Leon Battista Alberti was an Italian architect and polymath from the Renaissance period. He is known for his contributions to the fields of architecture, mathematics, engineering, literature, music, and cryptology. He wrote the book De Re Aedificatoria, which is considered the first modern treatise on architecture.
What is the most famous quote by Leon Battista Alberti ?
Beauty is the adjustment of all parts proportionately so that one cannot add or subtract or change without impairing the harmony of the whole.
— Leon Battista Alberti
What can you learn from Leon Battista Alberti (Life Lessons)
- Leon Battista Alberti taught us that beauty is not only found in the physical world, but also in the abstract. He believed that the principles of mathematics and geometry should be applied to create a harmonious balance in architecture.
- He also encouraged us to think critically and to be creative in our problem solving. He was a proponent of the idea that the best solutions come from combining different approaches and ideas.
- Finally, Leon Battista Alberti's work demonstrated the importance of collaboration and teamwork. He believed that working together with others was the best way to achieve great things.
The most irresistibly Leon Battista Alberti quotes that are little-known but priceless
Following is a list of the best Leon Battista Alberti quotes, including various Leon Battista Alberti inspirational quotes, and other famous sayings by Leon Battista Alberti.
It seems obvious that colors vary according to lights, because when any color is placed in the shade, it appears to be different from the same color which is located in light. Shade makes color dark, whereas light makes color bright where it strikes.
A man can do all things if he will.
When I investigate and when I discover that the forces of the heavens and the planets are within ourselves, then truly I seem to be living among the gods.
The function of the painter is to render.
.. the visible surface so that at a certain distance... and position it appears... like the body itself.
It was never shameful to learn from any teacher things that are useful to know.
Painting is possessed of divine power, for not only does it make the absent present, but also makes the dead almost alive.
A man can do all things if he but wills them.
Painting contains a divine force which not only makes absent men present, as friendship is said to do, but moreover makes the dead seem almost alive.
Renaissance quotes by Leon Battista Alberti
I certainly consider a great appreciation of painting to be the best indication of a most perfect mind.
Nothing overshadows truth so much as authority.
I will never tire of recommending the custom, practiced by the best architects, of preparing not only drawings and sketches, but also models of wood or any other material. These... enable us to examine... the work as a whole... and, before continuing any further, to estimate the likely trouble and expense.
The greatest work of an artist is the history of a painting.
The city is like a great house, and the house in its turn a small city.
A common error of ignorance is to maintain that what one does not know does not exist.
No art, however minor, demands less than total dedication if you want to excel in it.
Men are themselves the source of their own fortune and misfortune.
Quotations by Leon Battista Alberti that are humanism and innovation
Perhaps the artist who seeks dignity above all in his 'historia', ought to represent very few figures; for as paucity of words imparts majesty to a prince, provided histhoughts and orders are understood, so the presence of only the strictly necessary numbers of bodies confers dignity on a picture.
Philosophers say that nothing can be seen that is neither illuminated nor colored.
I would have artists be convinced that the supreme skill and art in painting consists in knowing how to use black and white... because it is light and shade that make objects appear in relief.
... the movements of the body reveal the movements of the soul.
The Arts are learnt by reason and method; they are mastered by practice.
We must always take from nature what we paint and always choose the most beautiful things.
Practice by drawing things large, as if equal in representation and reality.
In small drawings every large weakness is easily hidden; in the large, the smallest weakness is easily seen.
I prefer you to take as your model a mediocre sculpture rather than an excellent painting, for from painted objects we train our hand only to make a likeness, whereas from sculptures we learn to represent both likeness and correct incidence of light.
Errors accumulate in the sketch and compound in the model.
It is very rarely granted even to Nature herself to produce anything absolutely perfect in every part.
There is no art which has not had its beginnings in things full of errors. Nothing is at the same time both new and perfect.
Buildings have been made because of man.
I shall praise those faces which seem to project out of the picture as though they were sculptured, and I shall censure those faces in which I see no art but that of outline.
What is painting but the act of embracing, by means of art, the surface of the pool?
The picture will have charm when each color is very unlike the one next to it.
A person can do anything if they only will it strongly enough.
As ability goes, so goes our fortune.