The name ‘Leon Battista Alberti’ not only recalls the Renaissance’s ideals but also the aesthetic standards of modern architecture. Educated in various disciplines from sciences to language, this Italian born talent was truly a Renaissance man with many talents. Here are five things you should know about Leon Battista Alberti.

Alberti, a great humanist, did not limit himself to become one of the greatest architects in history, but also excelled as a writer, mathematician, humanist, cryptographer, linguist, philosopher, musician and archaeologist — earning the nickname ‘Universal Genius.’ But he wasn’t all work and no play. It seems that from a very young age he mastered the Latin language and managed to fool the experts of the time writing an autobiographical comedy titled Philodoxeos fabula (‘Lover of Glory’) considered an original artifact and attributed to Lepidus, name that Alberti used to sign himself.