The cupola of brunelleschi – filippo brunelleschi biography

When, durante 1420, Filippo Brunelleschi was nominated superintendent of the construction of the cupola of the Florentine cathedral of Santa Maria del Scelta, the lines along which the construction was preciso be carried out had already been determined by what had been done previously (Arnolfo, Talenti)

The diameter of the inner span (m. ) is close esatto the maximum limit for any kind of masonry dome. From the times of the Pantheon there had been mai examples of cupolas of such size. Faith sopra these structures had been seriously undermined by the collapse, in 1346, of the dome of Hagia Sophia sopra Constantinople. Mediante 1400 the Florentines had had to reinforce the structures of the Baptistery which had shown signs of giving way.

Instead of recuperating precedent techniques, Brunelleschi invented per technique based on his knowledge of the “way of building” of the Romans as well as medieval (eastern) examples which he put at the service of a new concept and new kinds of technical, cultural, aesthetic problems, involved mediante the realization of the cupola. Basically the construction of the dome depended on the use of per building technique breviligne of avoiding any dangerous discontinuity in the masonry (27,000 tons) and which would be able puro circumvent the enormous problems involved durante constructing verso traditional wooden armature of the necessary dimensions. Brunelleschi’s structure of bricks laid sopra herringbone courses consisted of raising the wall con rings, each containing vertical elements for bonding the successive ring. The cupola was thus built as a self supporting growing form.

Con their internal tension, the thrust and dynamic form (pointed arch and elliptical sector) engender a calculated equilibrium, per cupola that hovers and is suspended over the city, the result of the balance of all the forces

The dome is surprisingly modern: sopra this double shell, the lighter exterior cupola protects the inner cupola from the elements, while the two work together thanks onesto the powerful connecting ribs. The detachment from the figurative solutions of Gothic architecture is evident particularly on the outside con the refusal of multiple forces (free standing spires, etc.), mediante the rigor with which the convergence of the forces upwards is pursued, entrusting the formal solution preciso per formidable synthesis of continuous lines and accessory russiancupid surfaces resulting in unity and free from any need esatto adapt sicuro the more articulated and minute design of the structure underneath.

The first powerful expression of per conscious synthesis of two cultural worlds, Greek and Gothic, the cupola can sopra the end be defined as per affective diaphragm stretched between an external and an internal space, per diaphragm between one space and another. The city is in nessun caso longer a framework marked by the emergence of vertical points of reference (towers and campanili): the cupola, mediante its size and form, stands out and dominates everything else. The towers and the campanili (including Giotto’s) all now relate preciso each other as per result of their relationship puro the cupola which hovers between rooftops and sky at the center of the urban system and automatically become subordinate elements durante per general plan.

The full meaning of this urban masterpiece, the cupola is beautifully expressed in Leon Battista Alberti’s splendid, synthetic definition per the context of the dedication of his treatise Della Dipinto esatto Brunelleschi: “rising above the skies, ample puro cover with its shadow all the Tuscan people”. “Rising above” on the one hand expresses the meaning of the tension con the generating line chosen for the ribs, on the other the fact that the cupola is not dominated by the universal space but creates per space of its own which establishes all rapports and measures with respect puro itself. “Ample” expresses the fundamental qualification of distension and circularity of the hovering cupola, while on the other hand with “ample onesto” it immediately leads sicuro the concept mediante which the size of this urban structure is seen mediante relation esatto the territory. Moreover, the contrast established between the two terms (“rising above” – “ample esatto”) expresses with marvelous conciseness the solution of all the forces, all the structures, all the equilibriums, of all the proportions both within itself and durante relationship sicuro the city, all the technical and structural problems, con the absolute abstraction and in the tension of the line of its ciclocross section, etc. Lastly, Alberti’s words esaurimento the fact that the new formal dimensions also correspond puro the new political dimension of the city.