LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI

Alberto is rightly called one of the first among the great creators of culture of the Italian Renaissance. His theoretical writings, his artistic practice, his ideas and, finally, its very identity of the humanist played a crucial role in the development of early Renaissance art. "It was supposed to appear a man - Leonardo Olshki - who, having mastered the theory and having a vocation to the art and practice, would put the aspirations of his time on a sound footing and would give them some direction in which they were to develop in the future. This multilateral, but at the same time harmonic mind was Leon Battista Alberti. "

Leon Battista Alberti was born February 14, 1404 in Genoa. His father - Leonardo Alberti, which was the illegitimate son of Leon, belonged to one of the influential merchant family of Florence, exiled from his native city by political opponents. Initial education Leon Battista received in Padua, a famous humanist school teacher Gasparini Bartsitstsa yes, but after his father′s death in 1421 went to Bologna, where he studied at the University of canon law, and attended lectures by Francesco Filelfo the Greek language and literature. After graduation in 1428 he was awarded a doctorate in canon law.

While in Bologna, Alberti was in a brilliant circle of writers who gathered at the home of Cardinal Albergati, these university years were difficult for him and unlucky: his father′s death abruptly undermined its financial well-being, litigation with the relatives of the inheritance, they rejected by illegally, depriving him of rest, excessive lessons he damaged his health.

Over the years the student relates the beginning of hobbies Alberti mathematics and philosophy. In the early works of Alberti ( "Filodoksus", "On the advantages and disadvantages of science", "table talk") Bologna period, felt anxiety, the consciousness of the inevitability of blind fate. Contact with the Florentine culture, after permission to return home, contribute to the eradication of these sentiments.

During a visit to the retinue of Cardinal Albergati in France, the Netherlands and Germany in 1431, Albert received a lot of architectural experience. Subsequent years and then stay in Rome (1432-1434) marked the beginning of his long-term Studies of the ancient monuments of architecture. At the same time, Alberti began to study cartography and the theory of painting, while working on the essay "On the Family devoted to issues of morality.

In 1432 on the patronage of influential patrons of the higher clergy Alberti received the position in the papal office, where he served for more than thirty years.

Diligence Alberti was truly immeasurable. He believed that man, like the sea a ship, should pass huge space and to "strive hard to earn the praise and glory of the fruit. As a writer, he is equally interested in and the foundations of society and family life, and the problems of the human personality, and ethics. He worked not only in literature but also science, painting, sculpture and music.

His "Mathematical fun", as well as treatises on painting, on the statue, "evidence of thorough knowledge of their author in the field of mathematics, optics, mechanics. He is monitoring the humidity hygrometer why is born. Ponder over the creation of surveying instruments for measuring the height of buildings and the depth of rivers and to facilitate the leveling of cities. Alberti designing lifting mechanisms to retrieve from the bottom of the lake sunken Roman ships. From his attention not escape, and such minor things as the cultivation of valuable breeds of horses, the secrets of the female toilets, code encrypted securities, a form of writing letters. The diversity of his interests are so impressed his contemporaries, that one of them wrote in the margin albertievskoy manuscript: "Tell me why he did not know this man?" And Poliziano, referring to Alberta, prefer "to remain silent than to say it is too small" .

Photo — «Leon Battista Alberti»

If you try to give a general description of all works of Alberti, the most obvious is the desire to innovate, organically combined with thoughtful insights into the ancient mind.

In 1434-1445 years in the suite of Pope Eugene IV Alberti visited Florence, Ferrara, Bologna. During a long stay in Florence, he tied up friendly relations with the founders of Renaissance art - Brunelleschi, Donatello, Ghiberti. Here he wrote his treatise on sculpture and painting, as well as his humanistic works best in Italian - "The Family", "The peace of mind", which made him universally recognized theorist and a leading figure in the new art movement. Repeated trips to the cities of Northern Italy also contributed to the awakening of many in his lively interest in various artistic activities. Returning to Rome, Alberti with renewed vigor, renewed his Studies of ancient architecture and in 1444 began compiling the treatise "Ten Books on Architecture.

By 1450 a treatise in rough draft was completed and two years later in a straightened version - the one that is known today - was given to the reading of Pope Nicholas V. Alberti, absorbed in the future of its projects and buildings, left his work is not quite finished and more to him did not return.

