born Feb. 14, 1404, Genoa
died April 25, 1472, Rome
Italian architect, art theorist, and humanist.
After pursuing a literary career as papal secretary, in 1438 Alberti was encouraged to direct his talents toward the field of architecture. His designs for the Palazzo Rucellai ( 0441; 144551) and the facade of Santa Maria Novella (145670), both in Florence, are noted for their harmonic proportions. His central-plan church of Sant'Andrea, Mantua (begun 1472), with its triumphal-arch motif, is an early Renaissance masterpiece. Alberti was one of the foremost theorists on Renaissance architecture and art, known for codifying the principles of linear perspective (in On Painting , 1436). A prototype of the Renaissance man, he also made contributions to moral philosophy, cartography, and cryptography.