On Painting; Revised edition

by Leon Battista Alberti; Translated with Introduction and Notes by John R. Spencer

• ISBN13: 9780300000016
• ISBN10: 0300000014
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 1967-09-10
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

Alberti's Della Pittura was the first modern analytical study of painting, a pioneering treatise on the theory of art. A systematic description of the one-point perspective construction, it was primarily designed to persuade both patron and painter in the Renaissance to discard the old tastes in painting for the new. In his prologue, Alberti states that his work consists of three books: 'the first, all mathematics, concerning the roots in nature which are the source of this delightful and most noble art. The second book puts the art in the hand of the artist, distinguishing its parts and demonstrating all. The third introduces the artist to the means and the end, the ability and desire of acquiring perfect skill and knowledge in painting.'

Table of Contents

Preface	7	(2)
Preface to the Second Impression	9	(2)
Introduction	11	(22)
Sources	33	(4)
Notes to Introduction	37	(2)
Prologue	39	(4)
Book One	43	(20)
Book Two	63	(26)
Book Three	89	(10)
Notes to Text	99	(38)
Index	137