THE
ARCHITECTURE
OF
Leone Batiſta Alberti.
ARCHITECTURE
OF
Leone Batiſta Alberti.
BOOK IX. CHAP. I.
That particular Regard muſt be had to Frugality and Parſimony, and of the
adorning the Palaces or Houſes of the King and principal Magiſtrates.
adorning the Palaces or Houſes of the King and principal Magiſtrates.
We are here to remember, that there
are two Sorts of Houſes for private
Men; ſome for the Town and others
for the Country; and of theſe again
ſome are intended for Citizens of meaner Rank,
and others for thoſe of the higheſt Quality.
We are now to treat of the proper Ornaments
for each of theſe; but firſt I would premiſe
ſome few neceſſary Precautions. We find that
among the Ancients the Men of the greateſt
Prudence and Modeſty were always beſt pleaſed
with Temperance and Parſimony in all Things,
both publick and private, and particularly in
the Affair of Building, judging it neceſſary to
prevent and reſtrain all Extravagance and Pro
fuſion in their Citizens in theſe Points, which
they did to the utmoſt of their Power both by
Admonitions and Laws. For this Reaſon Plato
commends thoſe who, as we have before obſerv
ed, made a Decree, that no Man ſhould have in
his Houſe any Picture that was finer than thoſe
which had been ſet up in the Temples of their
Gods by their Forefathers, and that even the
Temple itſelf ſhould be adorned with no other
Painting but ſuch a ſingle Picture as one Painter
could draw in one ſingle Day. He alſo or
dained, that the Statues of the Gods themſelves
ſhould be made only of Wood or Stone, and
that Iron and Braſs ſhould be left for the Uſes
of War, whereof they were the proper Inſtru
ments. Demoſthenes cried up the Manners of
the ancient Athenians, much beyond thoſe of
his Cotemporaries; for he tells us, they left an
infinite Number of publick Edifices, and eſpe
cially of Temples, ſo magnificent and richly
adorned that nothing could exceed them; but
they were ſo modeſt in their private Buildings,
that the Houſes of the very nobleſt Citizens
differed very little from thoſe of the meaneſt;
by which means they effected, what is very
rarely known among Men, to overcome Envy
by Glory. But the Spartans condemned even
theſe, for having embelliſhed their City more
with the Builder's Skill, than with the Splendor
of their own Exploits, while they themſelves
gloried, that they had adorned their own City
more by their Virtue than by their fine Build
ings. Among them it was one of Lycurgus's
Laws, that their Roofs ſhould be wrought with
no nicer Tool than the Ax, and their Doors
with the Saw. Ageſilaus, when he beheld
ſquare Rafters in the Houſes in Aſia, laughed
at them; and asked the People, whether if
they had grown naturally ſquare, they would
not have made them round? And doubtleſs he
was in the Right; becauſe, according to the
ancient Modeſty of his Nation, he was of Opi
nion, that the Houſes of private Perſons ought
to be built only for Convenience, and not for
Beauty or Magnificence. It was a Law in
are two Sorts of Houſes for private
Men; ſome for the Town and others
for the Country; and of theſe again
ſome are intended for Citizens of meaner Rank,
and others for thoſe of the higheſt Quality.
We are now to treat of the proper Ornaments
for each of theſe; but firſt I would premiſe
ſome few neceſſary Precautions. We find that
among the Ancients the Men of the greateſt
Prudence and Modeſty were always beſt pleaſed
with Temperance and Parſimony in all Things,
both publick and private, and particularly in
the Affair of Building, judging it neceſſary to
prevent and reſtrain all Extravagance and Pro
fuſion in their Citizens in theſe Points, which
they did to the utmoſt of their Power both by
Admonitions and Laws. For this Reaſon Plato
commends thoſe who, as we have before obſerv
ed, made a Decree, that no Man ſhould have in
his Houſe any Picture that was finer than thoſe
which had been ſet up in the Temples of their
Gods by their Forefathers, and that even the
Temple itſelf ſhould be adorned with no other
Painting but ſuch a ſingle Picture as one Painter
could draw in one ſingle Day. He alſo or
dained, that the Statues of the Gods themſelves
ſhould be made only of Wood or Stone, and
that Iron and Braſs ſhould be left for the Uſes
of War, whereof they were the proper Inſtru
ments. Demoſthenes cried up the Manners of
the ancient Athenians, much beyond thoſe of
his Cotemporaries; for he tells us, they left an
infinite Number of publick Edifices, and eſpe
cially of Temples, ſo magnificent and richly
adorned that nothing could exceed them; but
they were ſo modeſt in their private Buildings,
that the Houſes of the very nobleſt Citizens
differed very little from thoſe of the meaneſt;
by which means they effected, what is very
rarely known among Men, to overcome Envy
by Glory. But the Spartans condemned even
theſe, for having embelliſhed their City more
with the Builder's Skill, than with the Splendor
of their own Exploits, while they themſelves
gloried, that they had adorned their own City
more by their Virtue than by their fine Build
ings. Among them it was one of Lycurgus's
Laws, that their Roofs ſhould be wrought with
no nicer Tool than the Ax, and their Doors
with the Saw. Ageſilaus, when he beheld
ſquare Rafters in the Houſes in Aſia, laughed
at them; and asked the People, whether if
they had grown naturally ſquare, they would
not have made them round? And doubtleſs he
was in the Right; becauſe, according to the
ancient Modeſty of his Nation, he was of Opi
nion, that the Houſes of private Perſons ought
to be built only for Convenience, and not for
Beauty or Magnificence. It was a Law in