Editing Leon Battista Alberti (section)

===Pienza===
[[File:Pienza Piazza Pio II.JPG|thumb|upright= 1.5|Piazza Pio II in Pienza, looking toward the Palazzo Piccolomini]]
Alberti is considered to have been the consultant for the design of the Piazza Pio II, [[Pienza]]. The village, previously called Corsignano, was redesigned beginning around 1459.<ref name=Borsi/> It was the birthplace of Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, [[Pope Pius II]], in whose employ Alberti served. Pius II wanted to use the village as a retreat, but needed for it to reflect the dignity of his position.

The piazza is a [[trapezoid]] shape defined by four buildings, with a focus on Pienza Cathedral and passages on either side opening onto a landscape view. The principal residence, ''Palazzo Piccolomini'', is on the western side. It has three stories, articulated by pilasters and entablature courses, with a twin-lighted [[cross window]] set within each bay. This structure is similar to Alberti's [[Palazzo Rucellai]] in Florence and other later palaces. Noteworthy is the internal court of the palazzo. The back of the palace, to the south, is defined by [[loggia]] on all three floors that overlook an enclosed [[Italian Renaissance garden]] with ''[[Giardino all'italiana]]'' era modifications, and spectacular views into the distant landscape of the [[Val d'Orcia]] and Pope Pius's beloved Mount Amiata beyond. Below this garden is a vaulted stable that had stalls for a hundred horses. The design, which radically transformed the center of the town, included a palace for the pope, a church, a town hall, and a building for the bishops who would accompany the Pope on his trips. Pienza is considered an early example of Renaissance urban planning.