ALBERTI, Leon Battista

Giovanni Rucellai (1403-1481), head of the Rucellai family of bankers, commissioned Leon Battista Alberti to build a chapel on the side of the church of San Pancrazio (the only part still consecrated today), which was finished in 1467. This includes the notable tempietto del Santo Sepolcro (Small temple of the Holy Sepulchre, inspired by the church of the same name in Jerusalem), also by Alberti, covered by polychrome marbles and tarsias.

The many Roman buildings derived from Alberti’s innovations create a link between Alberti and the more grandiose Rome of the High Renaissance and the Baroque. Interestingly enough, none of the architects of these Roman buildings has been securely identified. The courtyard of the Palazzo Venezia in Rome, built after 1455, at a time when Alberti was still connected with the papal court, imitates the arcades and engaged columns of such nearby Roman buildings as the Colosseum and the Theater of Marcellus.

This courtyard was designed by an architect from Alberti’s circle.

The centrally planned church became a significant development of the Renaissance, evolving throughout the 15th century and reaching maturity in the 16th. Alberti described the circle as the perfect shape in Nature and its derivations - rectangular and polygonal - as ideal for the ‘temple’ or church (De re aedificatoria IV). Alberti himself employed the Greek-cross plan, at San Sebastiano (from 1460), Mantua, possibly derived from such Early Christian tombs as that of Galla Placidia, Ravenna.

Alberti’s most influential designs were in Mantua, for the churches of San Sebastiano (begun 1460) and Sant’Andrea (begun 1472), built under the patronage of the 2nd Marchese, Ludovico II Gonzaga.

Ludovico commissioned the building of San Sebastiano as part of a scheme of urban renewal that he had decided upon following criticism of Mantua by Pope Pius II, who had attended a Church Congress there in 1459. Ludovico’s choosing Alberti as his architect reflected his desire to modernize the city according to the new classical taste.

The church was constructed in two phases in the Renaissance and remodeled in the twentieth century. Luca Fancelli, a Tuscan-born architect and sculptor who worked in Mantua for the Gonzaga family for 35 years, supervised the construction of San Sebastiano from 1460 until construction ceased in 1479, the year after Ludovico’s death. In 1499, after a twenty-year pause, the church’s completion was assigned to a local architect who was neither aware of the original design nor understood the new principles of architectural design. An exterior staircase was added to the left side at that time. In 1925, steps running perpendicular to the fa�ade were added to the end bays, and much of the interior was reconstructed when the church was renovated as a war memorial.

Little remains of Alberti’s work apart from the plan, which is considered one of the earliest and most significant examples of centrally-planned Renaissance churches. The plan is in the shape of a Greek cross, with three identical arms centring apses, under a central cross-vaulted space without any interior partitions. The church sits on a ground-level crypt which was intended to serve as a mausoleum for the Gonzaga family. The complete absence of columns in the fa�ade signified a decisive turning-point in Alberti’s interpretation of architecture, moving beyond his statements in De Re Aedificatoria where he considered the column the noblest ornament of building.

The photo shows the fa�ade in the actual state.

View the ground plan of the church.

The centrally planned church became a significant development of the Renaissance, evolving throughout the 15th century and reaching maturity in the 16th. Alberti described the circle as the perfect shape in Nature and its derivations — rectangular and polygonal — as ideal for the ‘temple’ or church (De re aedificatoria IV). Alberti himself employed the Greek-cross plan, at San Sebastiano (from 1460), Mantua, possibly derived from such Early Christian tombs as that of Galla Placidia, Ravenna.

Alberti’s most influential designs were in Mantua, for the churches of San Sebastiano (begun 1460) and Sant’Andrea (begun 1472), built under the patronage of the 2nd Marchese, Ludovico II Gonzaga.

Ludovico commissioned the building of San Sebastiano as part of a scheme of urban renewal that he had decided upon following criticism of Mantua by Pope Pius II, who had attended a Church Congress there in 1459. Ludovico’s choosing Alberti as his architect reflected his desire to modernize the city according to the new classical taste.

