Author: Filarete
Alternate names: Antonio Averlino Filarete; Antonio A. Filarete
Born: 1400
Died: 1469
Bio: Florentine Renaissance architect, sculptor and architectural theorist.

Antonio di Pietro Averlino was born c. 1400 in Florence where he probably trained as a craftsman. Sources suggest that he worked in Florence under the Italian painter, architect, and biographer Lorenzo Ghiberti, who gave him his more famous name “Filarete” which means “a lover of virtue”. In the mid 15th century, Filarete was expelled from Rome after being accused of attempting to steal the head of John the Baptist and he moved to Venice and then eventually to Milan. There he became a ducal engineer and worked on a variety of architectural projects for the next fifteen years. He is perhaps best remembered for his design of the ideal city of Sforzinda, the first ideal city plan of the Renaissance.According to his biographer, Vasari, Filarete died in Rome c. 1469 *(Source: Wikipedia)*