Leon Battista Alberti
Leon Battista Alberti was born on the 14th of February 1404 in Genoa. His father, Lorenzo di Benedetto Alberti, was a wealthy Florentine who had been exiled from his own city. This exile shaped the early years of the family before they were allowed to return in 1428. Alberti attended boarding school in Padua and later studied law at Bologna. He lived for a time in Florence before traveling to Rome in 1431. There he took holy orders and entered the service of the papal court. During this period he studied ancient ruins which excited his interest in architecture. These observations strongly influenced the form of the buildings that he would design decades later.
In 1452 Alberti completed a treatise on architecture titled De re aedificatoria. It used as its basis the work of Vitruvius and was influenced by ancient Roman buildings. The book covered subjects ranging from history to town planning and engineering to aesthetics. Although written in Latin it was not published until 1485. After publication it became a major reference for architects. Pope Nicholas V received the dedication of the whole work. He dreamed of rebuilding the city of Rome but managed to realize only a fragment of his visionary plans. Through his book Alberti opened up his theories and ideals of the Florentine Renaissance to architects scholars and others. The text was intended not only for craftsmen but also for anyone interested in the noble arts.
Alberti began his first major written work Della pittura in 1435. This treatise relied on the study of classical optics to approach perspective in artistic and architectural representations. An Italian translation of the work appeared in 1436 one year after the original Latin version. The Latin version had been dedicated to his humanist patron Gianfrancesco Gonzaga of Mantua. In the preface he addressed Filippo Brunelleschi directly. Alberti developed the concept of the Albertian Window which is a foundational concept in the development of linear perspective. His ideas on harmony traced back to Pythagoras but he set them in a fresh context fitting well with contemporary aesthetic discourse. He argued that beauty is as pleasing as it is necessary in painting.
Among Alberti's minor but pioneering studies was an essay on cryptography titled De componendis cifris. He invented the first polyalphabetic cipher now known as the Alberti cipher. This invention included machine-assisted encryption using his Cipher Disk. Cryptography historian David Kahn called him the Father of Western Cryptography. Kahn pointed to three significant advances attributed to Alberti: the earliest Western exposition of cryptanalysis, the invention of polyalphabetic substitution, and the invention of enciphered code. The polyalphabetic cipher was at least in principle the most significant advance in cryptography since classical times. It remained unused properly for several hundred years despite its theoretical power.
Alberti wrote I Libri della famiglia which discussed education marriage household management and money. The work was written in the Tuscan dialect but not printed until 1843. He gave the work to his family to read but confessed in his autobiography that he felt rage when seeing some relatives ridicule both the whole work and his futile enterprise. Momus written between 1443 and 1450 was a notable comedy about Olympian deities. Jupiter has been identified in some sources as Pope Eugenius IV and Pope Nicholas V. Alberti borrowed many characters from Lucian one of his favorite Greek writers. The name of its hero Momus refers to the Greek word for blame or criticism. After being expelled from heaven Momus is eventually castrated while Jupiter and other deities return to heaven after breaking their noses in a great storm.
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Common questions
When was Leon Battista Alberti born and where?
Leon Battista Alberti was born on the 14th of February 1404 in Genoa. His father Lorenzo di Benedetto Alberti was a wealthy Florentine who had been exiled from his own city.
What major architectural treatise did Leon Battista Alberti write and when was it published?
Leon Battista Alberti completed De re aedificatoria in 1452 but the book was not published until 1843. The work used Vitruvius as its basis and covered subjects ranging from history to town planning and engineering to aesthetics.
How did Leon Battista Alberti contribute to the development of linear perspective?
Leon Battista Alberti developed the concept of the Albertian Window which is a foundational concept in the development of linear perspective. He wrote Della pittura in 1435 relying on classical optics to approach perspective in artistic and architectural representations.
Why is Leon Battista Alberti considered the Father of Western Cryptography?
Cryptography historian David Kahn called him the Father of Western Cryptography for inventing the first polyalphabetic cipher now known as the Alberti cipher. This invention included machine-assisted encryption using his Cipher Disk and represented the most significant advance in cryptography since classical times.
Who were the patrons and dedicatees of Leon Battista Alberti's works?
The Latin version of Della pittura had been dedicated to his humanist patron Gianfrancesco Gonzaga of Mantua while Pope Nicholas V received the dedication of De re aedificatoria. Pope Eugenius IV has been identified in some sources as Jupiter in Momus written between 1443 and 1450.