The church was constructed in two phases in the Renaissance and remodeled in the twentieth century. Luca Fancelli, a Tuscan-born architect and sculptor who worked in Mantua for the Gonzaga family for 35 years, supervised the construction of San Sebastiano from 1460 until construction ceased in 1479, the year after Ludovico’s death. In 1499, after a twenty-year pause, the church’s completion was assigned to a local architect who was neither aware of the original design nor understood the new principles of architectural design. An exterior staircase was added to the left side at that time. In 1925, steps running perpendicular to the fa�ade were added to the end bays, and much of the interior was reconstructed when the church was renovated as a war memorial.

Little remains of Alberti’s work apart from the plan, which is considered one of the earliest and most significant examples of centrally-planned Renaissance churches. The plan is in the shape of a Greek cross, with three identical arms centring apses, under a central cross-vaulted space without any interior partitions. The church sits on a ground-level crypt which was intended to serve as a mausoleum for the Gonzaga family. The complete absence of columns in the fa�ade signified a decisive turning-point in Alberti’s interpretation of architecture, moving beyond his statements in De Re Aedificatoria where he considered the column the noblest ornament of building.

The photo shows the fa�ade in the actual state.

View the ground plan of the church.

The centrally planned church became a significant development of the Renaissance, evolving throughout the 15th century and reaching maturity in the 16th. Alberti described the circle as the perfect shape in Nature and its derivations — rectangular and polygonal — as ideal for the ‘temple’ or church (De re aedificatoria IV). Alberti himself employed the Greek-cross plan, at San Sebastiano (from 1460), Mantua, possibly derived from such Early Christian tombs as that of Galla Placidia, Ravenna.

Alberti’s most influential designs were in Mantua, for the churches of San Sebastiano (begun 1460) and Sant’Andrea (begun 1472), built under the patronage of the 2nd Marchese, Ludovico II Gonzaga.

Ludovico commissioned the building of San Sebastiano as part of a scheme of urban renewal that he had decided upon following criticism of Mantua by Pope Pius II, who had attended a Church Congress there in 1459. Ludovico’s choosing Alberti as his architect reflected his desire to modernize the city according to the new classical taste.

The church was constructed in two phases in the Renaissance and remodeled in the twentieth century. Luca Fancelli, a Tuscan-born architect and sculptor who worked in Mantua for the Gonzaga family for 35 years, supervised the construction of San Sebastiano from 1460 until construction ceased in 1479, the year after Ludovico’s death. In 1499, after a twenty-year pause, the church’s completion was assigned to a local architect who was neither aware of the original design nor understood the new principles of architectural design. An exterior staircase was added to the left side at that time. In 1925, steps running perpendicular to the fa�ade were added to the end bays, and much of the interior was reconstructed when the church was renovated as a war memorial.

Little remains of Alberti’s work apart from the plan, which is considered one of the earliest and most significant examples of centrally-planned Renaissance churches. The plan is in the shape of a Greek cross, with three identical arms centring apses, under a central cross-vaulted space without any interior partitions. The church sits on a ground-level crypt which was intended to serve as a mausoleum for the Gonzaga family. The complete absence of columns in the fa�ade signified a decisive turning-point in Alberti’s interpretation of architecture, moving beyond his statements in De Re Aedificatoria where he considered the column the noblest ornament of building.

The photo shows the fa�ade in the actual state.

View the ground plan of the church.

The very large church of the Santa Maria Novella was the first important and independent church in truly Italian style. Its construction began in about 1246 for the Dominican Order. The exact dates of the various parts of the church are still controversial but it certainly took a very long time to build it. The nave was not begun until 1279, and the fa�ade, began in 1310, was not finished until 1470. Nevertheless, the interior and the plan make it the most important church of its date.

The very large church of the Santa Maria Novella was the first important and independent church in truly Italian style. Its construction began in about 1246 for the Dominican Order. The exact dates of the various parts of the church are still controversial but it certainly took a very long time to build it. The nave was not begun until 1279, and the fa�ade, began in 1310, was not finished until 1470. Nevertheless, the interior and the plan make it the most important church of its date.

