Leon Battista Alberti has written books on painting as being the foundation of art and other art styles such as architecture and sculpting. As a Renaissance man, Alberti took interest in science and math, incorporating it into his paintings and into his criteria for what he considered to be a successful artwork. Most successful renaissance paintings follow his criteria, incorporating values such as science, math, Humanism, the classical styles of Rome/Greece, mythology and Christianity. Both the Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli and Trinity with the Virgin by Masaccio have incorporated some of these values in the artwork. Although both are considered to be high pieces of art from this era, I believe Alberti would prefer Trinity with the Virgin over Birth of Venus because Birth of Venus doesn’t…show more content… Both show themes of Humanism and the classical style, with both depicting human figures with attention to their form and some Roman/Greek influence (Venus: Venus Pudica pose, Virgin: Roman architecture). However, when studying Birth of Venus, we notice that all the proportions and poses within the piece are impossible realistically. Venus herself as she's standing on the shell looks misplaced when you focus on her feet on the shell. The two figures to her left look to be entangled in a physically improbable way, with the male’s face looking ugly in comparison to everything else surrounding him. We also see lines, lots of lines, from the air being blown by the two figures to the left, to lines in the water and background to give this feeling of linear grace. It's possible that Alberti would look at the piece and criticize not only the inaccurate display of proportions, or the sheer fact that we can clearly see Venus’s right breast as she tries to cover herself modestly, but also the amount of line used within the background