The first architectural experiments Alberti usually associated with his stay at Ferrara twice, in 1438 and 1443, respectively. Being on friendly terms with Lionello d′Este, who became in 1441 the Marquis Ferrara, Alberti advised the construction of the equestrian statue of his father, Niccolo III.

After the death of Brunelleschi in 1446 in Florence, among his followers, not a single architect, his equal in value. Thus, at the turn of the century, Alberti was the lead architect of the era. Only now he got this opportunity to realize their architectural theory in practice.

All the buildings Alberti in Florence marked a notable feature. The principles of the classical orders, the lessons from the master of ancient Roman architecture, applied them with great tact to the traditions of Tuscan architecture. New and old, creating a living unity, gives these structures with unique "Florentine" style, very different from that in which its facilities were carried out in Northern Italy.

The first work by Alberti in his hometown was a project for Giovanni Rucellai Palace, whose construction is conducted between 1446 and 1451 years, Bernardo Rossellini. Palazzo Rucellai is very different from all the buildings of the city. In the traditional scheme of a three-storey facade Alberti like "imposes" a grid of classical orders. Instead of a massive wall, formed by rusticated stone masonry blocks, powerful relief are gradually smoothed out as we move up, we have a smooth plane, rhythmically dissected by pilasters and ribbons entablement clearly outlined in its proportions and finished by far rendered cornice.

The small square windows on the ground floor, lifted high off the ground, the columns separating the windows of the two upper floors, fractional running modillions cornice extremely enriching the overall rhythm of the facade. The architecture of urban homes are disappearing traces of its former isolation and the "feudal" in nature that was inherent in all the other palaces in Florence at that time. It is no accident Filarete, referring to his treatise Alberti′s construction, said that in her "entire facade: made in the ancient manner. "

The second major building Alberti in Florence was also associated with the order Rucellai. One of the richest people in the city, he said, according to Vasari, "wished to make his own expense and entirely out of marble facade of the church of Santa Maria Novella, entrusting the project to Alberti.

Photo — «Leon Battista Alberti»

Work on the facade of the church, which began in the XIV century, has not been completed. Alberti had begun to continue the Gothic masters. It is difficult his task, for not destroying done, he was compelled to include in its draft elements of the old scenery - narrow side door with lancet tambourines arches outside niches, split the bottom of the thin facade of Lisen arkaturoy protorenessansnom in style, a large round window in the top. Its facade, construction of which were built between 1456 and 1470 years of master Giovanni di Bertino, was a kind of classical paraphrase samples protorenessansnogo style.

By request of his patron, Alberti performed and other work. In the church of San Pancrazio, adjacent to the rear of the Palazzo Rucellai, in 1467 on the draft master was built a family chapel. Decorated with pilasters and inlaid with a geometric pattern on a variety of outlets, it is stylistically similar to the previous building.

Although the buildings created in Florence by Project Albert, for his style is closely related to the traditions of Florentine architecture, they have only an indirect influence on its development during the second half of XV century. In other developed creative ways Alberti in Northern Italy. And although it was built, there were established simultaneously with the Florentine, they describe a larger, more mature and more classical stage in his work. They Alberti freely and boldly tried to implement its program of "revival" of ancient Roman architecture.

The first such attempt was related to the restructuring of the church of San Francesco in Rimini. Tirana Rimini, the famous Sidzhizmondo Malatesta had an idea to make this ancient church familial church mausoleum. By the end of 1440 years within the church were completed memorial chapel Sidzhizmondo and his wife Isota. It looks like, at the same time the works was brought Alberti. Around 1450 his project was completed wooden model in the future, he carefully watched from Rome over the course of construction, which was conducted by local craftsmen - and miniaturist medalist Matteo de Pasti.

Judging by the medal Matteo de Pasti, dated to the jubilee year 1450, which depicted a new temple, the project Alberti requires radical restructuring of the church. First scheduled on three sides to make new facades, and then build a new set and the chorus, blocked by a large dome.

