THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE

18AATC106
IV Semester

Ar. Divya Sharma

Assistant Professor
School of Architecture
 LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI
February 14 -1404 to April 20, 1472 (aged 68) Rome.
Genova, Italy
Nationality : Italian
Field : Architecture, Linguistics, Poetry.
Movement : Italian Renaissance.
School : Humanist Gasparino Barzizza in Padua
Degree : 1421 University of Bologna
Latin Comedy
Travelled to Rome
Master of Latin & Italian Alberti rewrote in Latin traditional lives of Saints & Martyrs.
After taking holy orders, he was deemed to hold the priorate of San Martino
Alberti served also as a Papal inspector of monuments in 1447-55
In the mid of 1430’s, Alberti moved to Florence with Pope Eugenius IV
In 1431 and early 1432 he accompanied Cardinal Alberti on a tour of northern Europe
Index for an Archeological map of Rome.
He composed the first three books of Della Famiglia
Concerned with Domestic life & Education of children
 Humanist Philosopher,
writer, Renaissance architect
and artistic theorist, LEON
BATTISTA ALBERTI is
considered by many scholars
to be UNIVERSAL MAN
OF LEARNING

Universal Man of Learning

Wrote the first book on Italian Grammar and a ground breaking work on
Cryptography. He is credited with inventing the Cypher Wheel
Cryptography
Alberti never received a formal architectural education. His
architectural ideas were the product of his own studies and research.
 He emphatically declares the importance
of painting as a base for architecture.

1435
1450 his Theoretical Masterpiece
 New Principles by Alberti

Alberti drew upon the principles of Geometry and balance to

describe an artificial system of Perspective a term whose etymology
reveals its origins in Renaissance efforts to “ See Through” the
picture plane.
 New Principles by Alberti

Alberti even prescribes the most pleasing way to depict branches, leaves, hair
and clothing when a gentle breeze is blowing.
Alberti’s treatise was an immediate success, and the
author quickly made a translation from his original Latin
into Italian to reach a still larger audience of academics,
patrons and artists
Alberti’s grounding of Renaissance architecture established the theoretical focus of the next
four centuries.

 Imitation of nature

 Emphasis on its social or cultural importance

 Definition of it as a professional discipline

 Pre-eminence placed on beauty and harmonic proportions

Renaissance style place emphasis on

Symmetry
Proportion
Geometry
Regularity of parts
Renaissance style place emphasis on

Orderly arrangements of columns, Pilasters and Lintels

Use of semicircular arches, hemispherical domes and niches replaced the

more complex proportional systems and irregular profiles of medieval
buildings
Work of Architecture

Gothic church of S.Francesco ,1450

 Work of Architecture

Tempio Malatestiano , Rimini 1450 was the first building that Alberti designed and
attempted to build based on his architectural principals
 Work of Architecture

The façade of Santa Maria Novella(1458-71) is considered his greatest achievement

 Work of Architecture

The only buildings Alberti designed entirely him, were S.Sebastiano 1460
 Work of Architecture

The unfinished Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini

was the first building that Alberti designed and
attempted to build based on his architectural
principles.

Tempio Malatestiano, Rimini

Its dominating form is the classical triumphal arch,
Alberti’s favorite structure but the severe, restrained façade
was never quite finished.
 Work of Architecture

The façade of Santa Maria Novella is

considered to be landmark in the formation
of Renaissance architecture.

Santa Maria Novella , Florence

Work of Architecture

The façade of Santa Maria Novella is considered

his greatest achievement since it allows the pre –
existing and newly added parts of the building
to ,merge into a clear statement of his new
principles.

Santa Maria Novella , Florence

Work of Architecture

Its dimensions are all bound to each other by the

1:2 ratio of the musical Octave.

The marble panels, which produce a mosaic like

effect of discrete color patches on medieval Italian
church exteriors.

