<P> As in the Platonic academy of Athens, it was seen by those of Humanist understanding that those people who had the benefit of wealth and education ought to promote the pursuit of learning and the creation of that which was beautiful . To this end, wealthy families--the Medici of Florence, the Gonzaga of Mantua, the Farnese in Rome, the Sforzas in Milan--gathered around them people of learning and ability, promoting the skills and creating employment for the most talented artists and architects of their day . </P> <P> During the Renaissance, architecture became not only a question of practice, but also a matter for theoretical discussion . Printing played a large role in the dissemination of ideas . </P> <Ul> <Li> The first treatise on architecture was De re aedificatoria ("On the Subject of Building") by Leon Battista Alberti in 1450 . It was to some degree dependent on Vitruvius's De architectura, a manuscript of which was discovered in 1414 in a library in Switzerland . De re aedificatoria in 1485 became the first printed book on architecture . </Li> <Li> Sebastiano Serlio (1475--c. 1554) produced the next important text, the first volume of which appeared in Venice in 1537; it was entitled Regole generali d'architettura ("General Rules of Architecture"). It is known as Serlio's "Fourth Book" since it was the fourth in Serlio's original plan of a treatise in seven books . In all, five books were published . </Li> <Li> In 1570, Andrea Palladio (1508--1580) published I quattro libri dell'architettura ("The Four Books of Architecture") in Venice . This book was widely printed and responsible to a great degree for spreading the ideas of the Renaissance through Europe . All these books were intended to be read and studied not only by architects, but also by patrons . </Li> </Ul> <Li> The first treatise on architecture was De re aedificatoria ("On the Subject of Building") by Leon Battista Alberti in 1450 . It was to some degree dependent on Vitruvius's De architectura, a manuscript of which was discovered in 1414 in a library in Switzerland . De re aedificatoria in 1485 became the first printed book on architecture . </Li>

A feature of this example suggests it is from the early part of the medieval period