And law in Bologna. In 1428 he graduated from the University of Bologna, after which he received the post of secretary from Cardinal Albergati, and in 1432 - a place in the papal office, where he served for more than thirty years. In 1462 Alberti left his service in the curia and lived in Rome until his death.
Leon Battista Alberti
Alberti's humanistic worldview
Harmony
The multifaceted activity of Leon Battista Alberti is a vivid example of the universality of the interests of a Renaissance man. Versatilely gifted and educated, he made a major contribution to the theory of art and architecture, to literature and architecture, was fond of the problems of ethics and pedagogy, studied mathematics and cartography. The central place in Alberti's aesthetics belongs to the doctrine of harmony as an important natural pattern, which a person must not only take into account in all his activities, but also extend his own creativity to different areas of his being. The outstanding thinker and talented writer Alberti created a consistently humanistic doctrine of man, opposed by its secularism to the official orthodoxy.
Human
The ideal person, according to Alberti, harmoniously combines the forces of mind and will, creative activity and peace of mind. He is wise, guided in his actions by the principles of measure, has a consciousness of his dignity. All this gives the image created by Alberti, features of greatness. The ideal of a harmonious personality put forward by him had an impact both on the development of humanistic ethics and on Renaissance art, including in the portrait genre. It is this type of person that is embodied in the images of painting, graphics and sculpture in Italy of that time, in the masterpieces of Antonello da Messina, Piero della Francesca, Andrea Mantegna and other major masters. Alberti wrote many of his works in Volgar, which greatly contributed to the wide dissemination of his ideas in Italian society, including among artists.
Creativity and work
The initial premise of Alberti's humanistic concept is the inalienable belonging of man to the world of nature, which the humanist interprets from pantheistic positions as the bearer of the divine principle. A person, included in the world order, is in the power of its laws - harmony and perfection. The harmony of man and nature is determined by his ability to cognize the world, to a reasonable, striving for good existence. The responsibility for moral perfection, which has both personal and social significance, Alberti lays on the people themselves. The choice between good and evil depends on the free will of man. The humanist saw the main purpose of the individual in creativity, which he understood widely - from the work of a modest artisan to the heights of scientific and artistic activity. Alberti especially appreciated the work of an architect - the organizer of people's lives, the creator of reasonable and beautiful conditions for their existence. In the creative ability of man, the humanist saw his main difference from the animal world. Labor for Alberti is not a punishment for original sin, as church morality taught, but a source of spiritual uplift, material wealth and glory. " In idleness people become weak and worthless”, moreover, only life practice itself reveals the great possibilities inherent in a person. " The art of living is comprehended in deeds", - emphasized Alberti. The ideal of an active life makes his ethics related to civil humanism, but there are also many features in it that allow us to characterize Alberti's teaching as an independent trend in humanism.
Family
An important role in the upbringing of a person who vigorously increases his own benefits and the benefits of society and the state through honest work, Alberti assigned to the family. In it, he saw the basic cell of the entire system of social order. The humanist paid much attention to family foundations, especially in the dialogues written in Wolgar " About family" And " Domostroy". In them, he addresses the problems of upbringing and primary education of the younger generation, solving them from a humanistic position. It defines the principle of the relationship between parents and children, bearing in mind the main goal - strengthening the family, its inner harmony.
Family and society
In the economic practice of Alberti's time, family commercial, industrial and financial companies played an important role, in this regard, the humanist also considers the family as the basis of economic activity. He associated the path to the well-being and wealth of the family with reasonable housekeeping, with hoarding based on the principles of thrift, diligent care of business, hard work. Alberti considered dishonest methods of enrichment unacceptable (partly at odds with merchant practice and mentality), because they deprive the family of a good reputation. The humanist advocated such relations between the individual and society, in which personal interest is consistent with the interests of other people. However, in contrast to the ethics of civil humanism, Alberti believed it possible, under certain circumstances, to put the interests of the family above momentary public good. He, for example, recognized as acceptable the refusal of public service for the sake of concentrating on economic work, since, in the final analysis, as the humanist believed, the well-being of the state is based on the solid material foundations of individual families.
Society
Alberti society itself thinks as a harmonious unity of all its layers, which should be facilitated by the activities of the rulers. Pondering the conditions of achievement social harmony, Alberti in the treatise " About architecture"draws an ideal city, beautiful in terms of rational planning and the appearance of buildings, streets, squares. The entire living environment of a person is arranged here in such a way that it meets the needs of the individual, family, and society as a whole. The city is divided into different spatial zones: in the center are the buildings of the higher magistracies and the palaces of the rulers, on the outskirts - quarters of artisans and small merchants. The palaces of the upper stratum of society are thus spatially separated from the dwellings of the poor. This urban planning principle, according to Alberti, should prevent the harmful consequences of possible popular unrest. The ideal city of Alberti is characterized, however, by the equal improvement of all its parts for the life of people of different social status and the accessibility of all its inhabitants to beautiful public buildings - schools, thermal baths, theaters.
The embodiment of ideas about the ideal city in a word or image was one of the typical features of the Italian Renaissance culture. The architect Filarete, the scientist and artist Leonardo da Vinci, the authors of social utopias of the 16th century paid tribute to the projects of such cities. They reflected the dream of humanists about the harmony of human society, about the excellent external conditions that contribute to its stability and the happiness of every person.
Moral perfection
Like many humanists, Alberti shared ideas about the possibility of ensuring social peace through the moral improvement of each person, the development of his active virtue and creativity. At the same time, being a thoughtful analyst of life practice and people's psychology, he saw " human kingdom in all the complexity of its contradictions: refusing to be guided by reason and knowledge, people sometimes become destroyers rather than creators of harmony in the earthly world. Alberti's doubts found vivid expression in his " Mome" And " table talk”, but did not become decisive for the main line of his reflections. The ironic perception of the reality of human deeds, characteristic of these works, did not shake the deep faith of the humanist in the creative power of man, who is called to equip the world according to the laws of reason and beauty. Many of Alberti's ideas were further developed in the work of Leonardo da Vinci.
Creation
Literature
Rucellai Palace, Florence
Alberti wrote his first works in the 1920s. - comedy " Philodox"(1425)," Deifira"(1428) and others. In the 30s - early 40s. created a number of works in Latin - " On the advantages and disadvantages of scientists"(1430), "On Law" (1437), " Pontifex"(1437); dialogues in Volgar on ethical topics - " About family"(1434-1441)," About peace of mind» (1443).
In the 50-60s. Alberti wrote a satirical-allegorical cycle " table talk"- his main works in the field of literature, which became examples of Latin humanistic prose of the 15th century. Alberti's latest works: " On the principles of compiling codes” (a mathematical treatise, subsequently lost) and a dialogue in Volgar “ Domostroy» (1470).
Alberti was one of the first to advocate the use of the Italian language in literary work. His elegies and eclogues are the first examples of these genres in Italian.
Alberti created a largely original (dating back to Plato, Aristotle, Xenophon and Cicero) concept of man based on the idea of harmony. Alberti's ethics - secular in nature - was distinguished by attention to the problem of man's earthly existence, his moral perfection. He exalted the natural abilities of man, valued knowledge, creativity, and the human mind. In the teachings of Alberti, the ideal of a harmonious personality received the most integral expression. Alberti united all the potential abilities of a person with the concept virtual(valor, ability). It is in the power of man to reveal these natural abilities and become a full-fledged creator of his own destiny. According to Alberti, upbringing and education should develop the properties of nature in a person. Human abilities. his mind, will, courage help him survive in the fight against the goddess of chance, Fortuna. The ethical concept of Alberti is full of faith in the ability of a person to rationally arrange his life, family, society, and state. Alberti considered the family to be the main social unit.
Architecture
Alberti the architect had a great influence on the formation of the High Renaissance style. Following Filippo, Brunelleschi developed antique motifs in architecture. According to his designs, the Rucellai Palace in Florence (1446-1451) was built, the facade of the church of Santa Maria Novella (1456-1470), the churches of San Francesco in Rimini, San Sebastiano and Sant'Andrea in Mantua were rebuilt, which determined the direction in architecture 15th century
Alberti was also engaged in painting, tried his hand at sculpture. As the first theorist of Italian Renaissance art, he is known for the essay " Ten books on architecture" (1452), and a small Latin treatise " About the statue» (1464).
Bibliography
- Alberti Leon Battista. Ten books on architecture: In 2 volumes. M., 1935-1937
- Masters of Arts about art. T.2. The Renaissance / Ed. A. A. Huber, V. N. Grashchenkov. M., 1966
- Revyakina N.V.. Italian Renaissance. Humanism of the second half of the XIV-first half of the XV century. Novosibirsk, 1975
- Works of Italian humanists of the Renaissance (XV century) / Ed. L. M. Bragina. M., 1985
- History of culture of the countries of Western Europe in the Renaissance // Ed. L. M. Bragina. Moscow: Higher school, 2001
- Zubov V.P. Architectural theory of Alberti. - St. Petersburg: Aletheya, 2001. ISBN 5-89329-450-5.
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See what "Leon Battista Alberti" is in other dictionaries:
- (1404 1472) scientist, architect, art theorist of the Early Renaissance In our ancestors, wise and modest men most of all observed moderation and thrift in all other matters, public and private, especially in construction ... Consolidated encyclopedia of aphorisms
Statue of Alberti in the courtyard of the Uffizi Leon Battista Alberti (Italian Leone Battista Alberti; February 18, 1404, Genoa April 20, 1472, Rome) Italian scientist, humanist, writer, one of the founders of new European architecture and a leading theorist ... ... Wikipedia
- (1404 72) Italian scientist, architect, art theorist of the Early Renaissance. Theoretical treatises (On the statue, 1435, On painting, 1435 36, On architecture; published in 1485) summarized the experience of contemporary art and humanistic ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Alberti Leon Battista- Leon Battista Alberti A humanist with varied interests was Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472), who studied, among other things, philosophy, mathematics and architecture. The most famous are his works On architecture, On ... ... Western philosophy from its origins to the present day
Statue of Alberti in the courtyard of the Uffizi Wikipedia has articles about other people with this surname, see Alberti. Leon Battista Alberti (... Wikipedia
Alberti, Leon Battista- Leon Batista Alberti. Facade of the church in Santa Maria Novella. ALBERTI (Alberti) Leon Battista (1404-72), Italian scientist, architect, art theorist of the Early Renaissance. In theoretical treatises, he summarized the experience of contemporary art and ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
Leon Battista Alberti - one of the most gifted people of his time - an architect, painter, poet, musician, art theorist and scientist.
Alberti was born in Genoa in 1404, died in Rome in 1472. He came from a noble Florentine family expelled from his native city; He was educated in Padua and Bologna. After the amnesty of 1428, he settled in Florence, but for a long time he lived in Rome at the papal court. Architectural works: in Florence - the Rucellai Palazzo (1446-1451), the Rucellai loggia and chapel at the Church of San Pancrazio (completed in 1467), the choir of the Church of Santissima Annunziata (1472-1477), the facade of the Church of Santa Maria Novella ( 1456-1470); in Rimini - the church of San Francesco (1450-1461, damaged during the last war and now restored); in Mantua - the churches of San Sebastiano (1460-1472) and Sant'Andrea (early 1472; the dome dates back to 1763); in Rome, Alberti is credited, without sufficient justification, with the Palazzo Venezia and the facade of the Church of San Marco, as well as participation in the drafting of projects for the restructuring of Rome under Pope Nicholas V.
Theoretical works of Alberti - “Ten books on architecture”, “Three books on painting”, “On the statue”, “Mathematical fun”, etc. The treatise on the movement of weights has not survived to this day. Alberti is the author of a number of literary works - poems, dialogues.
