1439-1502

Italian engineer and architect whose Trattato di architettura civile e militare (c. 1482) was one of the most significant books on architectural theory during the Renaissance. Initially employed as a military architect, first by the city-state of Siena and later by both Lorenzo de Medici and the duke of Urbino, Martini went on to influence civilian architecture throughout much of Italy. He designed parts of the ducal palace at Urbino, and created a model of the dome for the cathedral at Milan. He was also an accomplished sculptor and painter. As a theorist, he was greatly influenced by the ideas of the Roman architect Vitruvius (first century A.D.)