m the model of the Church of S. Francesco, and in particular
that of the facade, which was made of marble; and likewise the side
facing towards the south, which was built with very great arches and
with tombs for the illustrious men of that city. In short, he brought
that building to such a form that in point of solidity it is one of the
most famous temples in Italy. Within it are six most beautiful chapels,
one of which, dedicated to S. Jerome, is very ornate; and in it are
preserved many relics brought from Jerusalem. In the same chapel are the
tombs of the said Signor Sigismondo and of his wife, constructed very
richly of marble in the year 1450; on one there is the portrait of
Sigismondo himself, and in another part of the work there is that of
Leon Batista.

After this, in the year 1457, when the very useful method of printing
books was discovered by Johann Gutenberg the German, Leon Batista,
working on similar lines, discovered a way of tracing natural
perspectives and of effecting the diminution of figures by means of an
instrument, and likewise the method of enlarging small things and
reproducing them on a greater scale; all ingenious inventions, useful to
art and very beautiful.

In Leon Batista's time Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai wished to build the
principal facade of S. Maria Novella entirely of marble at his own
expense, and he spoke of this to Leon Batista, who was very much his
friend; and having received from him not only counsel, but the actual
model, Giovanni resolved to have the work executed at all costs, in
order to leave it behind him as a memorial of himself. A beginning
having been made, therefore, it was finished in the year 1477, to the
great satisfaction of all the city, which was pleased with the whole
work, but particularly with the door, from which it is seen that Leon
Batista took more than ordinary pains. For Cosimo Rucellai, likewise, he
made the design for the palace which that man built in the street which
is called La Vigna, and that for the loggia which is opposite to it. In
the latter, having turned his arches over columns close together, both
in the front and at the ends, since he wished to adhere to this plan and
not to make one single arch, he had a certain space left over on each
side; wherefore he was forced to make certain projections at the inner
corners. And then, when he wished to turn the arch of the inner
vaulting, having seen that he could not give it the shape of a
half