Sculpture and Architecture in Florence: 1430s–1460s

In fi fteenth-century Florence there was a surge of the-

oretical writing on the visual arts that, together with

the production of art, was infl uenced by the interest in

ancient texts. Brunelleschi’s theory of perspective and

Alberti’s writings continued to inform painting, sculp-

ture, and architecture throughout Italy as well as in

Florence. By 1452, Alberti’s treatise on architecture, De

re aedifi catoria libri X [Ten Books of Architecture], had

been completed. Its impact is evident in his own build-

ing designs and in those of other leading fi fteenth-cen-

tury architects.