1404 - 1472
Leon Battista Alberti, born in Genoa, lived in Florence and Rome where he became a secretary in the papal chancery.
As architect, painter, composer, poet and inventor Alberti was a universally educated Renaissance man.
His writings stimulated interest in antique Roman architecture. Influenced by Vitruvius, he wrote his 'Ten Books on architecture' in which he formulated fundamental building principles. He also systematized the problems of perspective for the first time.
His own designs, which include the churches of San Francesco at Rimini and San Maria Novella at Florence, are among the best examples of the pure Classical style.
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