Alberti, as a theoretical scientist who understood the role of architecture in the development of society exceptionally broadly, was interested in his creative activity not so much in the detailed development of the compositions he conceived and their implementation in kind, but in the problematic, typological side of each project, leaving their implementation to his assistants.
Palazzo Rucellai in Florence* - one of the first architectural works of Alberti, represents the next step in the development of the type of palace, more and more different (especially in its appearance) from the medieval city dwelling and more and more approaching the lifestyle and tastes of the wealthy Florentine bourgeoisie. The later reconstructions of the palace do not currently allow us to accurately establish the original location and purpose of the premises. Instead of the wide arched entrance to the courtyard, which is common in Florentine palazzos, a rectangular order portal was made from the side of the street. The courtyard of the palazzo has a rectangular shape with an arcade on two sides. The facade of the palazzo used a composition that later became very common: the rhythmic division of the rusticated wall of a three-story palace with three orders of pilasters. Starting from the Roman classical samples with an order arcade (Colosseum), Alberti reworked this theme, giving the facade a new artistic meaning and plastic expressiveness. On the façade, its “ideal scheme” is given, as it were, showing the relationship between the order frame and the wall that fills it, but also “works” (Fig. 27). Such a scheme, depicted by means of sandstone squares with which the facade is lined, by no means gives a naturalistic reproduction of the actual structure; she freely conveys its tectonic meaning in the forms of the ancient order language. The structure of the wall is conveyed by rustication and window openings, the arches of which are in close contact with the smooth surface of the pilasters, as if going into the thickness of the wall, which is emphasized by the deep grooves of rust on the sides of the pilasters. The three-tiered order frame corresponds to gradually decreasing upward floor-by-floor articulations of the facade.
* The building was commissioned by the wealthy Florentine merchant Giovanni Rucellai. According to contemporaries, the model of the palace was made by its builder Bernardo Rosselino. K. Stegman assumes that the four extreme right spans remained unfinished and that, according to the author's intention, the building should have had eleven axes with a central and two side entrances.
This principle is also observed when determining the dimensions of the main cornice; its height to the remote slab, including the supporting part with modulons, is proportional to the size of the order of the upper tier, and the remote slab is proportional to the height of the entire building (here, as in the Colosseum, with a rather large extension of the cornice slab, a system of structural modulons embedded in the wall and supporting the slab). In Palazzo Rucellai, thanks to the use of an order system, the sharp contrast between the harsh facade and the more ornate architecture of the courtyard, inherent in earlier palaces, is significantly softened. The order also helped to convincingly express the scale of the building when it was included in the ensemble of a narrow street.
The adopted facade system required a corresponding processing of architectural details inherent in earlier Florentine palaces: in the window opening between the column and two arches above it, an architrave was inserted, resting on the sides on two small pilasters; the arched openings of the passages to the courtyard were replaced by rectangular door portals framed by narrow architraves; the windows of the first floor have lost their fortified character, although they retain their small size.
Church of San Francesco in Rimini* was conceived by Alberti as a majestic domed mausoleum for the tyrant of Rimini Duke Malatesta, his relatives and associates. The project was only partially implemented, according to Alberti's plan, only the main and southern side facades were built (Fig. 28, 29). With the exception of two chapels, from which rebuilding began, the interior decoration of the church is variegated and is not connected with the architecture of the facades; this gives reason to think that it was not made according to Alberti's drawing.
* Rebuilding (1450-1461) of the Gothic monastery church was undertaken by the Duke of Malatesta to commemorate his military exploits. The main western facade in the upper part was not completed, the dome and the ceilings of the naves were not implemented, as well as the niches conceived by Alberti on the sides of the main entrance for the sarcophagi of Malatesta himself and his relatives. Alberti made a model of the temple, on which construction was carried out; it is depicted on a medal made by the builder of the church, the medalist Matteo da Pasti in 1469. The walls of the building are made of brick and lined with squares of limestone.
Made of large squares of smoothly hewn stone, the main and side facades are based on the processing of the architectural forms of ancient Rome. A low dome spanning the entire width of the building was supposed to complete this monumental volume with a heavy hemisphere (not implemented). The composition of the main façade is based on a peculiarly interpreted theme of a three-bay Roman triumphal arch, with large central and lateral arched bays and a monumental wall dissected to its full height by half-columns placed on pedestals. A high plinth, as in ancient Roman temples, raising the building above the ground, makes its volume especially impressive and majestic. The unfinished upper part of the main façade above the unraveled entablature was conceived with original curved semi-pediments above the side niches and a high, semi-circular ending, niche window in the center ( such completion of church buildings was widespread in northern Italy, especially in Venice ). This technique was associated with the system conceived by Alberti of overlapping the central nave of the church with a light wooden barrel vault, and the side naves with pitched roofs, the ends of which were hidden behind the semi-segments of the pediments. The curvature of the semi-pediments made it possible to create a smooth transition from the side to the elevated central nave. The existing inclined semi-pediments, which distorted Alberti's intention, are accidental and are not connected with the architecture of the entire structure.
The side facades in the form of a heavy Roman arcade on pillars, forming seven niches for sarcophagi, are simple and noble in form (Fig. 29). Successfully found weighted proportions of the facade, deep niches emphasizing the thickness of the wall, smooth stone surfaces of the pylons and walls above the arches with simple clear profiles of cornices and rods create a monumental image full of solemn rhythm.
In this temple-mausoleum, which reflected Alberti's dream of the greatness of ancient Rome and the glorification of a strong personality characteristic of humanism, religious ideas receded before the memorial purpose of the building.
However, there are inconsistencies in the building designed by Alberti: the marble inlay of the central niche is heavily crushed; the ornamentation of load-bearing architectural elements (the pedestals of the columns and the top of the plinth) is unsuccessful; the main façade is not sufficiently linked to the more cohesive and concise architecture of the side façade. This was due to the difficulties associated with the alteration of the old building.
In the church of San Francesco in Rimini, an attempt was made for the first time to create the facade of a Renaissance basilica church. The church facade is one of the most difficult problems of the architecture of the 15th century, reflecting the sharpness of the contradictions between the secular and church worldviews of the Renaissance. Alberti returned to this problem when reconstructing the facade of a medieval church. Santa Maria Novella in Florence. The facade of this church, richly inlaid with multi-colored marble, replaced the previously existing facade of a medieval basilica * (Fig. 30), from which a decorative arcade on both sides of the main entrance, portals of side entrances, niches for sarcophagi and multi-colored marble inlay above them have been preserved. The general proportions of the overweight building, stretched out in breadth, as well as its not very successful main articulations, are due to the pre-existing parts and dimensions of the building. The upper part of the facade underwent the most serious alteration. The plane of the high end wall of the central nave is finished with pilasters with a full entablature, a pediment and original volutes on the sides, creating a smooth transition from the elevated central nave to the side ones.
* The reconstruction of the facade of the church (1456-1470) was commissioned by Giovanni Rucellai, who decided, as Vasari reports, to make it "at his own expense and entirely of marble." Designed by Alberti.
A peculiar feature of the façade is an attempt to combine ancient forms with the forms and polychrome marble inlay of the Proto-Renaissance and Florentine Gothic façades.
The top of the building with a pediment and volutes, separated by a wide smooth frieze from the lower tier, is poorly connected with the latter and is perceived as a later superstructure. The location of the semi-columns of the first tier and their cleavages are hardly justified; the round window of the central nave is set too low. However, these, like many others, features of the composition were the result of the fact that Alberti was forced to reckon with pre-existing forms of construction.
The principles of constructing a two-tier church façade crowned with a pediment, with order divisions of each of the tiers, with an original pairing of the center and wings through decorative volutes, formed the basis of numerous church facades of the Renaissance and Baroque era (see p. 238).
It is necessary to note the work of Alberti on the construction Choir of the Church of Santissima Annunziata in Florence.
*Completed in 1477, the building was heavily distorted by later rebuilding and ornamentation of the 17th-19th centuries; only the basic forms of the interior have been preserved. The original design of the monastery church and round choir was drawn up by Michelozzo. Later, the order for the construction of the choir was transferred to Brunellesco's assistant, Antonio Manetti Ciaccheri, who in 1460 laid the foundations. Around 1470, Duke Lodovico Gonzago, who financed this construction, commissioned the design and construction of the choir to Alberti (see Fig. 20).
The shape of the hemispherical dome, covering the entire space of a small rotunda, determined the need for a crown of nine semicircular niches that extinguish the thrust. The interior of the rotunda is divided by pilasters with an entablature resting between the pilasters on archivolts of arched niches. Between the entablature and the base of the dome is a low drum cut through by nine windows. The composition of the choir as a whole goes back to ancient vaulted buildings, combining the features of the Pantheon and the temple of Minerva Medica, certainly known to Alberti.
According to the project of Alberti, the Rucellai Chapel was made at the church of San Pancrazio in Florence - a small, highly elongated room, including a sarcophagus lined with marble.
Among the architectural experiments of Alberti to create a new type of church building, a prominent place is occupied by the one built according to his project. Church of San Sebastiano in Mantua *. Here Alberti, the first of the Renaissance masters, based the composition of the church building on the shape of an equilateral Greek cross. Three branches of the cross are completed with semicircular niches, the fourth one forms a vestibule that connects the church with the forward vestibule-loggia of the main facade, designed to display relics, etc.
* The church was built by Alberti's assistant Luca Fancelli (1460-circa 1473) commissioned by the Duke of Mantua, Lodovico Gonzago. A two-flight side staircase leading to the vestibule and square chapels on the sides of the vestibule were added later. Little remains of the original details of the façade and interiors. The wooden dome collapsed, currently the building has a flat ceiling and no longer serves religious purposes.
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| Fig.31. Mantova. Church of San Sebastiano, 1460-1473 General view after reconstruction. Façade designed by Alberti 1460, plan and east façade based on drawings from the 15th century. |
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If we believe the drawing of the church attributed to Alberti (Fig. 31), which has come down to us, then in this structure there has been a pyramidal-step differentiation of the internal space and volume of the building, which was further developed at the end of the 15th and in the 16th century. in the buildings of Bramante and in the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci.
The interior with a dome on sails and barrel vaults over the branches of the cross is conceived as a spectacular, growing centric composition with a gradual enlargement of internal spaces towards the center. Alberti reduced the width of the branches of the cross in relation to the middle cross. Thus, the sails should not have rested on the girth arches of the cylindrical ceilings of the branches of the cross, while the role of buttresses, taking the thrust of the dome, was taken by the incoming corners formed by the walls of the cross at their junction with the main volume of the church. All this significantly changed the traditional cross-domed system of Byzantine churches.
Apparently, the facade of the church was conceived as a five-span portico of pilasters crowned with a high pediment with an entablature torn in the center by an arch of a large window opening. According to the ancient Roman tradition, the façade was raised on a high stepped podium, from which five entrances of different heights and framing led to the front vestibule.
If Brunellesco in the Pazzi Chapel, with an almost similar organization of the facade, built a centric composition on a rectangular plan, then Alberti gives a different solution to this problem.
In Mantua, Alberti made another, perhaps the most mature and consistent attempt to create a new church building and its facade, consistent with the secular ideals of the Renaissance. Church of Sant'Andrea in Mantua* in terms of size and design - the most significant work of Alberti (Fig. 32-34).
* The church was commissioned by Lodovico Gonzago. It began to build after the death of Alberti Luca Fancelli, who made a model of the church. In all likelihood, many of the details and decor belong to him. The dome was built in 1763 by Yuvara. The building is built of brick, the pillars of the facade arch, pedestals and bases of pilasters, capitals, door frames are made of marble, all other details on the facade and in the interior are plaster or terracotta.