Alberti furnished the design for the fa�ade of the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. The white-and-green marble structure is the only Florentine church fa�ade on a grand scale to be built during the Renaissance. In its basic design Alberti followed the Romanesque but classicising fa�ade of San Miniato al Monte, a church overlooking Florence, and divided the structure into an arcaded lower story surmounted by a temple design of pilasters crowned by a pediment. It is here that we see the name of the patron (Giovanni Ruccelai) in huge Roman capitals. Between the two stories he inserted a mezzanine that serves as an attic for one floor and a base for the other. Alberti framed the second-story temple on either side by large volutes, an ingenious solution to a problem that had perplexed designers of basilica fa�ades for a millennium: how to unite a narrow upper story with a wider lower story and at the same time mask the sloping roofs of the side aisles.

When Alberti received this commission, he apparently had to keep two Gothic elements: the side portals of an earlier design and six pointed-arched tomb niches, three to either side of the main door, He absorbed these into his Renaissance design by enclosing the niches within a round-arched blind arcade and by repeating their horizontal green-and-white banding in the pilasters on both levels.

Giovanni Rucellai (1403-1481), head of the Rucellai family of bankers, commissioned Leon Battista Alberti to build a chapel on the side of the church of San Pancrazio (the only part still consecrated today), which was finished in 1467. This includes the notable tempietto del Santo Sepolcro (Small temple of the Holy Sepulchre, inspired by the church of the same name in Jerusalem), also by Alberti, covered by polychrome marbles and tarsias.

The fa�ade of the Palazzo Ruccelai is a strikingly original contribution to the history of Renaissance palace design. The fa�ade’s general principles were followed in many other buildings, some actually built, others merely designed. The basic elements are a rusticated three-story building with an entrance portal and high, square windows on the ground floor, mullioned windows on the second and third, and a massive cornice. The three stories are of equal height, and the rustication is identical in all three stories.

According to ancient Roman practice, Ionic was placed above Doric, and Corinthian above Ionic, thus the ground story of Palazzo Ruccelai is Doric (or Tuscan) and the third Corinthian. The second story displays graceful capitals of Alberti’s invention composed of acanthus leaves grouped about a central palmette, a fitting intermediate stage between Doric and Corinthian.

The palace belonged to a wealthy Florentine merchant, Giovanni Ruccelai.

The fa�ade of the Palazzo Ruccelai is a strikingly original contribution to the history of Renaissance palace design. The fa�ade’s general principles were followed in many other buildings, some actually built, others merely designed. The basic elements are a rusticated three-story building with an entrance portal and high, square windows on the ground floor, mullioned windows on the second and third, and a massive cornice. The three stories are of equal height, and the rustication is identical in all three stories.

According to ancient Roman practice, Ionic was placed above Doric, and Corinthian above Ionic, thus the ground story of Palazzo Ruccelai is Doric (or Tuscan) and the third Corinthian. The second story displays graceful capitals of Alberti’s invention composed of acanthus leaves grouped about a central palmette, a fitting intermediate stage between Doric and Corinthian.

The palace belonged to a wealthy Florentine merchant, Giovanni Ruccelai.

The picture shows a detail of the wall base.

In 1470 Alberti produced designs for the basilica of Sant’Andrea in the centre of Mantua. The site was particularly important to Ludovico Gonzaga (1412-1478), marquis of the city, because it stood close by the Gonzaga palace and contained a relic, the supposed Blood of Christ.

Alberti’s design for the fa�ade of Sant’Andrea, like that of the Rimini Temple for Sigismondo Malatesta, draws its inspiration from Roman triumphal arches, but the Mantuan church takes the idea much further, its design at once more monumental and more complex, adapting a classical form rather than seeking to replicate it. The huge central arch of the exterior portico, with its coffered barrel vault, prefigures the height and vault of the nave. It is flanked by proportionately smaller openings, which also correspond to the church’s internal structure, and by a giant order of paired Corinthian pilasters. Their smooth surface complements the richly coffered surfaces of the arch, while their height helps to unify the different levels of the composition. A boldly framed triangular pediment crowns the fa�ade.

Inside the church Alberti provides excellent visibility of the high altar and its sacred relic, creating a broad, single-aisled space covered with a 18 m wide coffered barrel vault, notably the largest since classical times. To support it, he followed Roman precedent, using not columns but huge piers, between which he placed side chapels.

