Leon Battista Alberti and the Homogeneity of Space

In his "Perspective as Symbolic Form," Erwin Panofsky argued that the concept of homogenous space developed shortly before, and enabled, the discovery of the geometrical construction of perspective. Subsequent scholarship has suggested that this understanding arose much later. However, without the concept of space as homogenous, it is very difficult to conceive of such fundamental elements of architectural theory as dimension, proportion, shape, or the multiplication of shapes. Consequently, the question as to whether Renaissance theorists operated with the concept of homogenous space is of great importance not only for the history of perspective, but for the history of architectural theory as well. In this article, I explore Leon Battista Alberti's views on the subject.