During the time of the Renaissance, many artists changed their views on art and its underlying philosophy. Architecture reflects how people lived in a given time period and also often times depicts a society more than a piece of visual art from the same time period. Meaning, architecture can be used to show an artistic relationship of what people believed in religiously and philosophically. Architecture is also a valid depiction of where a society is in terms of technological advancements in design and materials. The architecture of the Renaissance, mainly Brunelleschi, explains the technological advances in architectural design and philosophy. Brunelleschi was a sculptor and architect who lived during the time of the Renaissance. Brunelleschi was the designer of many great works, including the infamous Duomo in Florence. He was new breed of architects because of the fact that he had a liberal education and did not have an apprenticeship. Along with Masaccio and Donatello, Brunelleschi was part of the category of artists that concentrated on science and theory between humanist thought, science, and art (Chadwick, 65). Brunelleschi developed his style of designing and concentrated on perspective, which was badly understood at the time. Influenced by Augustine, Brunelleschi designed his work through the use of his understanding of perspective to follow Augustine's thought. He found the true method to perfectly express the truth of nature to the eye. Brunelleschi was credited for his understanding of Nature's numbers and his success in incorporating Augustinian philosophies into his architecture.
Leon Battista Alberti, a "universal man," who wrote a book that many artists follow, highly praised Brunelleschi's work of architecture not just for his design, but also for his knowledge and manipulation of Nature's numbers and proportions. Alberti believed that "architecture was the highest art, the architect a second Creator, the whole enterprise a religious calling," (Turner, 72).
