Intellectual History Commons^™

Alberti And Ficino, John Shannon Hendrix

Architecture, Art, and Historic Preservation Faculty Publications

Leon Battista Alberti and Marsilio Ficino, though separated by twenty-nine years in age, had a close relationship as mentor and pupil. Concepts which can be found in Alberti’s De pictura (1435) and De re aedificatoria (1450) are infused in Ficino’s De amore (1469). The concepts include Alberti’s theories of armonia, lineamenti, concinnitas, ornamento, and the pyramid of light in the theory of vision. In both Alberti and Ficino, harmonies shared by the body and music are manifestations of the harmonies of the soul. Beauty in body and matter is determined by beauty in mind (mens …