So while no one can deny that the Florence Cathedral is magnificent and incredibly impressive, apparently because of the long building process some things such as the windows do not match up from inside to outside! According to this article I read, the first few windows of the nave of the cathedral are eternally dark because of a mismatched interior and exterior architecture. I find this pretty amusing, but also not all to surprising because a cathedral is an enormous building requiring many years of labor, and with all the problems that the Florence Cathedral had during it's construction it is a wonder more things are not messed up.
Information taken from:
Bramblett, Reid. "The Duomo ★★★." The Duomo (Cathedral) of Florence, Italy. Web. 18 Sept. 2014. <http://www.reidsitaly.com/destinations/tuscany/florence/sights/duomo.html>.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
National Geographic Article
I read an article from the National Geographic [link here!] that gave a lot of information in regards to the dome of the cathedral. I used information from this article in another one of my posts, but I felt that the article was interesting enough to merit its own post.
From the very first paragraph the article mentions that for decades the church had no complete roof. The dome was the last structural part of the cathedral to be built, and before it was built there was a great big gaping hole. This was actually surprising to me, and does not match the idea in my head of how I thought these sorts of things were built. Maybe the Florence Cathedral was a special case, but leaving something so integral to the entire structure I feel would be nerve wracking for those paying for the church. I mean, imagine if when building the dome it collapsed and damaged other parts of the cathedral? That would have been awful.
Another interesting fact is that when the dome was designed, no one knew how they were going to build it. They basically said "that looks good" without any real consideration of how to construct such a dome. Other cathedrals, especially Gothic cathedrals, used what are called flying buttresses to transfer the load from the dome, or whatever the buttress was attached to, to the ground or another more stable part of the cathedral. The planners of the Florence Cathedral eschewed that idea for what we have now.
The dome that Brunelleschi built actually consists of two domes; an inner and an outer. He basically treated the domes like a barrel and used great big "hoops" to constrain the tendency of the domes to bow outwards. This idea of building the dome in this manner is genius, and I find it a highly interesting piece of knowledge about the building. Brunelleschi seemed to have a solution for every problem that came up, be it the dome or how to even lift the material to where it needed to be in order to build the dome, I find the whole process fascinating.
Information taken from:
From the very first paragraph the article mentions that for decades the church had no complete roof. The dome was the last structural part of the cathedral to be built, and before it was built there was a great big gaping hole. This was actually surprising to me, and does not match the idea in my head of how I thought these sorts of things were built. Maybe the Florence Cathedral was a special case, but leaving something so integral to the entire structure I feel would be nerve wracking for those paying for the church. I mean, imagine if when building the dome it collapsed and damaged other parts of the cathedral? That would have been awful.
Another interesting fact is that when the dome was designed, no one knew how they were going to build it. They basically said "that looks good" without any real consideration of how to construct such a dome. Other cathedrals, especially Gothic cathedrals, used what are called flying buttresses to transfer the load from the dome, or whatever the buttress was attached to, to the ground or another more stable part of the cathedral. The planners of the Florence Cathedral eschewed that idea for what we have now.
The dome that Brunelleschi built actually consists of two domes; an inner and an outer. He basically treated the domes like a barrel and used great big "hoops" to constrain the tendency of the domes to bow outwards. This idea of building the dome in this manner is genius, and I find it a highly interesting piece of knowledge about the building. Brunelleschi seemed to have a solution for every problem that came up, be it the dome or how to even lift the material to where it needed to be in order to build the dome, I find the whole process fascinating.
Information taken from:
Mueller, Tom. "Il Duomo." National Geographic.
National Geographic Society, 1 Feb. 2014. Web. 18 Sept. 2014.
<http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/02/il-duomo/mueller-text>.
Structural Specifics
The following three pictures are plans of the cathedral, each showing something slightly different.
This first plan is really interesting because it shows the lines of the vaulted ceiling inside the cathedral. Each X shape is where the ceiling edges would meet.
This plan actually shows where the old Santa Reparata used to be before the newer cathedral was built on top of it. It's humorous to me to imagine how much smaller that church must have been than the current cathedral.
