Librarian experience: Leon Battista Alberti

Flow theoretic have learned very flow from a discipline as Alberti(1404-1472): the treatise about de painter art is a sum of consideration that has forgotten the practical aspect, differently from Giorgio Vasari(1511-1574), that in introduction of his Lives of artists(1568) has descripted the practical aspect of art of painting, because he was a painter and architect, hence he keeps the practical experience; to Alberti is sufficient read his De pictura, to realized that he is alone theoretic painter; in fact he explain arguments absolutely useless. This theoretic nature of this author is evident in the first book of his De architectura, because he said: “About de drawings and its power and rule. We must write about drawings of building and we give to this book every better things that we know from ancient and that is written and these they seen making these building”; it is sufficient to indicate the theoretic nature; why? Simple Alberti describes alone the drawings, he have to describe the building and, as Vitruvius in De architectura, tell about constructions, technical way and material, and following the discourse the second confirm, because he says: “…that from our ancient we can know be written”, but way from ancient authors? Also why written? If you dear Leona Battista have experience in painter and architecture you need no certainly of description, because you have experience directly in art, or no? He would answer, no certainly! Further he following: “The edify is above all the drawings and construction of well”, fortunately that Alberti has explain this practice because otherwise we would don’t know it. Theoretical explication, through obviousness, following: “Where men have decided stop, they built her home and they decided that here they are going to sleep, here prepared the food and elsewhere they quit other; and after they begun to think that the roof and the wells…”; it is simply idiots, this is the obviousness that is a theoretical treatise; but the nature of intellectual and literate man emerges from the following step: “And hence anybody he was, or Vesta goddess daughter odf Saturn, or Euryalus and Hyperbius or Gellio…”, three personages of ancient mythology, that aren’t nothing connection with the house and architecture, but the intellectual vanity is preponderant in every writer. It is therefore a boring description of natural obviousness and stop; Alberti is and rests a theoretic alone, hence this treatise is absolutely useless.

Alessandro Lusana