustrated Encyclopedia Of The Arts", Oxford University Press, 1990, p. 11 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Leon Battista Alberti" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Vasari, The Lives of the Artists (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Treccani encyclopedia, Leon Battista Alberti. facts only, no text reused. treccani.it
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Leon Battista Alberti (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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