Here contribute to a sense of rhythmic, geometric

unity.
Santa Maria Novella , Florence
 The revival of classical antiquity can best
be illustrated by the Palazzo Ruccelai
where the columns are classical orders.

Façade of Palazzo Rucellai (1446- 51)

 The three storeys of the façade have different
classical orders, as in the Colosseum.

Façade of Palazzo Rucellai (1446- 51)

Tuscan order at base
Ionic order at middle
Corinthian order at Top level
 The only buildings Alberti designed
entirely him, were S.Sebastiano, still under
work during Alberti’s lifetime,

San Sebastiano, Mantua( begun 1458)

The plan is in the shape of a Greek cross,
with three identical arms centering 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.

San Sebastiano, Mantua( begun 1458)

 On the façade, Alberti combined two of his
favorite ancient images- The pedimented temple
front (Pilasters, entablature, trabeation and
triangular pediment)

Triadic Triumphal arch (arched central section and

lower portals on either side)

Sant’ Andrea, Mantua ( begun 1471)

 Height of Façade = Width of Facade

Sant’ Andrea, Mantua ( begun 1471)

 The barrel vault of the nave
reached above the apex of
the pediment, which was also
surmounted by a large canopy
over the nave window.

Sant’ Andrea, Mantua ( begun 1471)

 Architectural Elements
Pediments & Gables

Santa Trinita, Florence, Italy Baroque pediment on Santa Vicenzo,

Rome
 Architectural Elements
Pediments & Gables

Neo classical pediment of Philadelphia Neo classical pediment of Philadelphia

Museum Museum
Architectural Elements
Pediments & Gables

Baroque Pediment, Sicily, Italy Neo classical pediment at University of

Virginia, USA
 Architectural Elements
Pediments & Gables

Renaissance pediment on Santa Maria Novella Neo Classical Pediment

 Architectural Elements
Pediments & Gables

Baroque split pediment , Baroque split pediment , Pediment detail at Parthenon ,

Italy France Athens, Greece
 Architectural Elements
Pediments & Gables

Neo Classical double pediment over

Gable at Pisa Cathedral, Pisa Italy
a door , Paris
 Architectural Elements
Decorative Elements

Foot on a tomb in Rome, Italy Keystone over a door in Paris, France

 Architectural Elements
Decorative Elements

Plaque on the wall in Florence, Italy

 Architectural Elements
Decorative Elements

Heart in a Neo Romanesque Capital at Stanford University , CA, USA

 Architectural Elements
Decorative Elements

Decorative shell at Rome, Italy Hanging Swag , Paris, France

 Architectural Elements
Decorative Elements

Scrolls with shell motif, Decorative patterns with Mosaic,

Sant Andreaalla Quirinale, Rome, Italy Orvieto Cathedral, Oriveto Italy
 Architectural Elements
Decorative Elements

Rossette in a coffer, Sant’Andrea, Scroll Fountain Saint Michel ,

Mantova, Italy Paris, France
 Architectural Elements
Decorative Elements

Scroll detail with putti at IL Gesu, Scroll , Paris , France.

Rome, Italy.
From Abstraction to Materialism

St.Francis taught men to approach

God not only through the mind but
through the emotions .

This new attitude gave rise to the

need for a physical and material
representations.
From Abstraction to Materialism

In art both human beings and things were portrayed

with increasing realism and materialism
Work of Alberti through our Perception
 Alberti as in Renaissance thinking was a Universal Man

 His work is not just limited to Architecture. He is a

painter, writer and a Philosopher.

 Most of his work is dedicated to Humanism.

 Alberti’s interest related to art and proportion shown

into its designs of architecturs elements.

 Proportion, Harmony and Geometry can be seen very

clearly.

 Alberti’s belief in an absolute numerical scheme for beauty

and proportion was his important contribution to Renaissance
Theory
THANK YOU…

References:
1) Leon Battista Alberti: Master Builder of the Italian
Renaissance- Anthony Grafton
2) On the Art of the Buildings in Ten Books
3) The Family in Renaissance, Florence.