From Alberti's supreme knowledge of the thought and buildings of antiquity, he developed a set of writings on science and the visual arts, including his important treatise on architecture, De re aedificatoria. In this volume, Tavernor examines Alberti's architectural writings and his practical example, his relations with his patrons, how he extended his theory into practice through major building projects across Italy, and how he succeeded in raising the status of architecture to an art -- one that sought harmony with the natural world. Focusing on the analysis of Alberti's buildings, the author sets each in historical context; provides a building history; and considers source material, proportional systems, and iconography. He concludes the book with a fresh view of Alberti's theory and practice and a summary of his design process.
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Book Description
Recognized in his own time for extraordinary architectural achievements, Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472) five hundred years after his death continues to influence the practice and theory of architecture. This book is the first full-scale study of Alberti's life and architecture in more than a quarter century. Robert Tavernor provides a biographical account of the Italian architect and a detailed consideration of each of the building projects with which he was involved. With new reconstructions of Alberti's buildings and new interpretations of his design intentions, this book will fascinate every reader with an interest in Renaissance architecture.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best art book of the year,
By A Customer
This review is from: On Alberti and the Art of Building (Hardcover)
Robert Tavernor's On Alberti and the Art of Building is a book for which every student of Renaissance history in my young day would have sold his soul, for it presents this seminal theorist as an architect of rich intelligence and aesthetic sensibility, his excitement irresistibly infectious. With Tavernor's help we see through the alterations, false completions and unfinish of the buildings and comprehend Alberti's original intentions; reconstructions, models and photographs of astonishing documentary clarity support the exhilarating text. This book will no doubt pass unnoticed except by those few art historians whose imaginations were touched by Alberti when they first discovered him in Florence, Mantua and Rimini, and stood in awe of flawed perfection, but this monograph is, for me, the best art book of the year. Brian Sewell, Art Critic, London Evening Standard, 11 December 1998.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An impressive, learned book,
By A Customer
This review is from: On Alberti and the Art of Building (Hardcover)
Alberti's buildings were mostly left incomplete, altered, or unfinished by others, his original intentions often impenetrable. Tavernor goes further than previous scholars in untangling this confusion in his impressive, handsomely illustrated study. Though complex and learned, his book has a clarity and consistency of aim in its analysis of the process by which theory is related to architecture.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
New York Review of Books,
By Reviewer (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: On Alberti and the Art of Building (Hardcover)
One learns an enormous amount about the buildings and the man from this beautiful book. Indeed it is the place to go for Alberti as master builder.
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