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The traditional basilica composition received a new spatial interpretation: the side naves were replaced by chapels, and the main one was greatly expanded and turned into a front hall, covered with a richly coffered barrel vault. The choir and branches of the transept are covered with the same vaults. The maximum unification of space was caused by Alberti's desire to make the interior as majestic as possible.
For the first time in the architecture of the Renaissance, in the altar part of the basilica, the Byzantine cross-domed system was given a new character by the use of ancient Roman architectural forms and decor. The thrust of the heavy cylindrical vault of the main nave is extinguished by the side chapels, which form a rigid system of spatial buttresses; the spread of the dome on sails with a high heavy light drum is offset by the cylindrical vaults of the main nave, transept and choir.
Alberti's main goal is to eliminate contradictions between the basilica and centric parts of the building ( Brunellesco also aspired to this, but in both of his basilicas, the flat ceilings of the main nave and transept branches did not solve the problem) - achieved by a single-nave composition and the use of a cross-domed system. The elongation of one of the ends of the cross creates the predominance of the longitudinal axis without disturbing the centric structure of the altar part, which opens entirely into the space of the nave. The unity of the interior is also emphasized by the wall division system: an order entablature under the heel of the cylindrical vault encircles the entire room.
Unlike Brunellesco, the order system here forms both a structurally and visually integral whole with the planes of the walls, pylons, cornices and decorative inserts.
Large, almost the entire width of the building, the vestibule opens onto the square with a wide arch, which emphasizes the public character of the building. The main facade, as in the church of San Francesco in Rimini, is based on the motif of a three-bay Roman triumphal arch; gigantic, full-height facade pilasters and a huge arch of the central entrance are completed with an architrave and a flat triangular pediment. However, here this technique is more organic and more closely connected with the composition of the entire building. The divisions of the main façade on a different scale are repeated many times in the interior. The tripartite articulation of the facade is at the same time the basis of the structure of the interior, the rhythmic alternation of large and small chapels, forming repeating groups. With this technique, Alberti implements one of the provisions of his treatise, which requires the unity of compositional techniques used in the development of the interiors and exterior of the building. In the same building, another theoretical position was observed that arches should not rest on columns, since this contradicts the meaning of the architectural structures of the ancient order ( L.B. Alberti. Ten books on architecture. M., 1935, I, p. 252 ).
In the facade of the church, one can note the inconsistency of the three-tiered structure of the side parts of the main facade with the single space of the temple; mechanical connection of the order, covering the entire building, and the order under the heels of the arch of the main entrance; dryness, handicraft study of the forms and details of the pediment, capitals, bases, plinths and cornices.
Like Brunellesco, Alberti was a great innovator in architecture. With all the imperfection of execution, the ideas embodied in his buildings expressed the aspirations of the era and had a strong influence on the development of Renaissance architecture. In the work of Alberti and the direction that took shape by the middle of the 15th century, ancient, mainly Roman, principles prevailed. This was reflected in a more consistent and broader use of the ancient order system, in the unity of the volumetric and spatial structure and in emphasized monumentalization.
"Dignity" (dignitas) as an expression of greatness was Alberti's motto and the most characteristic feature of his works. In the middle of the XV century. rich and noble customers of Alberti were more impressed by this trait. The architecture of Brunellesco - refined, free from overweight monumentality - no longer satisfied them.
Alberti devoted a significant part of his treatise on architecture to ancient Roman architecture and its principles, also using the building experience of modern masters. Of all the theorists of Renaissance architecture, Alberti came closest to the real embodiment of his provisions. This applies not only to purely building principles, but also to broader principles: to the correspondence of the building to its function and social significance, its location in the city, to the proportions of the premises, to the use of the order system, the unity of volume and interior. Hence the variety of compositional techniques and forms, even in buildings for religious purposes. Alberti is credited with the introduction into architecture of a multi-tiered order composition, a large order (perhaps partly anticipated by Brunellesco in his Palazzo di Parte Guelph), portals antique in detail, etc.
The direction created by Alberti spread widely and developed not only in Italy in the 16th century, but in almost all European countries in the 17th-19th centuries. The so-called classicism of the 17th-19th centuries owes a lot to Alberti.
Chapter “Architecture of Tuscany, Umbria, Marches”, section “Renaissance architecture in Italy”, encyclopedia “General history of architecture. Volume V. Architecture of Western Europe XV-XVI centuries. Renaissance". Managing editor: V.F. Marcuson. Authors: V.E. Bykov, (Tuscany, Umbria), A.I. Venediktov (Marki), T.N. Kozina (Florence - city). Moscow, Stroyizdat, 1967
» the idea of a polyalphabetic cipher.
Biography
Born in Genoa, he came from a noble Florentine family in exile in Genoa. He studied liberal arts in Padua and law in Bologna. In 1428 he graduated from the University of Bologna, after which he received the post of secretary from Cardinal Albergati, and in 1432 - a place in the papal office, where he served for more than thirty years. In 1462, Alberti left the service in the Curia and lived in Rome until his death.
Alberti's humanistic worldview
Harmony
The multifaceted activity of Leon Battista Alberti is a vivid example of the universality of the interests of a Renaissance man. Versatilely gifted and educated, he made a major contribution to the theory of art and architecture, to literature and architecture, was fond of the problems of ethics and pedagogy, studied mathematics and cartography. The central place in Alberti's aesthetics belongs to the doctrine of harmony as an important natural pattern, which a person must not only take into account in all his activities, but also extend his own creativity to different areas of his being. The outstanding thinker and talented writer Alberti created a consistently humanistic doctrine of man, opposed by its secularism to the official orthodoxy. Creation of oneself, physical perfection - become the goal, as well as the spiritual.
Human
The ideal person, according to Alberti, harmoniously combines the powers of the mind and will, creative activity and peace of mind. He is wise, guided in his actions by the principles of measure, has a consciousness of his dignity. All this gives the image created by Alberti, features of greatness. The ideal of a harmonious personality put forward by him had an impact both on the development of humanistic ethics and on Renaissance art, including in the portrait genre. It is this type of person that is embodied in the images of painting, graphics and sculpture in Italy of that time, in the masterpieces of Antonello da Messina, Piero della Francesca, Andrea Mantegna and other major masters. Alberti wrote many of his works in Volgar, which greatly contributed to the wide dissemination of his ideas in Italian society, including among artists.
| Nature, that is, God, has placed in man a heavenly and divine element, incomparably more beautiful and noble than anything mortal. She gave him talent, learning ability, intelligence - divine properties, thanks to which he can explore, distinguish and know what he must avoid and follow in order to preserve himself. In addition to these great and priceless gifts, God has placed in the human soul moderation, restraint against passions and excessive desires, as well as shame, modesty and the desire to deserve praise. In addition, God implanted in people the need for a firm mutual connection that supports community, justice, justice, generosity and love, and with all this a person can earn gratitude and praise from people, and from his creator - favor and mercy. God has placed in the human breast the ability to endure any work, any misfortune, any blow of fate, to overcome all sorts of difficulties, to overcome sorrow, not to be afraid of death. He gave man strength, steadfastness, firmness, strength, contempt for insignificant trifles ... Therefore, be convinced that a person is born not to drag out a sad existence in inaction, but to work on a great and grandiose deed. By this he can, firstly, please God and honor him, and, secondly, acquire for himself the most perfect virtues and complete happiness. (Leon Battista Alberti) |
Creativity and work
The initial premise of Alberti's humanistic concept is the inalienable belonging of man to the world of nature, which the humanist interprets from pantheistic positions as the bearer of the divine principle. A person, included in the world order, is in the power of its laws - harmony and perfection. The harmony of man and nature is determined by his ability to cognize the world, to a reasonable, striving for good existence. The responsibility for moral perfection, which has both personal and social significance, Alberti lays on the people themselves. The choice between good and evil depends on the free will of man. The humanist saw the main purpose of the individual in creativity, which he understood widely - from the work of a modest artisan to the heights of scientific and artistic activity. Alberti especially appreciated the work of an architect - the organizer of people's lives, the creator of reasonable and beautiful conditions for their existence. In the creative ability of man, the humanist saw his main difference from the animal world. Labor for Alberti is not a punishment for original sin, as church morality taught, but a source of spiritual uplift, material wealth and glory. " In idleness people become weak and worthless”, moreover, only life practice itself reveals the great possibilities inherent in a person. " The art of living is comprehended in deeds", - emphasized Alberti. The ideal of an active life makes his ethics related to civil humanism, but there are also many features in it that allow us to characterize Alberti's teaching as an independent trend in humanism. 
Family
An important role in the upbringing of a person who vigorously increases his own benefits and the benefits of society and the state through honest work, Alberti assigned to the family. In it, he saw the basic cell of the entire system of social order. The humanist paid much attention to family foundations, especially in the dialogues written in Wolgar " About family" And " Domostroy". In them, he addresses the problems of upbringing and primary education of the younger generation, solving them from a humanistic position. It defines the principle of the relationship between parents and children, bearing in mind the main goal - strengthening the family, its inner harmony.
Family and society
In the economic practice of Alberti's time, family commercial, industrial and financial companies played an important role, in this regard, the humanist also considers the family as the basis of economic activity. He associated the path to the well-being and wealth of the family with reasonable housekeeping, with hoarding based on the principles of thrift, diligent care of business, hard work. Alberti considered dishonest methods of enrichment unacceptable (partly at odds with merchant practice and mentality), because they deprive the family of a good reputation. The humanist advocated such relations between the individual and society, in which personal interest is consistent with the interests of other people. However, in contrast to the ethics of civil humanism, Alberti believed it possible, under certain circumstances, to put the interests of the family above momentary public good. He, for example, recognized as acceptable the refusal of public service for the sake of concentrating on economic work, since, in the final analysis, as the humanist believed, the well-being of the state is based on the solid material foundations of individual families.
Society
Alberti society itself thinks as a harmonious unity of all its layers, which should be facilitated by the activities of the rulers. Pondering the conditions of achievement social harmony, Alberti in the treatise " About architecture"draws an ideal city, beautiful in terms of rational planning and the appearance of buildings, streets, squares. The entire living environment of a person is arranged here in such a way that it meets the needs of the individual, family, and society as a whole. The city is divided into different spatial zones: in the center are the buildings of the higher magistracies and the palaces of the rulers, on the outskirts - quarters of artisans and small merchants. The palaces of the upper stratum of society are thus spatially separated from the dwellings of the poor. This urban planning principle, according to Alberti, should prevent the harmful consequences of possible popular unrest. The ideal city of Alberti is characterized, however, by the equal improvement of all its parts for the life of people of different social status and the accessibility of all its inhabitants to beautiful public buildings - schools, thermal baths, theaters.
The embodiment of ideas about the ideal city in a word or image was one of the typical features of the Italian Renaissance culture. The architect Filarete, the scientist and artist Leonardo da Vinci, the authors of social utopias of the 16th century paid tribute to the projects of such cities. They reflected the dream of humanists about the harmony of human society, about the excellent external conditions that contribute to its stability and the happiness of every person.
Moral perfection
Like many humanists, Alberti shared ideas about the possibility of ensuring social peace through the moral improvement of each person, the development of his active virtue and creativity. At the same time, being a thoughtful analyst of life practice and people's psychology, he saw " human kingdom in all the complexity of its contradictions: refusing to be guided by reason and knowledge, people sometimes become destroyers rather than creators of harmony in the earthly world. Alberti's doubts found vivid expression in his " Mome" And " table talk”, but did not become decisive for the main line of his reflections. The ironic perception of the reality of human deeds, characteristic of these works, did not shake the deep faith of the humanist in the creative power of man, who is called to equip the world according to the laws of reason and beauty. Many of Alberti's ideas were further developed in the work of Leonardo da Vinci.
