Editing Leon Battista Alberti (section)

===Alberti as artist===
As an artist, Alberti distinguished himself from the contemporary ordinary craftsmen educated in workshops. He was a [[humanism|humanist]] who studied [[Aristotle]] and [[Plotinus]]. He was among the rapidly growing group of intellectuals and artists who at that time were supported by the courts of nobility. As a member of a noble family and as part of the Roman [[curia]], Alberti enjoyed special status. He was a welcomed guest at the [[House of Este|Este]] court in [[Ferrara]], and spent time with the [[condottieri|soldier-prince]] [[Federico III da Montefeltro]] in Urbino. The [[Duke of Urbino]] was a shrewd military commander, who generously funded artists. Alberti planned to dedicate his [[treatise]] on architecture to him.<ref name="Renaissance Italy 1860"/>

Among Alberti's minor but pioneering studies, were an essay on [[cryptography]], ''[[Alberti cipher|De componendis cifris]]'', and the first Italian [[grammar]]. He collaborated with the Florentine cosmographer [[Paolo Toscanelli]] in astronomy, a science close  to geography at that time. He also wrote a small Latin work on geography, ''Descriptio urbis Romae'' (''The Panorama of the City of Rome''). Just a few years before his death, Alberti completed ''De iciarchia'' (''On Ruling the Household''), a dialogue about Florence during the [[Medici]] rule.

Alberti took holy orders and  never married. He loved animals and had a pet dog, a mongrel, about whom he wrote a [[panegyric]] (''Canis'').<ref name="Renaissance Italy 1860"/> Vasari describes Alberti as "an admirable citizen, a man of culture... a friend of talented men, open and courteous with everyone. He always lived honourably and like the gentleman he was."<ref name=Vasari>Vasari, ''The Lives of the Artists''</ref> Alberti died in Rome on 25 April 1472 at the age of 68.