Alberti’s careful coordination of elements throughout the entire structure, interior and exterior alike, gave Ludovico Gonzaga the distinction of being patron of the first truly monumental, classicising structure of the fifteenth century.

Of all Alberti’s buildings, perhaps Sant’Andrea is the one that best fulfills the following statement by Alberti on the desirable balance between decoration and structure:

“One thing above all which a temple should have, in my opinion, is that all its visible qualities should be of such a kind that it is difficult to judge whether … they contribute more to its grace and aptness or to its stability.”

View the ground plan of Sant’Andrea, Mantua.

In 1470 Alberti produced designs for the basilica of Sant’Andrea in the centre of Mantua. The site was particularly important to Ludovico Gonzaga (1412-1478), marquis of the city, because it stood close by the Gonzaga palace and contained a relic, the supposed Blood of Christ.

Alberti’s design for the fa�ade of Sant’Andrea, like that of the Rimini Temple for Sigismondo Malatesta, draws its inspiration from Roman triumphal arches, but the Mantuan church takes the idea much further, its design at once more monumental and more complex, adapting a classical form rather than seeking to replicate it. The huge central arch of the exterior portico, with its coffered barrel vault, prefigures the height and vault of the nave. It is flanked by proportionately smaller openings, which also correspond to the church’s internal structure, and by a giant order of paired Corinthian pilasters. Their smooth surface complements the richly coffered surfaces of the arch, while their height helps to unify the different levels of the composition. A boldly framed triangular pediment crowns the fa�ade.

Inside the church Alberti provides excellent visibility of the high altar and its sacred relic, creating a broad, single-aisled space covered with a 18 m wide coffered barrel vault, notably the largest since classical times. To support it, he followed Roman precedent, using not columns but huge piers, between which he placed side chapels.

Alberti’s careful coordination of elements throughout the entire structure, interior and exterior alike, gave Ludovico Gonzaga the distinction of being patron of the first truly monumental, classicising structure of the fifteenth century.

Of all Alberti’s buildings, perhaps Sant’Andrea is the one that best fulfills the following statement by Alberti on the desirable balance between decoration and structure:

“One thing above all which a temple should have, in my opinion, is that all its visible qualities should be of such a kind that it is difficult to judge whether … they contribute more to its grace and aptness or to its stability.”

In 1470 Alberti produced designs for the basilica of Sant’Andrea in the centre of Mantua. The site was particularly important to Ludovico Gonzaga (1412-1478), marquis of the city, because it stood close by the Gonzaga palace and contained a relic, the supposed Blood of Christ.

Inside the church Alberti provides excellent visibility of the high altar and its sacred relic, creating a broad, single-aisled space covered with a 18 m wide coffered barrel vault, notably the largest since classical times. To support it, he followed Roman precedent, using not columns but huge piers, between which he placed side chapels.

Alberti’s careful coordination of elements throughout the entire structure, interior and exterior alike, gave Ludovico Gonzaga the distinction of being patron of the first truly monumental, classicising structure of the fifteenth century.

View the ground plan of Sant’Andrea, Mantua.

In 1470 Alberti produced designs for the basilica of Sant’Andrea in the centre of Mantua. The site was particularly important to Ludovico Gonzaga (1412-1478), marquis of the city, because it stood close by the Gonzaga palace and contained a relic, the supposed Blood of Christ.

Inside the church Alberti provides excellent visibility of the high altar and its sacred relic, creating a broad, single-aisled space covered with a 18 m wide coffered barrel vault, notably the largest since classical times. To support it, he followed Roman precedent, using not columns but huge piers, between which he placed side chapels.

Alberti’s careful coordination of elements throughout the entire structure, interior and exterior alike, gave Ludovico Gonzaga the distinction of being patron of the first truly monumental, classicising structure of the fifteenth century.

View the ground plan of Sant’Andrea, Mantua.

Alberti’s first appearance in Florence was in 1434, the year of Cosimo de’ Medici’s return from exile. It was apparently during his time in Florence that Alberti executed a large self-portrait medal in bronze. He shows himself in strict profile, wearing a classical cloak, as indicated by the knot, and a severe haircut based on classical models. Alberti was clearly in the vanguard of artistic developments, for this is one of the earliest, if not the earliest, of Renaissance portrait medals, and also the first independent self-portrait by a Renaissance artist and the first to show the artist dressed in the antique style.