Creation
Literature
Alberti wrote his first works in the 1920s. - comedy " Philodox"(1425)," Deifira"(1428) and others. In the 30s - early 40s. created a number of works in Latin - " On the advantages and disadvantages of scientists"(1430), "On Law" (1437), " Pontifex"(1437); dialogues in Volgar on ethical topics - " About family"(1434-1441)," About peace of mind» (1443).
In the 50-60s. Alberti wrote a satirical-allegorical cycle " table talk"- his main works in the field of literature, which became examples of Latin humanistic prose of the 15th century. Alberti's latest works: " On the principles of compiling codes” (a mathematical treatise, subsequently lost) and a dialogue in Volgar “ Domostroy» (1470).
Alberti was one of the first to advocate the use of the Italian language in literary work. His elegies and eclogues are the first examples of these genres in Italian.
Alberti created a largely original (dating back to Plato, Aristotle, Xenophon and Cicero) concept of man based on the idea of harmony. Alberti's ethics - secular in nature - was distinguished by attention to the problem of man's earthly existence, his moral perfection. He exalted the natural abilities of man, valued knowledge, creativity, and the human mind. In the teachings of Alberti, the ideal of a harmonious personality received the most integral expression. Alberti united all the potential abilities of a person with the concept virtual(valor, ability). It is in the power of man to reveal these natural abilities and become a full-fledged creator of his own destiny. According to Alberti, upbringing and education should develop the properties of nature in a person. Human abilities. his mind, will, courage help him survive in the fight against the goddess of chance, Fortuna. The ethical concept of Alberti is full of faith in the ability of a person to rationally arrange his life, family, society, and state. Alberti considered the family to be the main social unit. 
Architecture
Alberti the architect had a great influence on the formation of the High Renaissance style. Following Filippo, Brunelleschi developed antique motifs in architecture. According to his designs, the Palazzo Rucellai in Florence (1446-1451) was built, the church of Santissima Annunziata, the facade of the church of Santa Maria Novella (1456-1470), the churches of San Francesco in Rimini, San Sebastiano and Sant'Andrea in Mantua were rebuilt - buildings that determined the main direction in Quattrocento architecture.
Alberti was also engaged in painting, tried his hand at sculpture. As the first theorist of Italian Renaissance art, he is known for the essay " Ten books on architecture" (De re aedificatoria) (1452), and a small Latin treatise " About the statue» (1464).
Bibliography
- Alberti Leon Battista. Ten books on architecture: In 2 volumes - M., 1935-1937.
- Alberti Leon Battista. Family books. - M.: Languages of Slavic cultures, 2008.
- Masters of Arts about art. T. 2: Renaissance / Ed. A. A. Guber, V. N. Grashchenkov. - M., 1966.
- Revyakina N.V. Italian Renaissance. Humanism of the second half of the XIV - the first half of the XV century. - Novosibirsk, 1975.
- Abramson M. L. From Dante to Alberti / Ed. ed. corresponding member Academy of Sciences of the USSR Z. V. Udaltsova. USSR Academy of Sciences. - M .: Nauka, 1979. - 176, p. - (From the history of world culture). - 75,000 copies.(reg.)
- Works of Italian humanists of the Renaissance (XV century) / Ed. L. M. Bragina. - M., 1985.
- History of culture of the countries of Western Europe in the Renaissance / Ed. L. M. Bragina. - M.: Higher school, 2001.
- Zubov V.P. Alberti's architectural theory. - St. Petersburg: Aletheya, 2001. - ISBN 5-89329-450-5.
- Anikst A. Outstanding architect and art theorist // Architecture of the USSR. 1973. No. 6. S. 33-35.
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- Danilova I.E. Alberti and Florence. M., 1997. (Readings on the history and theory of culture. Issue 18. Russian State University for the Humanities. Institute of Higher Humanitarian Studies). (Reprinted with an appendix: Danilova I.E. "The fullness of times has come to pass..." Reflections on art. Articles, sketches, notes. M., 2004. P. 394-450).
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- Enenkel K. The origin of the Renaissance ideal "uomo universale". "Autobiography" by Leon Battista Alberti // Man in the culture of the Renaissance. M., 2001. S. 79-86.
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- Pavlov V.I. L.-B. Alberti and the invention of pictorial linear perspective // Italian collection 3. St. Petersburg, 1999. P. 23-34.
- Revzina Yu. Church of San Francesco in Rimini. Architectural project in the view of Alberti and his contemporaries // Questions of Art History. XI(2/97). M., 1997. pp. 428-448.
- Venediktov A. Renaissance in Rimini. M., 1970.
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Notes
Links
- // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
Excerpt characterizing Alberti, Leon Battista
- I'll let you run around the yards! he shouted.Alpatych returned to the hut and, calling the coachman, ordered him to leave. Following Alpatych and the coachman, all Ferapontov's household went out. Seeing the smoke and even the lights of the fires, which were now visible in the beginning twilight, the women, who had been silent until then, suddenly began to wail, looking at the fires. As if echoing them, the same weeping was heard at the other ends of the street. Alpatych with a coachman, with trembling hands, straightened the tangled reins and horses' lines under a canopy.
When Alpatych was leaving the gate, he saw ten soldiers in the open shop of Ferapontov pouring sacks and knapsacks with wheat flour and sunflowers with a loud voice. At the same time, returning from the street to the shop, Ferapontov entered. Seeing the soldiers, he wanted to shout something, but suddenly stopped and, clutching his hair, burst out laughing with sobbing laughter.
- Get it all, guys! Don't get the devils! he shouted, grabbing the sacks himself and throwing them out into the street. Some soldiers, frightened, ran out, some continued to pour. Seeing Alpatych, Ferapontov turned to him.
- Decided! Russia! he shouted. - Alpatych! decided! I'll burn it myself. I made up my mind ... - Ferapontov ran into the yard.
Soldiers were constantly walking along the street, filling it all up, so that Alpatych could not pass and had to wait. The hostess Ferapontova was also sitting on the cart with the children, waiting to be able to leave.
It was already quite night. There were stars in the sky and a young moon shone from time to time, shrouded in smoke. On the descent to the Dnieper, the carts of Alpatych and the hostess, slowly moving in the ranks of soldiers and other crews, had to stop. Not far from the crossroads where the carts stopped, in an alley, a house and shops were on fire. The fire has already burned out. The flame either died away and was lost in black smoke, then it suddenly flashed brightly, strangely clearly illuminating the faces of the crowded people standing at the crossroads. In front of the fire, black figures of people flashed by, and from behind the incessant crackle of the fire, voices and screams were heard. Alpatych, who got down from the wagon, seeing that they would not let his wagon through soon, turned to the alley to look at the fire. The soldiers darted incessantly back and forth past the fire, and Alpatych saw how two soldiers and with them a man in a frieze overcoat dragged burning logs from the fire across the street to the neighboring yard; others carried armfuls of hay.
Alpatych approached a large crowd of people standing in front of a high barn burning with full fire. The walls were all on fire, the back collapsed, the boarded roof collapsed, the beams were on fire. Obviously, the crowd was waiting for the moment when the roof would collapse. Alpatych expected the same.
- Alpatych! Suddenly a familiar voice called out to the old man.
“Father, your excellency,” answered Alpatych, instantly recognizing the voice of his young prince.
Prince Andrei, in a raincoat, riding a black horse, stood behind the crowd and looked at Alpatych.
– How are you here? - he asked.
- Your ... your Excellency, - Alpatych said and sobbed ... - Yours, yours ... or have we already disappeared? Father…
– How are you here? repeated Prince Andrew.
The flame flared brightly at that moment and illuminated Alpatych's pale and exhausted face of his young master. Alpatych told how he was sent and how he could have left by force.
“Well, Your Excellency, or are we lost?” he asked again.
Prince Andrei, without answering, took out a notebook and, raising his knee, began to write with a pencil on a torn sheet. He wrote to his sister:
“Smolensk is being surrendered,” he wrote, “the Bald Mountains will be occupied by the enemy in a week. Leave now for Moscow. Answer me as soon as you leave, sending a courier to Usvyazh.
Having written and handed over the sheet to Alpatych, he verbally told him how to arrange the departure of the prince, princess and son with the teacher and how and where to answer him immediately. He had not yet had time to complete these orders, when the chief of staff on horseback, accompanied by his retinue, galloped up to him.
- Are you a colonel? shouted the chief of staff, with a German accent, in a voice familiar to Prince Andrei. - Houses are lit in your presence, and you are standing? What does this mean? You will answer, - shouted Berg, who was now assistant chief of staff of the left flank of the infantry troops of the first army, - the place is very pleasant and in sight, as Berg said.
Prince Andrei looked at him and, without answering, continued, turning to Alpatych:
“So tell me that I’m waiting for an answer by the tenth, and if I don’t get the news on the tenth that everyone has left, I myself will have to drop everything and go to the Bald Mountains.
“I, prince, only say so,” said Berg, recognizing Prince Andrei, “that I must obey orders, because I always fulfill them exactly ... Please excuse me,” Berg justified himself in some way.
Something crackled in the fire. The fire subsided for a moment; black puffs of smoke poured from under the roof. Something else crackled terribly in the fire, and something huge collapsed.
– Urruru! - Echoing the collapsed ceiling of the barn, from which there was a smell of cakes from burnt bread, the crowd roared. The flame flared up and illuminated the animatedly joyful and exhausted faces of the people standing around the fire.
A man in a frieze overcoat, raising his hand, shouted:
- Important! go fight! Guys, it's important!
“This is the master himself,” voices said.
“So, so,” said Prince Andrei, turning to Alpatych, “tell everything as I told you.” And, without answering a word to Berg, who fell silent beside him, he touched the horse and rode into the alley.
The troops continued to retreat from Smolensk. The enemy was following them. On August 10, the regiment, commanded by Prince Andrei, passed along the high road, past the avenue leading to the Bald Mountains. The heat and drought lasted for more than three weeks. Curly clouds moved across the sky every day, occasionally obscuring the sun; but towards evening it cleared again, and the sun set in a brownish-red mist. Only heavy dew at night refreshed the earth. The bread remaining on the root burned and spilled out. The swamps have dried up. The cattle roared from hunger, not finding food in the meadows burned by the sun. Only at night and in the forests the dew still held, it was cool. But along the road, along the high road along which the troops marched, even at night, even through the forests, there was no such coolness. The dew was not noticeable on the sandy dust of the road, which was pushed up more than a quarter of an arshin. As soon as it dawned, the movement began. Convoys, artillery silently walked along the hub, and the infantry ankle-deep in soft, stuffy, hot dust that had not cooled down during the night. One part of this sandy dust was kneaded by feet and wheels, the other rose and stood like a cloud over the army, sticking to the eyes, hair, ears, nostrils and, most importantly, the lungs of people and animals moving along this road. The higher the sun rose, the higher the cloud of dust rose, and through this thin, hot dust it was possible to look at the sun, not covered by clouds, with a simple eye. The sun was a big crimson ball. There was no wind, and people were suffocating in this still atmosphere. People walked with handkerchiefs around their noses and mouths. Coming to the village, everything rushed to the wells. They fought for water and drank it to the dirt.
Prince Andrei commanded the regiment, and the structure of the regiment, the well-being of its people, the need to receive and give orders occupied him. The fire of Smolensk and its abandonment were an epoch for Prince Andrei. A new feeling of bitterness against the enemy made him forget his grief. He was completely devoted to the affairs of his regiment, he was caring for his people and officers and affectionate with them. In the regiment they called him our prince, they were proud of him and loved him. But he was kind and meek only with his regimental officers, with Timokhin, etc., with completely new people and in a foreign environment, with people who could not know and understand his past; but as soon as he ran into one of his former staff members, he immediately bristled again; became malicious, mocking and contemptuous. Everything that connected his memory with the past repulsed him, and therefore he tried in the relations of this former world only not to be unjust and to fulfill his duty.
