On Painting (De Pictura) Book

Despite being told by Alberti not to bother continuing after the first chapter because I didn't quite grasp his mathematic theories, I finished the book. I even gleaned some information from it, ignoramus that I am. The following two 'books' were much more easy to grasp, being about composition, colour and light. He believed that equipped with his lessons, painters can become masters of thur art. Alberti himself was a true Renaissance man; painter and architect, theorist and essayist, philosopher and humanist. He embodied that archetype of Renaissance thinking which is somewhat lost today. Although dry and didactic in places, this was nonetheless an enlightening read, even if some of it went over my head, and is a key to understanding the art of his time.