Francesco Albertini (born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

in 1469 - died post 30 August 1510 ) was a canon of the Basilica of San Lorenzo in

and a chaplain of Cardinal Fazio Santoro in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. In 1510 he wrote three books: The ''Opusculum de mirabilibus novae & veteris urbis Romae'', the ''Septem mirabilia orbis et urbis Romae et Florentinae'' and the ''Memoriale di molte picture e statue sono nella inclyta cipta di Florentia''. ''Opusculum de mirabilibus novae & veteris urbis Romae'' was "the most popular guide to Ancient Rome in the sixteenth century". Albertini presented it as the new and updated '' Mirabilia'' "shorn of its fables and nonsense", and included a substantial description of the reconstruction of Rome started by

Pope Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV ( it, Sisto IV: 21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484), born Francesco della Rovere, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 to his death in August 1484. His accomplishments as pope include ...

. ''Memoriale di molte picture e statue sono nella inclyta cipta di Florentia'' is generally considered the first

guidebook A guide book or travel guide is "a book of information about a place designed for the use of visitors or tourists". It will usually include information about sights, accommodation, restaurants, transportation, and activities. Maps of varying det ...

of Florence. According to Klein and Zerner, it is "a superficial and rather poor piece of writing" of dubious factual value, but it stands out as a monument of artistic spirit, pride and self-consciousness of Florentine people. However, De Boer shows that Albertini made few attributional mistakes and the book, albeit concise, is one of the most valuable sources about Florentine art prior to

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...

's ''Lives of the Artists''. In the case of the brothers

Antonio Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

and

Piero del Pollaiuolo Piero del Pollaiuolo ( , , ; also spelled Pollaiolo; in Florence – 1496 in Rome), also known as Piero Benci, was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. His brother was the artist Antonio del Pollaiuolo and the two frequently worked ...

, 21st-century art historians, led by Aldo Galli, are coming to prefer the attributions by Albertini of many paintings to Piero, rather than those by Vasari to Antonio. The ''

Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian Saint Sebastian (in Latin: ''Sebastianus''; Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis, Roman Empire c. AD 255 – Rome, Italia, Roman Empire c. AD 288) was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocleti ...

'' now in the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

in London is a notable example.Galli, Aldo, "The Fortune of the Pollaiuolo Brothers", p. 33, in ''Antonio and Piero del Pollaiuolo: "Silver and Gold, Painting and Bronze”'', exhibition catalogue (Milan, Museo Poldi Pezzoli, 2014 – 2015), eds. A. Di Lorenzo and A. Galli , Milan 2014, pp. 25–77
PDF on Academia.edu
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References

Sources

* Charles L. Stinger (1998).
The Renaissance in Rome
'. Indiana University Press. . * Robert Klein, Henri Zerner (1989).
Italian art, 1500-1600: sources and documents, Volume 1500
'. Northwestern University Press. . * Waldemar H. de Boer (2010). Memorial of Many Statues and Paintings in the Illustrious City of Florence by Francesco Albertini (1510), edited by Michael W. Kwakkelstein. Centro Di. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Albertini, Francesco Italian male writers 16th-century Italian writers 15th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Clergy from Florence Writers from Rome 1469 births 16th-century deaths 15th-century antiquarians