True, everything was presented in a dark, gloomy light to Prince Andrei - especially after they left Smolensk (which, according to his concepts, could and should have been defended) on August 6, and after his father, who was sick, had to flee to Moscow and throw away the Bald Mountains, so beloved, built up and inhabited by him, for plunder; but, despite the fact, thanks to the regiment, Prince Andrei could think about another subject, completely independent of general questions - about his regiment. On August 10, the column, in which his regiment was, caught up with the Bald Mountains. Prince Andrei two days ago received the news that his father, son and sister had left for Moscow. Although Prince Andrei had nothing to do in the Bald Mountains, he, with his characteristic desire to inflame his grief, decided that he should call in the Bald Mountains.
He ordered his horse to be saddled and from the crossing rode on horseback to his father's village, in which he was born and spent his childhood. Passing by a pond, where dozens of women always talked, beat with rollers and rinsed their clothes, Prince Andrei noticed that there was no one on the pond, and a torn-off raft, half flooded with water, floated sideways in the middle of the pond. Prince Andrei drove up to the gatehouse. There was no one at the stone entrance gate, and the door was unlocked. The garden paths were already overgrown, and the calves and horses were walking through the English park. Prince Andrei drove up to the greenhouse; the windows were broken, and the trees in tubs, some felled, some withered. He called Taras the gardener. Nobody responded. Going around the greenhouse to the exhibition, he saw that the carved board fence was all broken and the plum fruits were plucked with branches. An old peasant (Prince Andrei had seen him at the gate in his childhood) was sitting and weaving bast shoes on a green bench.
He was deaf and did not hear the entrance of Prince Andrei. He was sitting on a bench, on which the old prince liked to sit, and beside him was hung a bast on the knots of a broken and withered magnolia.
Prince Andrei drove up to the house. Several lindens in the old garden were cut down, one piebald horse with a foal walked in front of the house between the roses. The house was boarded up with shutters. One window downstairs was open. The yard boy, seeing Prince Andrei, ran into the house.
Alpatych, having sent his family, remained alone in the Bald Mountains; he sat at home and read the Lives. Upon learning of the arrival of Prince Andrei, he, with glasses on his nose, buttoning up, left the house, hurriedly approached the prince and, without saying anything, wept, kissing Prince Andrei on the knee.
Then he turned away with a heart to his weakness and began to report to him on the state of affairs. Everything valuable and expensive was taken to Bogucharovo. Bread, up to a hundred quarters, was also exported; hay and spring, unusual, as Alpatych said, this year's green harvest was taken and mowed - by the troops. The peasants are ruined, some have also gone to Bogucharovo, a small part remains.
Prince Andrei, without listening to the end, asked when his father and sister left, meaning when they left for Moscow. Alpatych answered, believing that they were asking about leaving for Bogucharovo, that they had left on the seventh, and again spread about the farm's shares, asking for permission.
- Will you order the oats to be released on receipt to the teams? We still have six hundred quarters left,” Alpatych asked.
“What to answer him? - thought Prince Andrei, looking at the old man's bald head shining in the sun and reading in his expression the consciousness that he himself understands the untimeliness of these questions, but asks only in such a way as to drown out his grief.
“Yes, let go,” he said.
“If they deigned to notice the unrest in the garden,” Alpatych said, “then it was impossible to prevent: three regiments passed and spent the night, especially dragoons. I wrote out the rank and rank of commander for filing a petition.
- Well, what are you going to do? Will you stay if the enemy takes? Prince Andrew asked him.
Alpatych, turning his face to Prince Andrei, looked at him; and suddenly raised his hand in a solemn gesture.
“He is my patron, may his will be done!” he said.
A crowd of peasants and servants walked across the meadow, with open heads, approaching Prince Andrei.
- Well, goodbye! - said Prince Andrei, bending over to Alpatych. - Leave yourself, take away what you can, and the people were told to leave for Ryazanskaya or Moscow Region. - Alpatych clung to his leg and sobbed. Prince Andrei carefully pushed him aside and, touching his horse, galloped down the alley.
At the exhibition, still as indifferent as a fly on the face of a dear dead man, an old man sat and tapped on a block of bast shoes, and two girls with plums in their skirts, which they picked from greenhouse trees, fled from there and stumbled upon Prince Andrei. Seeing the young master, the older girl, with fright expressed on her face, grabbed her smaller companion by the hand and hid behind a birch together with her, not having time to pick up the scattered green plums.
Prince Andrei hastily turned away from them in fright, afraid to let them notice that he had seen them. He felt sorry for this pretty, frightened girl. He was afraid to look at her, but at the same time he had an irresistible desire to do so. A new, gratifying and reassuring feeling came over him when, looking at these girls, he realized the existence of other, completely alien to him and just as legitimate human interests as those that occupied him. These girls, obviously, passionately desired one thing - to carry away and finish eating these green plums and not be caught, and Prince Andrei together with them wished the success of their enterprise. He couldn't help but look at them again. Considering themselves to be safe, they jumped out of the ambush and, holding their hemlines in thin voices, ran merrily and quickly across the grass of the meadow with their tanned bare legs.
Prince Andrei refreshed himself a little, having left the dusty area of the high road along which the troops were moving. But not far beyond the Bald Mountains, he again drove onto the road and caught up with his regiment at a halt, by the dam of a small pond. It was the second hour after noon. The sun, a red ball in the dust, was unbearably hot and burned his back through his black coat. The dust, still the same, stood motionless over the voice of the humming, halted troops. There was no wind. In the passage along the dam, Prince Andrei smelled of the mud and freshness of the pond. He wanted to get into the water, no matter how dirty it was. He looked back at the pond, from which cries and laughter were coming. A small muddy pond with greenery, apparently, rose a quarter by two, flooding the dam, because it was full of human, soldier, naked white bodies floundering in it, with brick-red hands, faces and necks. All this naked, white human meat, with laughter and a boom, floundered in this dirty puddle, like crucian carp stuffed into a watering can. This floundering echoed with merriment, and therefore it was especially sad.
One young blond soldier - even Prince Andrei knew him - of the third company, with a strap under the calf, crossed himself, stepped back to take a good run and flounder into the water; the other, a black, always shaggy non-commissioned officer, waist-deep in water, twitching his muscular frame, snorted joyfully, watering his head with his black hands. There was slapping and screeching and hooting.
On the banks, on the dam, in the pond, everywhere there was white, healthy, muscular meat. Officer Timokhin, with a red nose, wiped himself on the dam and felt ashamed when he saw the prince, but decided to turn to him:
- That's good, your Excellency, you would please! - he said.
“Dirty,” said Prince Andrei, grimacing.
We'll clean it up for you. - And Timokhin, not yet dressed, ran to clean.
The prince wants.
- Which? Our prince? - voices began to speak, and everyone hurried so that Prince Andrei managed to calm them down. He thought it better to pour himself in the barn.
“Meat, body, chair a canon [cannon fodder]! - he thought, looking at his naked body, and shuddering not so much from the cold, but from disgust and horror, incomprehensible to him, at the sight of this huge number of bodies rinsing in a dirty pond.
On August 7, Prince Bagration wrote the following in his camp at Mikhailovka on the Smolensk road:
“Dear sir, Count Alexei Andreevich.
(He wrote to Arakcheev, but he knew that his letter would be read by the sovereign, and therefore, as far as he was capable of doing so, he considered his every word.)
I think that the Minister has already reported on leaving Smolensk to the enemy. It hurts, sadly, and the whole army is in despair that the most important place was abandoned in vain. I, for my part, asked him personally in the most convincing way, and finally wrote; but nothing agreed with him. I swear to you on my honor that Napoleon was in such a bag as never before, and he could lose half the army, but not take Smolensk. Our troops have fought and are fighting like never before. I held on with 15,000 for over 35 hours and beat them; but he did not want to stay even 14 hours. It's a shame and a stain on our army; and he himself, it seems to me, should not live in the world. If he conveys that the loss is great, it is not true; maybe about 4 thousand, no more, but not even that. At least ten, how to be, war! But the enemy lost the abyss ...
Leon Battista Alberti (Leone Battista Alberti; February 18, 1404, Genoa - April 25, 1472, Rome)
General History of Architecture:
Leon Battista Alberti - one of the most gifted people of his time - an architect, painter, poet, musician, art theorist and scientist.
Alberti was born in Genoa in 1404, died in Rome in 1472. He came from a noble Florentine family expelled from his native city; He was educated in Padua and Bologna. After the amnesty of 1428, he settled in Florence, but for a long time he lived in Rome at the papal court. Architectural works: in Florence - the Rucellai Palazzo (1446-1451), the Rucellai loggia and chapel at the Church of San Pancrazio (completed in 1467), the choir of the Church of Santissima Annunziata (1472-1477), the facade of the Church of Santa Maria Novella ( 1456-1470); in Rimini - the church of San Francesco (1450-1461, damaged during the last war and now restored); in Mantua - the churches of San Sebastiano (1460-1472) and Sant'Andrea (early 1472; the dome dates back to 1763); in Rome, Alberti is credited, without sufficient justification, with the Palazzo Venezia and the facade of the Church of San Marco, as well as participation in the drafting of projects for the restructuring of Rome under Pope Nicholas V.
Theoretical works of Alberti - “Ten books on architecture”, “Three books on painting”, “On the statue”, “Mathematical fun”, etc. The treatise on the movement of weights has not survived to this day. Alberti is the author of a number of literary works - poems, dialogues.
Alberti, as a theoretical scientist who understood the role of architecture in the development of society exceptionally broadly, was interested in his creative activity not so much in the detailed development of the compositions he conceived and their implementation in kind, but in the problematic, typological side of each project, leaving their implementation to his assistants.
Palazzo Rucellai in Florence* - one of the first architectural works of Alberti, represents the next step in the development of the type of palace, more and more different (especially in its appearance) from the medieval city dwelling and more and more approaching the lifestyle and tastes of the wealthy Florentine bourgeoisie. The later reconstructions of the palace do not currently allow us to accurately establish the original location and purpose of the premises. Instead of the wide arched entrance to the courtyard, which is common in Florentine palazzos, a rectangular order portal was made from the side of the street. The courtyard of the palazzo has a rectangular shape with an arcade on two sides. The facade of the palazzo used a composition that later became very common: the rhythmic division of the rusticated wall of a three-story palace with three orders of pilasters. Starting from the Roman classical samples with an order arcade (Colosseum), Alberti reworked this theme, giving the facade a new artistic meaning and plastic expressiveness. On the façade, its “ideal scheme” is given, as it were, showing the relationship between the order frame and the wall that fills it, but also “works” (Fig. 27). Such a scheme, depicted by means of sandstone squares with which the facade is lined, by no means gives a naturalistic reproduction of the actual structure; she freely conveys its tectonic meaning in the forms of the ancient order language. The structure of the wall is conveyed by rustication and window openings, the arches of which are in close contact with the smooth surface of the pilasters, as if going into the thickness of the wall, which is emphasized by the deep grooves of rust on the sides of the pilasters. The three-tiered order frame corresponds to gradually decreasing upward floor-by-floor articulations of the facade.
* The building was commissioned by the wealthy Florentine merchant Giovanni Rucellai. According to contemporaries, the model of the palace was made by its builder Bernardo Rosselino. K. Stegman assumes that the four extreme right spans remained unfinished and that, according to the author's intention, the building should have had eleven axes with a central and two side entrances.
