On Painting and On Sculpture

We are publishing two books by Leon Battista Alberti, the most influential Humanist of Renaissance Italy, "On Painting" (De Pictura, 1435/1436) and "On Sculpture" (De Statua, 1443/?), both of which have become reference sources in art history. With this compilation, we aimed to introduce an average text to our language that remains outside academic discussions and avoids being a critical edition.

"On Painting" is the first modern treatise on painting theory. This work, which profoundly influenced all subsequent studies on painting theory, is a document that reveals the state of painting in 15th-century Florence. According to this work, man is both the starting point and the point where knowledge is questioned.

"On Sculpture" is designed as a practical guide that addresses the art of sculpture from theoretical and technical perspectives. In this work, Alberti treated the human body as a system of weights, counterweights, levers, balances, measurements, and proportions. He contributed to the complete closure of the Middle Ages with his view that there is no measure outside of man. "From paintings, you cannot learn anything but how to imitate them; from sculpture, you learn to imitate it and how to recognize and draw lights." "There is no art that does not contain errors at its beginning. Nothing can be both new and perfect at the same time."