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Friday
Jun262015

Leon Battista Alberti: The ‘Universal Man’

DateFriday, June 26, 2015 at 8:00AM

 

Leon Battista Alberti - Palazzo Ruccelai: Façade - 1446-51 - Via della Vigna Nuova, Florence (click photo for larger image)Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472) was an Italian humanist, architect, and principal initiator of Renaissance art theory. In his personality, works, and breadth of learning, he is considered the prototype of the “universal man.”

The façade of the Palazzo Ruccelai is a strikingly original contribution to the history of Renaissance palace design. The façade'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.

AuthorJill | CommentPost a Comment |

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