This side plan of the church is actually not of the final cathedral, but of one of the many proposed designs. I posted this image on here because it shows for one how detailed even preliminary designs can be, as well as how different this plan was than the one that was actually constructed.
The outside of the cathedral is covered in polychrome marble, which is just painted marble. The colors are red, green, and the white of the marble. The cathedral was built in a Gothic-Renaissance style, with many elements from both styles of architecture.
Information used from:
 | ||
| Plan of Florence Cathedral (photo by Franklin Toker) |
This first plan is really interesting because it shows the lines of the vaulted ceiling inside the cathedral. Each X shape is where the ceiling edges would meet.
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| Floor plan of Cathedral that also shows where the older Santa Reparata used to stand (Photo taken from here) |
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| Early side view plan of the Florence Cathedral (photo by Franklin Toker) |
Side View of Cathedral
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| Photo taken by Bruce Stokes, labeled by me. |
Information used from:
Gallardo, Jezhen. "Florence Cathedral." Archinomy.
Archinomy, 16 May 2012. Web. 16 Sept. 2014.
<http://www.archinomy.com/case-studies/946/florence-cathedral>.
Toker, Franklin. "Florence
Cathedral: The Design Stage." Art Bulletin 60 (1978): 214-231.
Filippo Brunelleschi
I read over a brief biography of Filippo Brunelleschi and found out some interesting facts. For one, Brunelleschi was not even an architect; he was a master goldsmith, or at least initially he was. That makes what he did with the Florence Cathedral incredibly impressive to me.
According to the biography Brunelleschi made the transition to architecture after losing out to Lorenzo Ghiberti for a sculpture commission. He was good friends with Donatello, which is interesting to me because surely Brunelleschi must have been very good at what he did if he was friends with one of the greats of sculpting.
A last fact I got from the biography is that because of the Florence Cathedral, Brunelleschi is considered "one of the giants of Renaissance architecture." This from a man who in his early life had a different career that he also excelled at just illustrates to me how amazingly talented he was.
Information taken from:
According to the biography Brunelleschi made the transition to architecture after losing out to Lorenzo Ghiberti for a sculpture commission. He was good friends with Donatello, which is interesting to me because surely Brunelleschi must have been very good at what he did if he was friends with one of the greats of sculpting.
A last fact I got from the biography is that because of the Florence Cathedral, Brunelleschi is considered "one of the giants of Renaissance architecture." This from a man who in his early life had a different career that he also excelled at just illustrates to me how amazingly talented he was.
Information taken from:
"Filippo Brunelleschi." Bio.
A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 18 Sep. 2014.
Location, Location!
Located in la Piazza del Duomo, the Florence Cathedral is an impressive sight. From afar the church towers over the neighboring buildings, and from up close towers over the viewer.
The cathedral is surrounding by the rest of historic Florence, and since the rest of the city is from also old and in similar styles to the cathedral it does not look out of place, other than that it dwarfs the other buildings in scale.
In the above photo we can see the relative size between the front facade of the cathedral and a person. The dome is almost twice again as tall, so imagine having that in the picture instead of the front - the dome top would be way past the top border of the photo.
In the above photo we can see the relative size between the front facade of the cathedral and a person. The dome is almost twice again as tall, so imagine having that in the picture instead of the front - the dome top would be way past the top border of the photo.
My own Drawing!
After looking at countless pictures of the cathedral, the feature that always strikes me the most is how massive the dome is. I sketched a quick picture of the church from the side with nothing around it, and I tried to keep an accurate scale.
The dome, relative to the rest of the church, is absolutely gigantic. The church itself is huge, which speaks for how large the dome really is. From the side the campanile is a light component to balance the very heavy component of the dome on the right. I would very much like to visit the cathedral in real life just to experience the feeling of being around and in the cathedral firsthand.
Interesting Interview
I found an interview with the Canon of the Florence Cathedral, Monsignor Timothy Verdon. He is constantly around the church, and so is exposed to the beauty of the church as well as the amazing works of art contained within such as the many statues. However, he makes the point that the church is not meant to be a work of art, though many would consider it that. He says that as a church it's primary function is a place of worship. He continues, saying "...if something were to happen to it, we would be sorry, but we would go on."
