TheCodeBreakers
and athletic aptitudes. He painted, composed music, and was regarded
as one of the best organists of his day. Writings poured from his pen. His
De Re Aedificatoria, the first printed book on architecture, written while
Gothic churches were still being built, helped shape the thoughts of
those who built such utterly non-Gothic structures as St. Peter's Basilica
in Rome. Jacob Burckhardt, author of the classic The Civilization of the
Renaissaance in Italy, singled out Alberti as one of the truly all-sided
men who tower above their numerous many-sided contemporaries. And
another great Renaissance scholar, John Symonds, declared that "He
presents the spirit of the 15th century at its very best."
Among his friends was the pontifical secretary, Leonardo Dato, one of
the learned men of his age, who during that memorable stroll in the
Vatican gardens brought the conversation around to cryptology. "You've
annaabi.ee 
