Leon Battista Alberti - Florence, Italy
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neoc1
N 43° 46.121 E 011° 15.714
32T E 682051 N 4848667
The grave of humanist, author, artist, poet, architect, and priest Leon Battista Alberti is located in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, Italy.
Waymark Code: WM11ZG0
Location: Toscana, Italy
Date Posted: 01/16/2020
Views: 3
The grave of polymath Leon Battista Alberti is marked by a monument created by Lorenzo Bartolini. It was commissioned in 1836 by the will of Count Leon Battista Alberti by a descendant of the humanist. It was dedicated in 1851, a year after Bartolini's death.
The monument contains a sculpture of a group of three semi-nude persons, a man flanked by two women all covered with classical style robes. The central figure has his left hand over his heart. The woman on his left is holding a torch above her head and the woman on the right is supporting the man's right outstretched arm.
The rectangular base of the monument is inscribed:
ALLA MEMORIA
DI LEON BATISTA ALBERTI
A NESSUNO DELL ETA SUA NELLE LETTERE SECONDO
IL QUALE DI MOLTI TROVATI CHE GLI STRANIERI USURPARONO
GIOVO LE SCIENZE
E L ARCHITETTURA ACCREBBE DI ESEMPI NON MENO CHE DI PRECETTI
IL CAV LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI
ULTIMO DI SUA STIRPE
ORDINO COLL ESTREMO VOLERE
CHE QUESTO MONUMENTO S ERIGESSE
AFFINCHE IL SECOLO CHE PER IMPETO D IMITAZIONE
RUINA A NOVITA SERVILE
POTESSE VERSO L ANTICA ITALICA SAPIENZA
RACCENDERSI D AMORE
Paraphrased translation:
TO THE MEMORY OF LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI. SECOND TO NONE OF THE AGE IN LETTERS. ACCORDING, MANY FOREIGNERS COPIED THEM. ENJOYED THE SCIENCES AND IN ARCHITECTURE HE WOULD EXCEED PREVIOUS EXAMPLE.
TO THE CAVALIERE LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI, I, THE LAST OF HIS LINEAGE COMMISSIONED THIS MONUMENT TO BE WAS ERECTED SO THAT HIS WORKS WOULD BE INSPIRED BY IMITATION IN SERVICE TO ANCIENT ITALIAN WISDOM. LOVE
Leon Battista Alberti is described an a complete renaissance man. He excelled in many fields including writing, painting, architecture, poetry, and as a linguist, philosopher and cryptographer. He was born in Genoa, Italy on February 14, 1404 into an exiled wealthy Florentine family. He studied law at Bologna, became a priest and served in the court of the pope.
He studied and wrote extensively in the field of Alberti mathematics which he considered the the common denominator for the understanding of of both art and science. In his book on painting Della Pittura he put forward the mathematical basis for optics and perspective in art. In his treatise on sculpture De Statua, Alberti stressed that "all steps of learning should be sought from nature and that the aim of an artist is to imitate nature. He studied the architecture of ancient Rome. In his book De Re Aedificatoria, the Art of Building, was the first book on architecture written during the Renaissance. Alberti also wrote many love poems, fables, Latin comedy and dialogues.
Among is writings are: Autobiografia e Altre Opere Latine, (Autobiogrphy and Other Latin Works), Philodoxus (Lover of Glory, 1424), De Commodis Litterarum Atque Incommodis (On the Advantages and Disadvantages of Literary Studies, 1429), Intercoenales (Table Talk, c. 1429), Della Famiglia (On the Family, 1432) Vita S. Potiti (Life of St. Potitus, 1433), De Iure (On Law, 1437), Theogenius (The Origin of the Gods, c. 1440), Profugorium ab Aerumna (Refuge from Mental Anguish,), Momus, a dark comedy, (1450), and De Iciarchia (On the Prince, 1468).