![]() He wrote treatises on painting and architecture and designed several significant buildings and churches. Highly educated in classical literature and philosophy, he was a humanist and a man of the world. Although remembered as an architect, Alberti primarily was a writer and a scholar. Perhaps Francesca's greatest gift to Pacioli was his introduction to Leone Battista Alberti, whose ideas shaped the young man's thinking in mathematics and philosophy. Such visits increased Pacioli's dedication to scholarship and knowledge and implanted the importance of perspective, geometry, mathematics, and scholarship firmly in his young, fertile mind. ![]() Pacioli frequently would accompany the artist across the rugged Appenine mountains to the Duke's court where they would spend hours in the expansive library. His friends and patrons included some of the most prominent artists and architects, such as Brunelleschi, Donatello, Uccello, and Alberti religious leaders at the Vatican and political leaders, including Federigo, Duke of Urbino. He also was one of the first "artist-humanists" of the century, learned in Latin and mathematics, an accomplished poet and cosmographer, author of books on perspective and form, and occasional architect. He was encouraged by one of the leading figures of the Renaissance, renowned painter Piero della Francesca, who adopted Pacioli as his protégé.Īs the first "realist in color," Francesca was admired and imitated throughout Italy. In his own words, he had had an affinity for mathematics "from the time I had soft fingernails," and it was this love for the science and theology of math that led him to abandon the apprenticeship and pursue a life of scholarship. But he was determined to shape his own destiny. It was uncommon for the sons of poor families to continue their education past the age of 16, so, after religious and mercantile training with Franciscan friars, Pacioli was apprenticed to a prominent Sansepolcro businessman. Born into the modest family of Bartolomeo Pacioli in Sansepolcro, Italy, in 1445, Luca soon began to set himself apart from other boys his age. Who was Pacioli, and how did he become the patriarch of our field? The answers reveal a man of surprising talents and endeavors, a quintessential "Renaissance man."Ī relative or neighbor watching young Pacioli might have predicted that the boy would go far in the field of mathematics. It remains so to this day: Our modern accounting systems are based substantially upon Pacioli's writings, earning him the epithet, "Father of Accounting." Although Pacioli did not invent double-entry bookkeeping, he described it in such detail and clarity in a monumental work published in 1494 that it immediately became the standard system for keeping accounts. That we owe to the work of Fra Luca Pacioli, a multitalented mathematician, scholar, and philosopher. How was all this business activity recorded? Although several systems were developed by mathematicians and businessmen to summarize and communicate business transactions, only one survived to become the standard system we use today. Construction, shipping, trade, and countless other forms of commerce flourished in the burgeoning Renaissance economy. Advances in technology made new endeavors possible, and the spirit of exploration took those ventures to far-flung ports. As Europe emerged from the Dark Ages, business boomed. ![]() ![]() We suspect that double- entry bookkeeping-or something very close to it-was in widespread use throughout Italy in the 1400s. The 15th century does figure prominently in the history of bookkeeping, however. But the real answer is "(d) None of the above." Historians have found records of debits and credits dating to the 12th century. If you said Fra Luca Pacioli or a 15th century Italian businessman, you're 500 years closer. If you said Arthur Andersen, you ascribe entirely too much importance to the 20th century. Quick! Who invented double-entry bookkeeping? His 500-year-old treatise is the standard for professionals today. Copyright by Institute of Management Accountants, Montvale, N.J. Tinius, Management Accounting, July 1991, pp. Source: Reprinted from "Luca Pacioli: Accounting's Renaissance Man," by William L.
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