The winged eye to the left is Alberti’s emblem; the L. Bap. to the right, which is framed by two smaller eyes, refers to his name.

In 1450 Alberti was given an opportunity to put his classical ideas into visible form in an ambitious structure, the San Francesco in Rimini, called Tempio Malatestiano, that, although unfinished, is known today through a medal by Matteo de’ Pasti.

In its curvilinear silhouette the fa�ade has no parallel in either Florence or Rome and in this respect is sometimes regarded as an innovation. However, medieval fa�ades of similar shape are in fact relatively common in North Italy, where Alberti had spent his youth. In the precise arrangement of the lower storey, with arches on piers, applied half-columns and roundels in the spandrels, the design is directly dependent on the nearby ancient Arch of Augustus, thus establishing a parallel between antiquity in Rimini and its revival there under Sigismondo Malatesta. Its triumphal associations are presumably deliberate and would refer both to the Christian idea of life triumphant over death and to the Classical idea of fame triumphant over oblivion. The arcaded system of the fa�ade is continued along the sides of the building, although without the half-column articulation. This difference establishes an appropriate architectural distinction between fa�ade and side elevation.

View the axonometric drawing of the planned Tempio Malatestiano, Rimini.

In 1450 Alberti was given an opportunity to put his classical ideas into visible form in an ambitious structure, the San Francesco in Rimini, called Tempio Malatestiano, that, although unfinished, is known today through a medal by Matteo de’ Pasti.

In its curvilinear silhouette the fa�ade has no parallel in either Florence or Rome and in this respect is sometimes regarded as an innovation. However, medieval fa�ades of similar shape are in fact relatively common in North Italy, where Alberti had spent his youth. In the precise arrangement of the lower storey, with arches on piers, applied half-columns and roundels in the spandrels, the design is directly dependent on the nearby ancient Arch of Augustus, thus establishing a parallel between antiquity in Rimini and its revival there under Sigismondo Malatesta. Its triumphal associations are presumably deliberate and would refer both to the Christian idea of life triumphant over death and to the Classical idea of fame triumphant over oblivion. The arcaded system of the fa�ade is continued along the sides of the building, although without the half-column articulation. This difference establishes an appropriate architectural distinction between fa�ade and side elevation.

View the axonometric drawing of the planned Tempio Malatestiano, Rimini.

In 1450 Alberti was given an opportunity to put his classical ideas into visible form in an ambitious structure, the San Francesco in Rimini, called Tempio Malatestiano, that, although unfinished, is known today through a medal by Matteo de’ Pasti.

In its curvilinear silhouette the fa�ade has no parallel in either Florence or Rome and in this respect is sometimes regarded as an innovation. However, medieval fa�ades of similar shape are in fact relatively common in North Italy, where Alberti had spent his youth. In the precise arrangement of the lower storey, with arches on piers, applied half-columns and roundels in the spandrels, the design is directly dependent on the nearby ancient Arch of Augustus, thus establishing a parallel between antiquity in Rimini and its revival there under Sigismondo Malatesta. Its triumphal associations are presumably deliberate and would refer both to the Christian idea of life triumphant over death and to the Classical idea of fame triumphant over oblivion. The arcaded system of the fa�ade is continued along the sides of the building, although without the half-column articulation. This difference establishes an appropriate architectural distinction between fa�ade and side elevation.

Alberti’s ideas for the completion of the building are known only in outline. The frontal part of the church would have been vaulted in wood, an idea probably again inspired by ecclesiastical architecture in northern Italy, and particularly that of the Veneto region. The domed rotunda intended for the east end was presumably inspired by ancient prototypes. Its diameter, as indicated by the image on the foundation medal, would have been the same as the fa�ade’s. Its height, as again indicated by the medal, would have been only a little more than the diameter, presumably on the model of the Pantheon.

The picture shows a drawing of the planned building (only partially executed).

The Tempietto has 30 ornamental motifs, each set in its own green marble square, which recall the decoration of the fa�ade of Santa Maria Novella.