This principle is also observed when determining the dimensions of the main cornice; its height to the remote slab, including the supporting part with modulons, is proportional to the size of the order of the upper tier, and the remote slab is proportional to the height of the entire building (here, as in the Colosseum, with a rather large extension of the cornice slab, a system of structural modulons embedded in the wall and supporting the slab). In Palazzo Rucellai, thanks to the use of an order system, the sharp contrast between the harsh facade and the more ornate architecture of the courtyard, inherent in earlier palaces, is significantly softened. The order also helped to convincingly express the scale of the building when it was included in the ensemble of a narrow street.
The adopted facade system required a corresponding processing of architectural details inherent in earlier Florentine palaces: in the window opening between the column and two arches above it, an architrave was inserted, resting on the sides on two small pilasters; the arched openings of the passages to the courtyard were replaced by rectangular door portals framed by narrow architraves; the windows of the first floor have lost their fortified character, although they retain their small size.
Church of San Francesco in Rimini* was conceived by Alberti as a majestic domed mausoleum for the tyrant of Rimini Duke Malatesta, his relatives and associates. The project was only partially implemented, according to Alberti's plan, only the main and southern side facades were built (Fig. 28, 29). With the exception of two chapels, from which rebuilding began, the interior decoration of the church is variegated and is not connected with the architecture of the facades; this gives reason to think that it was not made according to Alberti's drawing.
* Rebuilding (1450-1461) of the Gothic monastery church was undertaken by the Duke of Malatesta to commemorate his military exploits. The main western facade in the upper part was not completed, the dome and the ceilings of the naves were not implemented, as well as the niches conceived by Alberti on the sides of the main entrance for the sarcophagi of Malatesta himself and his relatives. Alberti made a model of the temple, on which construction was carried out; it is depicted on a medal made by the builder of the church, the medalist Matteo da Pasti in 1469. The walls of the building are made of brick and lined with squares of limestone.
Made of large squares of smoothly hewn stone, the main and side facades are based on the processing of the architectural forms of ancient Rome. A low dome spanning the entire width of the building was supposed to complete this monumental volume with a heavy hemisphere (not implemented). The composition of the main façade is based on a peculiarly interpreted theme of a three-bay Roman triumphal arch, with large central and lateral arched bays and a monumental wall dissected to its full height by half-columns placed on pedestals. A high plinth, as in ancient Roman temples, raising the building above the ground, makes its volume especially impressive and majestic. The unfinished upper part of the main façade above the unraveled entablature was conceived with original curved semi-pediments above the side niches and a high, semi-circular ending, niche window in the center ( such completion of church buildings was widespread in northern Italy, especially in Venice ). This technique was associated with the system conceived by Alberti of overlapping the central nave of the church with a light wooden barrel vault, and the side naves with pitched roofs, the ends of which were hidden behind the semi-segments of the pediments. The curvature of the semi-pediments made it possible to create a smooth transition from the side to the elevated central nave. The existing inclined semi-pediments, which distorted Alberti's intention, are accidental and are not connected with the architecture of the entire structure.
The side facades in the form of a heavy Roman arcade on pillars, forming seven niches for sarcophagi, are simple and noble in form (Fig. 29). Successfully found weighted proportions of the facade, deep niches emphasizing the thickness of the wall, smooth stone surfaces of the pylons and walls above the arches with simple clear profiles of cornices and rods create a monumental image full of solemn rhythm.
In this temple-mausoleum, which reflected Alberti's dream of the greatness of ancient Rome and the glorification of a strong personality characteristic of humanism, religious ideas receded before the memorial purpose of the building.
However, there are inconsistencies in the building designed by Alberti: the marble inlay of the central niche is heavily crushed; the ornamentation of load-bearing architectural elements (the pedestals of the columns and the top of the plinth) is unsuccessful; the main façade is not sufficiently linked to the more cohesive and concise architecture of the side façade. This was due to the difficulties associated with the alteration of the old building.
In the church of San Francesco in Rimini, an attempt was made for the first time to create the facade of a Renaissance basilica church. The church facade is one of the most difficult problems of the architecture of the 15th century, reflecting the sharpness of the contradictions between the secular and church worldviews of the Renaissance. Alberti returned to this problem when reconstructing the facade of a medieval church. Santa Maria Novella in Florence. The facade of this church, richly inlaid with multi-colored marble, replaced the previously existing facade of a medieval basilica * (Fig. 30), from which a decorative arcade on both sides of the main entrance, portals of side entrances, niches for sarcophagi and multi-colored marble inlay above them have been preserved. The general proportions of the overweight building, stretched out in breadth, as well as its not very successful main articulations, are due to the pre-existing parts and dimensions of the building. The upper part of the facade underwent the most serious alteration. The plane of the high end wall of the central nave is finished with pilasters with a full entablature, a pediment and original volutes on the sides, creating a smooth transition from the elevated central nave to the side ones.
* The reconstruction of the facade of the church (1456-1470) was commissioned by Giovanni Rucellai, who decided, as Vasari reports, to make it "at his own expense and entirely of marble." Designed by Alberti.
A peculiar feature of the façade is an attempt to combine ancient forms with the forms and polychrome marble inlay of the Proto-Renaissance and Florentine Gothic façades.
The top of the building with a pediment and volutes, separated by a wide smooth frieze from the lower tier, is poorly connected with the latter and is perceived as a later superstructure. The location of the semi-columns of the first tier and their cleavages are hardly justified; the round window of the central nave is set too low. However, these, like many others, features of the composition were the result of the fact that Alberti was forced to reckon with pre-existing forms of construction.
The principles of constructing a two-tier church façade crowned with a pediment, with order divisions of each of the tiers, with an original pairing of the center and wings through decorative volutes, formed the basis of numerous church facades of the Renaissance and Baroque era (see p. 238).
It is necessary to note the work of Alberti on the construction Choir of the Church of Santissima Annunziata in Florence.
*Completed in 1477, the building was heavily distorted by later rebuilding and ornamentation of the 17th-19th centuries; only the basic forms of the interior have been preserved. The original design of the monastery church and round choir was drawn up by Michelozzo. Later, the order for the construction of the choir was transferred to Brunellesco's assistant, Antonio Manetti Ciaccheri, who in 1460 laid the foundations. Around 1470, Duke Lodovico Gonzago, who financed this construction, commissioned the design and construction of the choir to Alberti (see Fig. 20).
The shape of the hemispherical dome, covering the entire space of a small rotunda, determined the need for a crown of nine semicircular niches that extinguish the thrust. The interior of the rotunda is divided by pilasters with an entablature resting between the pilasters on archivolts of arched niches. Between the entablature and the base of the dome is a low drum cut through by nine windows. The composition of the choir as a whole goes back to ancient vaulted buildings, combining the features of the Pantheon and the temple of Minerva Medica, certainly known to Alberti.
According to the project of Alberti, the Rucellai Chapel was made at the church of San Pancrazio in Florence - a small, highly elongated room, including a sarcophagus lined with marble.
Among the architectural experiments of Alberti to create a new type of church building, a prominent place is occupied by the one built according to his project. Church of San Sebastiano in Mantua *. Here Alberti, the first of the Renaissance masters, based the composition of the church building on the shape of an equilateral Greek cross. Three branches of the cross are completed with semicircular niches, the fourth one forms a vestibule that connects the church with the forward vestibule-loggia of the main facade, designed to display relics, etc.
* The church was built by Alberti's assistant Luca Fancelli (1460-circa 1473) commissioned by the Duke of Mantua, Lodovico Gonzago. A two-flight side staircase leading to the vestibule and square chapels on the sides of the vestibule were added later. Little remains of the original details of the façade and interiors. The wooden dome collapsed, currently the building has a flat ceiling and no longer serves religious purposes.
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| Fig.31. Mantova. Church of San Sebastiano, 1460-1473 General view after reconstruction. Façade designed by Alberti 1460, plan and east façade based on drawings from the 15th century. |
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If we believe the drawing of the church attributed to Alberti (Fig. 31), which has come down to us, then in this structure there has been a pyramidal-step differentiation of the internal space and volume of the building, which was further developed at the end of the 15th and in the 16th century. in the buildings of Bramante and in the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci.
The interior with a dome on sails and barrel vaults over the branches of the cross is conceived as a spectacular, growing centric composition with a gradual enlargement of internal spaces towards the center. Alberti reduced the width of the branches of the cross in relation to the middle cross. Thus, the sails should not have rested on the girth arches of the cylindrical ceilings of the branches of the cross, while the role of buttresses, taking the thrust of the dome, was taken by the incoming corners formed by the walls of the cross at their junction with the main volume of the church. All this significantly changed the traditional cross-domed system of Byzantine churches.
Apparently, the facade of the church was conceived as a five-span portico of pilasters crowned with a high pediment with an entablature torn in the center by an arch of a large window opening. According to the ancient Roman tradition, the façade was raised on a high stepped podium, from which five entrances of different heights and framing led to the front vestibule.
If Brunellesco in the Pazzi Chapel, with an almost similar organization of the facade, built a centric composition on a rectangular plan, then Alberti gives a different solution to this problem.
In Mantua, Alberti made another, perhaps the most mature and consistent attempt to create a new church building and its facade, consistent with the secular ideals of the Renaissance. Church of Sant'Andrea in Mantua* in terms of size and design - the most significant work of Alberti (Fig. 32-34).
* The church was commissioned by Lodovico Gonzago. It began to build after the death of Alberti Luca Fancelli, who made a model of the church. In all likelihood, many of the details and decor belong to him. The dome was built in 1763 by Yuvara. The building is built of brick, the pillars of the facade arch, pedestals and bases of pilasters, capitals, door frames are made of marble, all other details on the facade and in the interior are plaster or terracotta.
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The traditional basilica composition received a new spatial interpretation: the side naves were replaced by chapels, and the main one was greatly expanded and turned into a front hall, covered with a richly coffered barrel vault. The choir and branches of the transept are covered with the same vaults. The maximum unification of space was caused by Alberti's desire to make the interior as majestic as possible.
For the first time in the architecture of the Renaissance, in the altar part of the basilica, the Byzantine cross-domed system was given a new character by the use of ancient Roman architectural forms and decor. The thrust of the heavy cylindrical vault of the main nave is extinguished by the side chapels, which form a rigid system of spatial buttresses; the spread of the dome on sails with a high heavy light drum is offset by the cylindrical vaults of the main nave, transept and choir.
Alberti's main goal is to eliminate contradictions between the basilica and centric parts of the building ( Brunellesco also aspired to this, but in both of his basilicas, the flat ceilings of the main nave and transept branches did not solve the problem) - achieved by a single-nave composition and the use of a cross-domed system. The elongation of one of the ends of the cross creates the predominance of the longitudinal axis without disturbing the centric structure of the altar part, which opens entirely into the space of the nave. The unity of the interior is also emphasized by the wall division system: an order entablature under the heel of the cylindrical vault encircles the entire room.
Unlike Brunellesco, the order system here forms both a structurally and visually integral whole with the planes of the walls, pylons, cornices and decorative inserts.
Large, almost the entire width of the building, the vestibule opens onto the square with a wide arch, which emphasizes the public character of the building. The main facade, as in the church of San Francesco in Rimini, is based on the motif of a three-bay Roman triumphal arch; gigantic, full-height facade pilasters and a huge arch of the central entrance are completed with an architrave and a flat triangular pediment. However, here this technique is more organic and more closely connected with the composition of the entire building. The divisions of the main façade on a different scale are repeated many times in the interior. The tripartite articulation of the facade is at the same time the basis of the structure of the interior, the rhythmic alternation of large and small chapels, forming repeating groups. With this technique, Alberti implements one of the provisions of his treatise, which requires the unity of compositional techniques used in the development of the interiors and exterior of the building. In the same building, another theoretical position was observed that arches should not rest on columns, since this contradicts the meaning of the architectural structures of the ancient order ( L.B. Alberti. Ten books on architecture. M., 1935, I, p. 252 ).
