<span><span>The development of Italian Renaissance architecture was one of the most relevant cultural phenomena of the 15th and 16th centuries, not only for the environment that gave birth to it and for centuries followed its course, but also for the reverberations it caused outside of Italy and in the epochs that followed. In fact, it became the reference model for most European courts, which were inspired as much by the decorative elements (take for example France’s palace at Fontainebleau or Scotland’s Stirling Castle) as by the architectonic system and stylistic conventions. This extraordinary flowering, theorized and implemented by people of absolute genius such as Filippo Brunelleschi and Leon Battista Alberti (to limit ourselves to the most prominent figures), encompasses masterpieces such as the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence or that of Saint Peter’s in Rome, as well as perfectly harmonious structures such as Maser’s Villa Barbaro, Vicenza’ Basilica and Venice’s Biblioteca Marciana.This comprehensive compilation of Italian Renaissance architecture richly documented, illustrated and organized by type of construction, major architects and geographical location reveals and celebrates a unique artistic period that lasted for almost two centuries, from the early 1400s through the end of the 1500s, two points in time perfectly reflected in the figures of Brunelleschi and Buontalenti.</span></span>