Alberti has at its disposal a very ordinary provincial church - a squat, with lancet windows and wide lancet arches chapels, with a simple truss roof over the nave. He planned to turn it into a majestic memorial temple, able to compete with the ancient shrine. The monumental facade in the form of two-tiered triumphal arch had very little in common with the familiar face of Italian churches. The spacious domed rotunda, offers visitors deep in a vaulted hall, brings back memories of the buildings of ancient Rome.

Unfortunately, the plan was carried out Alberti′s only partly true. Construction was delayed. The main facade of the temple has remained unfinished, but the fact that it was done is not quite consistent with the original draft.

Simultaneously with the construction of "Temple of Malatesta in Rimini Project Alberti erected a church in Mantua. Marquis Mantua, Ludovico Gonzaga, patron humanists and artists.

When in 1459, Albert has appeared in Mantua in the entourage of Pope Pius II, he had met at Gonzaga very warm reception and has kept friendly relations with him until the end of his life. At the same time Gonzaga commissioned Alberti to draft the church of San Sebastiano. Left in Mantua after the departure of the pope, Alberti in 1460, he graduated from the model of the new church, whose construction was entrusted Luka Fanchelli Florentine architect who was in Mantua yard.

Photo — «Leon Battista Alberti»

At least twice, in 1463 and 1470, respectively, Alberti came to Mantua, to monitor the work, kept up a correspondence on this matter with the Marquis and Fanchelli.

The new church was Alberti′s centric building. The cross in the plan, it had to be closed by a large cupola. Three short acting podium ended with a semicircular apse. And by the fourth belonged to the church narthex wide two-story lobby, creating a facade facing the street. Where the narthex of its rear wall was connected with a narrow entrance podium on either side of it, filling the space, had to rise two bell towers. The building is raised high above the ground. It built on the ground floor, which was a vast crypt beneath the entire temple with a separate entrance to it.

The facade of San Sebastiano, Alberti was conceived as an exact likeness of the main portico of ancient Roman temple periptera. The five entrances to the lobby waged a high ladder, steps which stretched the entire width of the facade, completely hiding the passages in the crypt. His idea of decorating the walls with pilasters large orders reconcile the doctrine of classical architecture, for which he had advocated in his treatise, with the practical needs of the architecture of his time.

Such a constructive and decorative solutions the internal space of the church did not know the architecture of the Italian Renaissance. In this regard, the true heir and successor Albert became Bramante. Moreover, the construction of Alberti was the model for all subsequent ecclesiastical architecture of the late Renaissance and Baroque. In its type were constructed Venetian churches of Palladio, Il Gesù "Vignola and many other churches of the Roman Baroque. But especially important for the architecture of the High Renaissance and Baroque was Alberti′s innovation - the use of large orders in the decoration of the facade and interior.

In 1464, Albert left the service in the curia, but continued to live in Rome. Among his last works is a treatise in 1465, dedicated to the principles of compiling code, and an essay in 1470 on moral issues. Leon Battista Alberti, died April 25, 1472 in Rome.

Last project Alberti been realized in Mantua, after his death, in 1478-1480, respectively. This Capella del Inkoronata Mantua Cathedral. Architectonic clarity of spatial structure, beautiful proportions of arches, easily carrying the dome and vaults, rectangular portals, doors - all issues klassitsiziruyuschy style of late Alberti.

Alberti was the center of cultural life in Italy. Among his friends were the major humanists and artists (Brunelleschi, Donatello and Luca della Robbia), scientists (Toscanelli), the powerful (and Pope Nicholas V, Piero and Lorenzo de ′Medici, Giovanni Francesco and Ludovico Gonzaga, Sidzhizmondo Malatesta, Lionello d′Este, Federico de Montefeltro). And at the same time he kept aloof from barber Burkello with whom exchanged sonnets, willingly sit up late at night in the workshops of blacksmiths, architects, shipbuilders, cobblers, to find out from them the secrets of their art.

Alberti far surpassed his contemporaries and talent, and curiosity, and multilateralism, and special quickness. It happily combine fine aesthetic sense and ability to think rationally and logically, drawing on the experience gained from communicating with people, nature, art, science, classical literature. Sickly from birth, he managed to make themselves healthy and strong. Because of the failures of life prone to pessimism and loneliness, he gradually came to the acceptance of life in all its manifestations.