In the facade of the church, one can note the inconsistency of the three-tiered structure of the side parts of the main facade with the single space of the temple; mechanical connection of the order, covering the entire building, and the order under the heels of the arch of the main entrance; dryness, handicraft study of the forms and details of the pediment, capitals, bases, plinths and cornices.
Like Brunellesco, Alberti was a great innovator in architecture. With all the imperfection of execution, the ideas embodied in his buildings expressed the aspirations of the era and had a strong influence on the development of Renaissance architecture. In the work of Alberti and the direction that took shape by the middle of the 15th century, ancient, mainly Roman, principles prevailed. This was reflected in a more consistent and broader use of the ancient order system, in the unity of the volumetric and spatial structure and in emphasized monumentalization.
"Dignity" (dignitas) as an expression of greatness was Alberti's motto and the most characteristic feature of his works. In the middle of the XV century. rich and noble customers of Alberti were more impressed by this trait. The architecture of Brunellesco - refined, free from overweight monumentality - no longer satisfied them.
Alberti devoted a significant part of his treatise on architecture to ancient Roman architecture and its principles, also using the building experience of modern masters. Of all the theorists of Renaissance architecture, Alberti came closest to the real embodiment of his provisions. This applies not only to purely building principles, but also to broader principles: to the correspondence of the building to its function and social significance, its location in the city, to the proportions of the premises, to the use of the order system, the unity of volume and interior. Hence the variety of compositional techniques and forms, even in buildings for religious purposes. Alberti is credited with the introduction into architecture of a multi-tiered order composition, a large order (perhaps partly anticipated by Brunellesco in his Palazzo di Parte Guelph), portals antique in detail, etc.
The direction created by Alberti spread widely and developed not only in Italy in the 16th century, but in almost all European countries in the 17th-19th centuries. The so-called classicism of the 17th-19th centuries owes a lot to Alberti.
Chapter “Architecture of Tuscany, Umbria, Marches”, section “Renaissance architecture in Italy”, encyclopedia “General history of architecture. Volume V. Architecture of Western Europe XV-XVI centuries. Renaissance". Managing editor: V.F. Marcuson. Authors: V.E. Bykov, (Tuscany, Umbria), A.I. Venediktov (Marki), T.N. Kozina (Florence - city). Moscow, Stroyizdat, 1967
Biography of Leon Battista Alberti, Florentine Architect
(Giorgio Vasari. Lives of the most famous painters, sculptors and architects)
The humanities, as a rule, serve as the greatest help to all artists who belong to them, especially sculptors, painters and architects, opening the way for them to invent in everything that they create, because without them a person cannot have perfect judgment, although he endowed by nature, but devoid of acquired advantages, namely, the friendly assistance provided to him by a good literary education. And surely, who does not know that in the arrangement of buildings it is necessary philosophically to avoid all kinds of misfortunes caused by harmful winds, to avoid foul air, stench and fumes emanating from damp and unhealthy waters? Who does not know that, with mature reflection, you yourself must be able to reject or accept what you intend to apply in practice, without relying on the mercy of someone else's theory, which, if not combined with practice, brings, for the most part, very little benefit? But if it happens that practice is combined with theory, then nothing can be more useful for our life, because, on the one hand, art achieves great perfection and wealth with the help of science, on the other, the advice and writings of learned artists are themselves more effective. and are more trustworthy than the words and deeds of those who know nothing but bare practice, however good or bad they may be at it. And that all this is true is clearly seen in the example of Leon Battista Alberti, who, having studied the Latin language and at the same time devoting himself to architecture, perspective and painting, left behind books written by him in such a way that, due to the inability of any of the modern artists to the written exposition of these arts, although many of them in the field of practice were superior to him, he, by all accounts, surpassed in this respect all those who surpassed him in creativity; such is the power of his writings, which still holds the pen and the lips of scholars. This shows by experience how powerful and tenacious the scriptures are, among other things, for acquiring fame and name, for books are easily distributed and everywhere gain confidence in themselves, if only they were true and devoid of all falsehood. It is not surprising, therefore, that the illustrious Leon Battista is better known for his writings than for the creations of his own hands.
Born in Florence into the noblest Alberti family, of which we have spoken elsewhere, he devoted himself not only to the study of nature and the measurements of antiquities, but also, having a special inclination for this, he devoted himself to writing much more than to his work. He was an excellent arithmetic and geometer, and wrote ten books on architecture in Latin, published by him in 1481; now these books are read in a Florentine translation made by the venerable Messer Cosimo Bartoli, rector of the church of San Giovanni in Florence. In addition, he wrote three books on painting, now translated into Tuscan by Messer Lodovico Domenica. He compiled a treatise on the movement of weights and rules for measuring heights, books on private life and some love writings in prose and verse, and he was the first to attempt to reduce Italian verse to Latin meters, as we see from his epistle, which begins with the words:
I send this pitiful letter to him,
Who so ruthlessly despises us always.
Finding himself in Rome at the time of Nicholas V, who turned the whole of Rome upside down with his building ideas, he, through his great friend Biondo of Forlì, became his man under the pope, who had previously consulted in architectural matters with Bernardo Rosselino, a Florentine sculptor and architect, as will be this is stated in the biography of his brother Antonio. Bernardo, who, at the request of the pope, began the reconstruction of the papal palace and some work in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, from then on always consulted with Leon Battista. Thus, the high priest, guided by the opinion of one of them and taking advantage of the performance of the other, built many useful and praiseworthy things: thus, the damaged aqueduct of Aqua Vergine was repaired and a fountain was built in Trevi Square with those marble decorations that we see to this day and which depict the coats of arms of the high priest and the Roman people.
Then, going to Rimini to signor Sigismondo Malatesta, he made for him a model of the church of San Francesco, in particular a model of the facade, which was made in marble, as well as a side facade facing south, with huge arches and tombs for the famous men of this city. In general, he completed this building in such a way that, in terms of strength, it is one of the most famous temples in Italy. Inside it has six most beautiful chapels, of which one dedicated to St. Jerome, is very decorated, because it contains many relics brought from Jerusalem. There are also the tombs of the said signor Sigismondo and his wife, very richly executed in marble in 1450; on one of them is a portrait of this signor, and in the other part of this building is a portrait of Leon Battista.
Then, in 1457, when the most useful method of printing books was invented by the German Johannes Gutenberg, Leon-Battista, by similarity, invented an apparatus with which one could build perspectives from life and reduce figures, and also invented a method that made it possible to transfer things to a large scale and increase them; all these are ingenious, useful for art, and truly beautiful inventions.
When Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai, during the life of Leon Battista, wished to make at his own expense and entirely of marble the facade of the church of Santa Maria Novella, he talked about this with Leon Battista, his best friend, and, having received from him not only advice, but also a project , he decided to carry out this business at all costs, in order to leave a memory of himself. So, work began, and it was completed in 1477 to the great satisfaction of the whole city, which liked the whole work as a whole, especially the portal, which testifies to the considerable labor spent on it by Leon Battista. Also for Cosimo Rucellai, he made a project for the palace, which he built for himself on Via Vigna, as well as the design of the loggia opposite. In this loggia, after he had placed arches on those columns that were closely spaced on the front facade, as well as on the sides, where he wanted to make the same number of arches, and not just one, he had a surplus on each side, as a result of which he was forced to make appropriate ledges on the butt corners of the rear wall. But when he then wanted to throw the arch of the inner vault, he saw that he could not make it semicircular, since it turned out to be crushed and ugly, and he decided to throw small arches, from one corner ledge to another, because he did not have enough proper reasoning and design, and this clearly indicates that, in addition to science, practice is also necessary; for reasoning can never be modern unless science is put into practice in the course of the work. They say that he also made a project for a house and a garden for the same Rucellai on Via della Scala. This house is made with great discretion and is very well appointed, for, among other amenities, it has two loggias, one facing south, the other facing west, both very beautiful, with columns, without arches, which is the true and correct way that the ancients adhered to. for architraves laid on columns are horizontal, while rectangular things - and such are the heels of the thrown arches - cannot rest on a round column without their corners being suspended. So, the correct method requires that architraves be placed on the columns and that, when it is necessary to throw arches, they are made on pillars, and not on columns.
For the same Rucellai, Leon-Battista in the church of San Brancaccio made in this manner a chapel in which large architraves rest on two columns and two pillars, and he broke through the church wall below - a difficult but durable solution; therefore, it is one of the best works of the named architect. In the middle of this chapel is a beautifully made oval and oblong marble tomb, similar, as the inscription on it, to the tomb of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem.
By that time, Lodovico Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, wished to build a round choir and a main chapel according to the design and model of Leon Battista in the Nunziata church at the Servite monastery in Florence. Having demolished at the altar end of the church the square chapel that was there, dilapidated, not very large and painted in the old way, he built this round choir - an intricate and intricate structure, like a round temple, surrounded by nine chapels, all of which are rounded by semicircular arches, and inside have the shape niches Thus, in these chapels, the stone archivolts of the arches supported by pillars must lean back so as not to move away from the wall, which arches, following the shape of a round choir, so that when you look at these arches of the chapels from the side, it seems that they collapse and that they - and that is what they really are - ugly, although their dimensions are correct and this technique is really very difficult. In fact, if Leon-Battista had avoided this method, it would have been better, and although it is very difficult to implement, he is still ugly in both small and large things, and he cannot succeed well. And that this is true of large things, is shown by the fact that the huge arch in front, which forms the entrance to this round choir, is very beautiful from the outside, but from the inside, since it has to bend, following the shape of a round chapel, it seems to fall back and in the highest ugly degree. Leon-Battista, perhaps, would not have done this if he, along with science and theory, also had practice and construction experience, for another would have avoided this difficulty and, rather, would have strived for elegance and greater beauty of construction. Otherwise, the whole work is in itself beautiful, intricate, and the solution of a difficult problem, and Leon-Battista showed no small courage for that time, deducing the code of this choir as he did.
Whereupon the same Marquis Lodovico took Leon Battista with him to Mantua, who made for him a model of the church of Sant'Andrea and some other things; and also on the way from Mantua to Padua one can see a whole series of temples built in his manner. The executor of the projects and models of Leon-Battista was the Florentine Silvestro Fancelli, a judicious architect and sculptor who, at the behest of Leon-Battista, built with amazing mind and diligence all those works that Battista supervised in Florence; and for the Mantua buildings, a certain Florentine Luca, who since then settled in this city and died there, leaving, according to Filarete, his name to the family of dei Luca, who lives there to this day. So, it was no small happiness for Leon Battista to have friends who served him with understanding, skill and willingness, for, since architects cannot be present at work all the time, a devoted and loving performer is a great help to them; and someone who, but I know this very well from many years of experience.
In painting, Leon-Battista did not create either large or beautiful works, for very few things of his work known to us are not particularly perfect, and this is not so important, because he had more inclination for the sciences than for drawing. However, when drawing, he expressed his idea quite well, as can be seen from some sheets of his work that are available in our book. Among them is a drawing of the bridge of St. Angel and the ceiling of this bridge in the form of a loggia, which was made according to his project to protect from the sun in summer and from rain and winds in winter. This work was ordered to him by Pope Nicholas V, who planned to perform many others like her throughout Rome, but his death prevented this. There is also a work by Leon Battista, located in Florence in a small chapel dedicated to the Madonna at the base of the bridge alla Caria, namely the altar base and in it three small stories with perspectives, which were much better described by him with a pen than written with a brush. Similarly, in Florence, in the house of Palla Rucellai, there is his self-portrait, which he made while looking in a mirror, and a picture on a tree with very large figures painted in chiaroscuro. He also depicted a perspective view of Venice and the Cathedral of San Marco, but the figures on it were executed by other masters; this is one of his finest paintings.
