Leon Battista Alberti

Leon Battista Alberti, Courtyard of the Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Vasari states "But when by chance theory and practice meet and join together, there is nothing more useful to our lives, for through the means of science, art is perfected and enriched, and the advice and writings of learned artisans are more useful and trustworthy than the words or works of those artisans who do nothing more than practise their craft, whether they d so well or badly. The truth of these statements is clearly demonstrated by Leon Battista Alberti [...]" Alberti seriously studied the work of ancient Roman architectural treatise of Vitruvius and with his combined and earned observations of architecture, many consider him to be the first Renaissance architect to understand the classical architecture in depth. He designed the Palazzo Rucellai and used different capitals for each story of the building. This he compared to the Coliseum and it gets lighter with height. He believed  in the system of ideal proportions and actively advocated it. He became an architect rather later in life but nonetheless his impact of Renaissance and his advocacy for the importance of classical architecture and the balance and harmony of perfect proportions made a profound contribution to architectural design.