Tempio Malatestiano: Original plan

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).