Leon-Battista was a man of the most courteous and commendable character, a friend of masters of his craft, affable and polite with everyone without exception; and he lived all his life worthily and as befits a noble man, which he was, and, finally, reaching a very mature age, he, contented and calm, retired to a better life, leaving behind a worthy glory.
Until his death he lived in Rome.
Alberti's humanistic worldview
Harmony
The multifaceted activity of Leon Battista Alberti is a vivid example of the universality of the interests of a Renaissance man. Versatilely gifted and educated, he made a major contribution to the theory of art and architecture, to literature and architecture, was fond of the problems of ethics and pedagogy, studied mathematics and cartography. The central place in Alberti's aesthetics belongs to the doctrine of harmony as an important natural pattern, which a person must not only take into account in all his activities, but also extend his own creativity to different areas of his being. The outstanding thinker and talented writer Alberti created a consistently humanistic doctrine of man, opposing its secularism to official orthodoxy. Creation of oneself, physical perfection - become a goal, as well as spiritual.
Human
The ideal person, according to Alberti, harmoniously combines the powers of the mind and will, creative activity and peace of mind. He is wise, guided in his actions by the principles of measure, has a consciousness of his dignity. All this gives the image created by Alberti, features of greatness. The ideal of a harmonious personality put forward by him had an impact both on the development of humanistic ethics and on Renaissance art, including in the portrait genre. It is this type of person that is embodied in the images of painting, graphics and sculpture in Italy of that time, in the masterpieces of Antonello da Messina, Piero della Francesca, Andrea Mantegna and other major masters. Alberti wrote many of his works in Volgar, which greatly contributed to the wide dissemination of his ideas in Italian society, including among artists.
| Nature, that is, God, has placed in man a heavenly and divine element, incomparably more beautiful and noble than anything mortal. She gave him talent, learning ability, intelligence - divine properties, thanks to which he can explore, distinguish and know what he must avoid and follow in order to preserve himself. In addition to these great and priceless gifts, God has placed in the human soul moderation, restraint against passions and excessive desires, as well as shame, modesty and the desire to deserve praise. In addition, God implanted in people the need for a firm mutual connection that supports community, justice, justice, generosity and love, and with all this a person can earn gratitude and praise from people, and from his creator - favor and mercy. God has placed in the human breast the ability to endure any work, any misfortune, any blow of fate, to overcome all sorts of difficulties, to overcome sorrow, not to be afraid of death. He gave man strength, steadfastness, firmness, strength, contempt for insignificant trifles ... Therefore, be convinced that a person is born not to drag out a sad existence in inaction, but to work on a great and grandiose deed. By this he can, firstly, please God and honor him, and, secondly, acquire for himself the most perfect virtues and complete happiness. (Leon Battista Alberti) |
Creativity and work
The initial premise of Alberti's humanistic concept is the inalienable belonging of man to the world of nature, which the humanist interprets from pantheistic positions as the bearer of the divine principle. A person, included in the world order, is in the power of its laws - harmony and perfection. The harmony of man and nature is determined by his ability to cognize the world, to a reasonable, striving for good existence. The responsibility for moral perfection, which has both personal and social significance, Alberti lays on the people themselves. The choice between good and evil depends on the free will of man. The humanist saw the main purpose of the individual in creativity, which he understood widely - from the work of a modest artisan to the heights of scientific and artistic activity. Alberti especially appreciated the work of an architect - the organizer of people's lives, the creator of reasonable and beautiful conditions for their existence. In the creative ability of man, the humanist saw his main difference from the animal world. Labor for Alberti is not a punishment for original sin, as church morality taught, but a source of spiritual uplift, material wealth and glory. " In idleness people become weak and worthless”, moreover, only life practice itself reveals the great possibilities inherent in a person. " The art of living is comprehended in deeds", - emphasized Alberti. The ideal of an active life makes his ethics related to civil humanism, but there are also many features in it that allow us to characterize Alberti's teaching as an independent trend in humanism.
Leon Battista Alberti
Family
An important role in the upbringing of a person who vigorously increases his own benefits and the benefits of society and the state through honest work, Alberti assigned to the family. In it, he saw the basic cell of the entire system of social order. The humanist paid much attention to family foundations, especially in the dialogues written in Wolgar " About family" And " Domostroy". In them, he addresses the problems of upbringing and primary education of the younger generation, solving them from a humanistic position. It defines the principle of the relationship between parents and children, bearing in mind the main goal - strengthening the family, its inner harmony.
Family and society
In the economic practice of Alberti's time, family commercial, industrial and financial companies played an important role, in this regard, the humanist also considers the family as the basis of economic activity. He associated the path to the well-being and wealth of the family with reasonable housekeeping, with hoarding based on the principles of thrift, diligent care of business, hard work. Alberti considered dishonest methods of enrichment unacceptable (partly at odds with merchant practice and mentality), because they deprive the family of a good reputation. The humanist advocated such relations between the individual and society, in which personal interest is consistent with the interests of other people. However, in contrast to the ethics of civil humanism, Alberti believed it possible, under certain circumstances, to put the interests of the family above momentary public good. He, for example, recognized as acceptable the refusal of public service for the sake of concentrating on economic work, since, in the final analysis, as the humanist believed, the well-being of the state is based on the solid material foundations of individual families.
Society
Alberti society itself thinks as a harmonious unity of all its layers, which should be facilitated by the activities of the rulers. Pondering the conditions of achievement social harmony, Alberti in the treatise " About architecture"draws an ideal city, beautiful in terms of rational planning and the appearance of buildings, streets, squares. The entire living environment of a person is arranged here in such a way that it meets the needs of the individual, family, and society as a whole. The city is divided into different spatial zones: in the center are the buildings of the higher magistracies and the palaces of the rulers, on the outskirts - quarters of artisans and small merchants. The palaces of the upper stratum of society are thus spatially separated from the dwellings of the poor. This urban planning principle, according to Alberti, should prevent the harmful consequences of possible popular unrest. The ideal city of Alberti is characterized, however, by the equal improvement of all its parts for the life of people of different social status and the accessibility of all its inhabitants to beautiful public buildings - schools, thermal baths, theaters.
The embodiment of ideas about the ideal city in a word or image was one of the typical features of the Italian Renaissance culture. The architect Filarete, the scientist and artist Leonardo da Vinci, the authors of social utopias of the 16th century paid tribute to the projects of such cities. They reflected the dream of humanists about the harmony of human society, about the excellent external conditions that contribute to its stability and the happiness of every person.
Moral perfection
Like many humanists, Alberti shared ideas about the possibility of ensuring social peace through the moral improvement of each person, the development of his active virtue and creativity. At the same time, being a thoughtful analyst of life practice and people's psychology, he saw " human kingdom in all the complexity of its contradictions: refusing to be guided by reason and knowledge, people sometimes become destroyers rather than creators of harmony in the earthly world. Alberti's doubts found vivid expression in his " Mome" And " table talk”, but did not become decisive for the main line of his reflections. The ironic perception of the reality of human deeds, characteristic of these works, did not shake the deep faith of the humanist in the creative power of man, who is called to equip the world according to the laws of reason and beauty. Many of Alberti's ideas were further developed in the work of Leonardo da Vinci.
Creation
Literature
Alberti wrote his first works in the 1920s. - comedy " Philodox"(1425)," Deifira"(1428) and others. In the 30s - early 40s. created a number of works in Latin - " On the advantages and disadvantages of scientists"(1430), "On Law" (1437), " Pontifex"(1437); dialogues in Volgar on ethical topics - " About family"(1434-1441)," About peace of mind» (1443).
In the 50-60s. Alberti wrote a satirical-allegorical cycle " table talk"- his main works in the field of literature, which became examples of Latin humanistic prose of the 15th century. Alberti's latest works: " On the principles of compiling codes” (a mathematical treatise, subsequently lost) and a dialogue in Volgar “ Domostroy» (1470).
Alberti was one of the first to advocate the use of the Italian language in literary work. His elegies and eclogues are the first examples of these genres in Italian.
Alberti created a largely original (dating back to Plato, Aristotle, Xenophon and Cicero) concept of man based on the idea of harmony. Alberti's ethics - secular in nature - was distinguished by attention to the problem of man's earthly existence, his moral perfection. He exalted the natural abilities of man, valued knowledge, creativity, and the human mind. In the teachings of Alberti, the ideal of a harmonious personality received the most integral expression. Alberti united all the potential abilities of a person with the concept virtual(valor, ability). It is in the power of man to reveal these natural abilities and become a full-fledged creator of his own destiny. According to Alberti, upbringing and education should develop the properties of nature in a person. Human abilities. his mind, will, courage help him survive in the fight against the goddess of chance, Fortuna. The ethical concept of Alberti is full of faith in the ability of a person to rationally arrange his life, family, society, and state. Alberti considered the family to be the main social unit.
Architecture
Alberti the architect had a great influence on the formation of the High Renaissance style. Following Filippo, Brunelleschi developed antique motifs in architecture. According to his designs, the Palazzo Rucellai in Florence (1446-1451) was built, the facade of the church of Santa Maria Novella (1456-1470), the churches of San Francesco in Rimini, San Sebastiano and Sant'Andrea in Mantua were rebuilt - the buildings that determined the main direction in Quattrocento architecture.
Alberti was also engaged in painting, tried his hand at sculpture. As the first theorist of Italian Renaissance art, he is known for the essay " Ten books on architecture" (De re aedificatoria) (1452), and a small Latin treatise " About the statue» (1464).
Bibliography
- Alberti Leon Battista. Ten books on architecture: In 2 volumes. M., 1935-1937
- Masters of Arts about art. T.2. The Renaissance / Ed. A. A. Huber, V. N. Grashchenkov. M., 1966
- Revyakina N.V.. Italian Renaissance. Humanism of the second half of the XIV-first half of the XV century. Novosibirsk, 1975.
- Abramson M. L. From Dante to Alberti / Ed. ed. corresponding member Academy of Sciences of the USSR Z. V. Udaltsova. Academy of Sciences of the USSR .. - M .: Nauka, 1979. - 176, p. - (From the history of world culture). - 75,000 copies.(reg.)
- Works of Italian humanists of the Renaissance (XV century) / Ed. L. M. Bragina. M., 1985
- History of culture of the countries of Western Europe in the Renaissance // Ed. L. M. Bragina. Moscow: Higher school, 2001
- Zubov V.P. Architectural theory of Alberti. - St. Petersburg: Aletheya, 2001. ISBN 5-89329-450-5.
- Anikst A. Outstanding architect and art theorist // Architecture of the USSR, 1973 No. 6. P. 33-35
- Marcuson W. Alberti's place in the architecture of the early Renaissance // Architecture of the USSR, 1973 No. 6. P. 35-39.
Notes
Links
| Alberti, Leon Battista at Wikiquote | |
| Leone Battista Alberti at Wikimedia Commons |
- // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
Categories:
- Personalities in alphabetical order
- Born in Genoa
- Dead in Rome
- Italian architects
- Culture of the Middle Ages
- Renaissance humanists
- Scientists of the Middle Ages
- architecture theorists
- 15th century mathematicians
- Writers alphabetically
- Writers of Italy
- Born in 1404
- February 14
- Deceased in 1472
- Deceased April 25
- Alumni of the University of Bologna
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