Alberti On Painting

          

On Painting

       First modern book on the theory of painting is Alberti’s On Painting. On Painting prepared the way for the art, the artist, and the patron of the Renaissance. As art theory On Painting became one of the chief sources for later treatises on the art of painting.In the next centuries, Alberti’s suggestions become rigid rules, his concepts of reason, verisimilitude and dignity are exaggerated out of proportion. The artist is considered to be a creator rather than a technician because he uses his intellect to measure, arrange, and harmonize the elements of his creation. The intellectual activity of art is demonstrated, by a series of comparisons, to be equivalent to that of the other liberal arts. Influences such as Alberti’s book led to a new evaluation of the artist, with painters and their works being sought after by the rulers of Europe, the result was that great collections containing the works of major and minor masters were formed. At the same time the artist slowly began to free himself from the old guild system and to band together with his colleagues, first in religious confraternities and later in academies of art, which, in turn, were to lead to the modern art school. During the Renaissance, practitioners of all the arts evolved from anonymous craftsmen to individuals, often highly respected ones. Painting became more intellectual, sometimes to its own disadvantage, and changed from serving as a vehicle for didacticism or decoration to becoming a self-aware, self-assured form of expression. The composition is self-contained and conforms to Alberti’s definition of beauty as “that harmony of parts to which nothing can be added or taken away without destroying the whole.” Although there is movement implied in the poses of the figures and movement across the surface of the composition, it is always dignified movement, giving the impression of calm. The style exhibits variety and richness, yet maintains simplicity and unity. It is never as self-conscious as 15th-century painting had been, nor is it as laboured as much of Mannerist painting. Alberti 'puts the art in the hand of the artist'. and shows him how to represent light and shade in the underpainting. When the local colour of the object is applied over the underpaint, it will appear to be seen under light with deeper colours in the shadows gradually fading out as they approach the highlights. This matter, however, exists in space, and for this reason Alberti presents the painter with his mathematical derived perspective construction to control and to locate matter in space.





Works Cited 

-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Battista_Alberti