Leon Battista Alberti

“The city is like a great house, and the house in its turn a small city.”

“Beauty: the adjustment of all parts proportionately so that one cannot add or subtract or change without impairing the harmony of the whole.”

“When I investigate and when I discover that the forces of the heavens and the planets are within ourselves, then truly I seem to be living among the gods.”

“A man can do all things if he but wills them.”

“Men can do all things if they will.”

“Painting contains a divine force which... makes the dead seem almost alive.”

“I will never tire of recommending the custom, practiced by the best architects, of preparing not only drawings and sketches, but also models of wood or any other material. These... enable us to examine... the work as a whole... and, before continuing any further, to estimate the likely trouble and expense.”

“We must always take from nature what we paint and always choose the most beautiful things.”