Brunelleschi's Dome: How A Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture (2001) - Plot & Excerpts
This is an account of how the monument that human ingenuity could build to itself came into being.During the 13C the prosperous Florence deemed that its small Cathedral needed more than just more repairs. Santa Reparata was then demolished and a new and considerably larger building was commissioned to Arnolfo di Cambio, the architect who had already designed other pleasing churches in the city. The new Cathedral would also drop its no longer suitable old name and take on the radiant designation of Santa Maria del Fiore. Work began at the turn of the century but soon came to a halt when its designer passed away. More unfortunate events followed and it was not until the very strong and wealthy Arte de la Lana (the Guild of Wool Merchants) undertook to give its completion a new push.That it would have to be such a guild the one who could spin stone out of yarn should be of no surprise. The wealth of the city was based on the turning around and trading such golden fleece.During the calamitous 14C the fortunes of the Cathedral went through more ups and downs. Giotto and Pisano were there and helped; the Black Death walked its scimitar; other architects like Orcagna and Neri di Fioravante followed and considerably modified the original plan. About one hundred years after it was begun, it was nearly finished. Except for its Dome.When the design was altered the model proposed by Neri di Fioravante had won the day. It was so very attractive because it seemed so very Italian. It would have a huge Dome (reminiscences of the glorious Roman past?) and would have no ugly external Gothic (barbarian) buttresses.What had not yet been resolved was how something of the sort could be built?Its size and its elevation on relatively thin walls, were unprecedented. A cross view comparing it to the also baffling Roman Pantheon speaks better than many words.Ross devotes this book to tracking how such a solution was forged. And the story is fascinating. He starts with the Competition that again the Arte de la Lana, who was still spinning the functioning of the city, opened up to the public. He expands on the rivalry between the two geniuses who have become the most famous contenders of the Italian Renaissance. Ghiberti and Brunelleschi had to measure each other up repeatedly during those years, first with the Baptistery doors and then with any new of the many commissions that were stemming out of that vibrant city. These two had the required invective and dexterous mind.Ross then proceeds to tell us how Brunelleschi solved the problems similarly to the way Brunelleschi himself revealed them. That is, gradually: stone-by-stone, or chapter-by-chapter. If Brunelleschi feared plagiarism, Ross seems concerned with losing the narrative interest.Ross then does not present the architectural scheme as it stands, and he prefers to unveil in installments about what made the dome possible: the double shells; the inadequacy of wood centering; the octagonal crossings and ribs; the pointed fifth arch; the side chains as braces around the ribs; variation in the density of materials; the herringbone brickwork; internal trusses, etc. This approach has somewhat dampened a clear representation of how it all holds together. But in so doing Ross succeeds in showing how each small advance was fraught with difficulty and considerable danger. He engagingly elaborates on these temporary uncertainties, obstacles and technological problems and on the very many additional ingenious solutions that Brunelleschi devised. For these were not just a few. All the practicalities in the actual building, to the smallest detail, had to be contended by Brunelleschi, the capo maestro. He devised his ox-hoist; the Castello or novel crane; the lantern hoist; the hidden staircase in between the double shell, amongst others. Brunelleschi’s training in clock making clearly helped him to keep his pace.For he finished it. He also had time to design the Lantern as well, although he did not see its completion since he died soon after it was begun, in 1446. The ceremony of its consecration has also passed into history. The population felt as if they were witnessing a miracle. The heavenly motet that Guillaume Dufay composed especially for this occasion, Nupem Rosarum Flores, must have been conducive for the mystical reception in the congregation. Later, the celestial frescoes designed by Giorgio Vasari completed the embellishment of such a realized impossibility.And even if Ross’ writing reminded me somewhat of the style of guidebooks, or had the taste of isolated research, or irritated at times for not giving more of the original Italian names and adapting the material too much for an easy reading, he does succeed in bringing forth Brunelleschi’s extraordinary achievement.Apart from all the technical details and all the circumstantial considerations, what this Dome by Brunelleschi proves to us is that there was new faith in the power of the individual who had a complete confidence in his own human capabilities.It was not just the Dome; it was that conviction of himself and of his own ingenuity that was so very new. ------And if any one feels like climbing up the more than 450 steps of the dome from his/her armchair, there is is this fun video by someone who got inspired by this very book...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohB1s...
This book combines all pop science's dread of technical detail with pop history's rapacity for gossip and speculation. It's kind of a haphazard book, basically a chronological collection of strange anecdotes with an alarming tendency to allude to the fact that no one knows what they're talking about because this all happened at the turn of the 14th century and we can't actually see the innards of the dome and observe how it is keeping itself up. That being said, "weirdly random collection of information related (or tenuously connected by way of a rambly paragraph) to a particular construction project, shallowly treated", was pretty fascinating to me. It really anchors the project in time and space: Florence, on the river Arno, menaced by Milanese dukes, after Dante, before Columbus, a dark age between it and the construction of the Hagia Sophia of Constantinople and the Pantheon of Rome. In conclusion, did not think well of the writing, and probably going to go ahead and read the rest of the author's nonfiction oeuvre. Not the fiction though.Oh oh oh! And my favorite sentence, generously expanded: place a mirror on the ground a good distance away from the building and then back away from it until you just see the top of the building in the mirror. Now, (mirror-your eyeball-your feet) is similar to (mirror-top of the building-bottom of the building), so you can estimate the height of the building as your height times the distance from the mirror to the building divided by the distance from the mirror to you. I'd never heard this variation with a mirror before, and it made me smile. King credits it to Fibonacci.And a heinous omission: King alludes to Brunelleschi's penchant for writing mean sonnets about his enemies, but doesn't reproduce any in the book. Unhappy about this.
What do You think about Brunelleschi's Dome: How A Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture (2001)?
This really made me appreciate the enormity of what the construction of a large dome was, in the time before internal combustion engines.While occasionally there were sections that a not-mechanically-minded person like myself could only read 8 times, nod and pretend I understood, likeIn this experiment the capomaestro used a cane that was fixed at one end and "circled upwards, gradually narrowing as it pressed constantly on the bricks on its unfixed side.",King also manages to instill in the reader a sense of wonder and inspiration, and a dumbfounded respect for what Brunelleschi designed, and the enormity of the challenges he faced.This dome was built in the first half of the 1400's. The most frequently used power source used for hoisting ton-and-more stones up 30-40 stories was a single ox walking in a circle. The dome they built is wider than the US Capitol building dome by more than 30%. I mean, wow.If you ever think you might go to Florence, read this. To think that my art appreciation teacher taught us all about the bronze doors and the scene of Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac when an angel stayed his hand, without mentioning the miracle rising hundreds of feet over it.
—bup
I picked this up at a used bookstore. It is a historical account of the planning and execution of the dome in Florence. Lots of engineering details. I plan to climb to the top of that dome this summer and I will be able to see the innovative engineering skills of Brunelleschi from the inside stair well. Can't wait. Best of all this book is a good companion to the novel "Pillars of the Earth" since it has lots of references to building cathedrals. I plan to read Ross King's book about St. Peter's dome before the summer!
—LuAnn
This one's going back to the library unfinished. I'd heard so often that it was good. Though my MFA is in Painting, I did teach a year long Art History survey course, so I've even lectured on the darn dome. And I've always been interested in architecture.But I am 75 years old and I don't have time to waste on books I'm not enjoying. This one is so poorly written I can't believe it got the good reviews it did.The writing is plodding and awkward. The author introduces technical/architectural terms without defining them and there is no glossary. He discusses complicated bits of machinery with no clear diagrams of how they worked. Somebody can do better than this.
—Ruth
