Leon Battista Alberti

Leon Battista Alberti
Presumed self-portrait of Alberti
Born14 February 1404
Genoa, Republic of Genoa
Died25 April 1472(1472-04-25) (aged 68)
Rome, Papal States
NationalityItalian
Known forArchitecture, linguistics, poetry
Notable workTempio Malatestiano, Palazzo Rucellai, Santa Maria Novella, Basilica of Sant'Andrea
MovementItalian Renaissance

Leon Battista Alberti (Italian: [leˈom batˈtista alˈbɛrti]; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer; he epitomised the nature of those identified now as polymaths. He is considered the founder of Western cryptography, a claim he shares with Johannes Trithemius.[1][2]

He is often considered primarily an architect. However, as James Beck has observed,[3] "to single out one of Leon Battista's 'fields' over others as somehow functionally independent and self-sufficient is of no help at all to any effort to characterize Alberti's extensive explorations in the fine arts". Although Alberti is known mostly as an artist, he was also a mathematician and made significant contributions to that field.[4] Among the most famous buildings he designed are the churches of San Sebastiano (1460) and Sant’Andrea (1472), both in Mantua.[5]

Alberti's life was told in Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects.

  1. ^ Leeuw, Karl Maria Michael de; Bergstra, Jan (28 August 2007). The History of Information Security: A Comprehensive Handbook. Elsevier. p. 283. ISBN 978-0-08-055058-9. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  2. ^ Holden, Joshua (2 October 2018). The Mathematics of Secrets: Cryptography from Caesar Ciphers to Digital Encryption. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-18331-2. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  3. ^ James Beck, "Leon Battista Alberti and the 'Night Sky' at San Lorenzo", Artibus et Historiae 10, No. 19 (1989:9–35), p. 9.
  4. ^ Williams, Kim (August 27, 2010). The Mathematical Works of Leon Battista Alberti. Birkhauser Verlag AG. p. 1. ISBN 978-3-0346-0473-4 – via Duke Libraries.
  5. ^ Norwich, John Julius (1990). Oxford Illustrated Encyclopedia Of The Arts. USA: Oxford University Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0198691372.