Alberti at Rimini: The process of patronage in fifteenth-century Italy

In 1450, Leon Battista Alberti was hired by the condottiere Sigismondo Malatesta to redesign the church of San Francesco in Rimini, now known as the Tempio Malatestiano. Alberti's design has been recognized as the first classically-inspired church facade of the Renaissance. For the other decorative facets of this project Sigismondo employed accomplished, high profile personalities: Piero della Francesca, Matteo de' Pasti, Agostino di Duccio. Yet Alberti had a notable absence of architectural training or experience. This dissertation explains why Alberti was selected for this high-profile commission, despite his lack of architectural resume. Therefore I approach the Tempio Malatestiano not as an exemplar of Italian Renaissance architecture, but rather as the starting point of an effort to understand the various forces at work in the process of artistic patronage in fifteenth-century Italy.;This study investigates how and why Sigisimondo and Alberti came together to produce the monument of the Tempio Malatestiano. The analysis addresses the complex issue of the definition of the architect in the transitional period of the mid-fifteenth century -- a development in which Alberti himself was a key player -- and explores the backgrounds of both protagonists in an effort to determine why Alberti was chosen over the many established architects of the period. I show that Alberti had many other qualifications in his myriad intellectual activities; in this regard he was no exception to Sigismondo's rule of hiring accomplished courtiers. Furthermore, Sigismondo's patronage agenda had as much to do with his personal and political aims and circumstances as it did artistic ones, and I show how only Alberti could satisfy these goals. In the process a new view of Alberti's important and controversial time in Rome is proposed. Finally, this study contributes to the wider field of Alberti studies in its discussion of the ways in which Alberti's other intellectual activities contributed to his career as architect and how these played out in the design of the Tempio Malatestiano.