Il De equo animante si presenta come un trattato tecnico ed erudito, piuttosto che artistico, in quanto rielabora notizie attinte dalle auctoritates in materia di ippologia. Tuttavia, a partire dal concetto di “vitalità”, messo in rilievo fin dal titolo, è possibile individuare due percorsi che consentono di rileggere il testo all’interno dell’estetica albertiana: il primo si snoda in seno stesso alla teoria della bellezza e mette in luce una concezione estetica che si risolve nella funzionalità; il secondo interpreta il concetto di “vitalità” nel senso dell’enargeia, della “vivezza rappresentativa”, qualità fondamentale delle opere d’arte. A conclusione di queste analisi e alla luce dell’osmosi che nel Quattrrocento legava riflessione artistica e scientifica, si comprende che anche uno scritto tecnico, come il De equo animante, può avere valenza estetica, secondo una chiave di lettura non settoriale e depauperante, ma aperta a cogliere le idee estetiche presenti anche in contesti lontani da quelli più specificatamente artistici. The De equo animante is introduced as a technical and erudite, rather than artistic essay, because it elaborates news drawn by the auctoritates in subject of hippology. Nevertheless, beginning from the concept of " vitality ", envoy in relief since the title, is possible to individualize two paths that allow of to reread the text inside the Leon Battista Alberti's aesthetics: the first one is untied in same breast to the theory of the beauty and it shows an aesthetical conception that is resolved in the functionality; the second interprets the concept of " vitality " in the sense of the enargeia, of the "representative liveliness", fundamental qualities of the work of art. At the end of these analyses and to the light of the osmosis that tied artistic and scientific reflection in Fifteenth Century, it is understood that also a technical writing, as the De equo animante, can have aesthetical value, according to a key of non sectorial and impoverishing reading, but open to gather also aesthetical ideas found in far contexts from those more specifically artistic.

Different Knowledge Beauty, Art, and Images in Leon Battista Alberti The great attention that, during the past few years, has been paid to Leon Battista Alberti has led to the creation of research centers and to the organization of exhibitions and conferences dedicated to him, but it has yet to result, especially in Italy, in a new approach to his aesthetic theories. This represents a serious scholarly gap, because Alberti was an important figure in the history of aesthetics, both for the role he played in the aesthetic and literary debates of the 15th century, as well as for the impact that his thought had on theory and art in subsequent centuries. The present volume constitutes an important tool to fill such gap. The volume centers on three key concepts: beauty, art, and images. The first chapter problematizes the traditional view that Alberti promoted an objective notion of beauty as harmony, showing instead how he also entertained a functionalist aesthetics and considered the perception of beauty as a subjectve experience linked to individual taste. In the second chapter, after examining the relationship between Alberti’s treatises and ancient models, the analysis focuses on the “learned artist”, outlining a conception of knowledge that, refuting all abstractions, is rooted in practical experience and activity. The last chapter examines Alberti’s theory of images, which has been neglected by scholars, and focuses on Egyptian hieroglyphs. The concluding pages of the present volume analyze the hierglyph of the winged eye, which was adopted by Leon Battista Alberti as his personal emblem, and suggest that it may provide a key for a comprehensive interpretation of his humanistic thought.