The link to the interview is here, I recommend reading it if you would like a point of view on the cathedral from someone who uses it for it what it is, and not just an architectural lauding of the building.
Quote taken from:
The link to the interview is here, I recommend reading it if you would like a point of view on the cathedral from someone who uses it for it what it is, and not just an architectural lauding of the building.
Quote taken from:
Geist, Tania. "Interview: Canon of Florence Cathedral." Tania M. Geist:
A Collection of Clips. 3 Mar. 2012. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.
<http://taniamann.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/interview-canon-of-florence-cathedral/>.
What is the Florence Cathedral?
The Florence Cathedral from Afar
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| A view of the cathedral from the side which highlights the enormity of the dome. (photo by Dave Yoder of National Geographic) |
The Florence Cathedral is located in Florence, Italy in the Piazza del Duomo right in the center of historic Florence. You may also find the Baptistery as well as Giotto's Campanile in the same square. In Italian the name of the church is La Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, translating to the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower. The cathedral dominates the skyline of Florence, especially the massive octagonal dome that to this day remains the largest masonry dome in the world. It's purpose is the same as any other church - to provide a place of worship for the Catholics of the city. It has also become a large tourist attraction for the city of Florence, along with many of the other religious sites in the city.
The cathedral was built on top of the earlier Santa Reparata, which was too small for the growing city of Florence. Initially designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, the cathedral would be finished by Filippo Brunelleschi after di Cambio's death in 1302. The first stone was laid in 1294, and the church was completed in a sense in 1436 when it was consecrated, however the facade was not actually completed until the late 19th century.
Information taken from:
Gallardo, Jezhen. "Florence Cathedral." Archinomy.
Archinomy, 16 May 2012. Web. 16 Sept. 2014.
<http://www.archinomy.com/case-studies/946/florence-cathedral>.
King, Ross. Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius
Reinvented Architecture. New York: Walker, 2000. Print.
Toker, Franklin. "Florence
Cathedral: The Design Stage." Art Bulletin 60 (1978): 214-231.
Hello!
Hi everybody, this is Diego and this blog will have some information about the magnificent Florence Cathedral. Hope you all enjoy!
-Diego
-Diego
The Dome
The dome that is perched on top of the rest of the church is incredibly impressive, with a height of 375 feet and span of nearly 150 feet across. For many years no one quite understood how the dome was built. In this video by National Geographic, they show how modern day experts theorize how Brunelleschi built the dome, as well as some of the problems faced.
Video taken from National Geographic YouTube channel.
I find it very fascinating that even with modern technology and information about hundred of years of history of other similar works we still are not exactly sure how the dome was constructed. Equally interesting to me is that Brunelleschi apparently destroyed all the drawings and plans of the dome. Perhaps he figured that the wonder in something is sometimes not knowing exactly why or how it works. By keeping everyone in the dark on how he constructed the magnificent dome, I feel like he wanted that same feeling in the people who would go in the church and wonder about the world.
On the inside of the dome is a fantastic fresco painted by Giorgio Vasari initially and completed by Federico Zuccari. The fresco is a rendition of The Last Judgement.
Fresco inside Il Duomo
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| A look at the fresco on the inside of the dome. Because the fresco was done over many years and by different artists you can find differences in the style of some sections of the fresco. Photo taken from Wikipedia under public domain |
The dome was the last structural part of the church to be completed, starting in 1420 and being completed in 1436, over one hundred years after the beginning of construction. There were many problems with constructing the dome, many of which are addressed in the above video. Many architects today consider Brunelleschi a genius for being able to devise methods to aid construction as well as figuring out how to even construct the dome, given the requirements.
Information taken from:
Mueller, Tom. "Il Duomo." National Geographic.
National Geographic Society, 1 Feb. 2014. Web. 18 Sept. 2014.
<http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/02/il-duomo/mueller-text>.
Mueller, Tom. "Mystery of Florence's Cathedral Dome May Be
Solved." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 10 Feb.
2014. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.
<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/02/140210-duomo-florence-brunelleschi-cathedral-architecture/>.
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