Status Updates From Brunelleschi's Dome

Vaulting would begin at an incredible height of 170 feet, much higher than any of the Gothic vaults built in France during the thirteenth century. The highest Gothic vault ever constructed, in the Cathedral in Beauvais, began at just under 126 feet and rose to a maximum of 157 feet, a good 13 feet below where the vaulting for the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore was to begin.

Trying to get through a few books on Italy before our family vacation to Italy. This book was recommended and I really enjoyed Michaelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling so I thought I would give it a try. Much better read than Venice: A new History.

'Lorenzo's physicians attempted to avert the fate, feeding him potions made from pulverized diamonds and pearls, and cautioning him to avoid both grape pips and the air at sunset, two things considered fatal to a man and his condition.' Thank G-d we don't live in the fifteenth century!

'The Villa Careggi was the country home of Lorenzo de' Medici...the ruler of Florence and a generous patron of the arts. To Lorenzo, lying ill with a fever in the villa, the meaning of the destructive strike was unmistakable: "I am a dead man!" he exclaimed upon being told in which direction the rubble had fallen.'

Vasari was to claim that the heavens themselves are envious of the dome, since every day it is struck by lightning...The most dramatic of these blows fell on April 5th, 1492, when a lightning bolt sent several tons of marble cascading into the streets on the north side of the cupola, in the direction of the Villa Careggi, which stands in the hills above Florence.

'As such, architecture ranked even lower than the"arts of amusement," which included such things as fashioning machinery for stage plays.'

'Cicero claimed that architecture was a manual art on the same level as farming, tailoring, and metalworking, while in his Moral Letters Seneca mired it in the lowest of the four categories of art, those which he classified as volgares et sordidae, "common and low." Such arts were mere handiwork, he claimed, and had no pretense to beauty or honor.'

'Part of the reason for this anonymity was a prejudice against manual labor on the part of both ancient and medieval authors, who assigned architecture a low place in human achievement, regarding it as an occupation unfit for an educated man.'

'The specific aim of these public brothels was to wean Florentine men from the "greater evil" of sodomy. Prostitutes became a common sight in Florence, not least because the law required them to wear distinctive garb: gloves, high-heeled shoes, and a bell on the head.'

'In 1432 the government took steps to curtail this perceived root of its troubles on the battlefield by establishing an agency to identify and prosecute homosexuals, the Ufficiali di Notte, "Office of the Night" (a name made even more colorful by the fact that notte was slang for "bugger").'

'A familiar scapegoat was used to explain the Florentine's ineptness in battle: homosexuality...So famous was Florence for homosexual activity that during the fourteenth century the German slang for "sodomite" was Florenzer.'

'Like many medieval cities, Lucca had suffered a checkered past, passing from the hands of one warring state to another. In the previous hundred years it had been occupied by the Bavarians, sold to the Genoese, seized by the king of Bohemia, pawned to Parma, ceded to Verona, and finally sold to Florence.'

'These engagements were fought by mercenaries who settled the terms of warfare in advance, rather like sportsmen deciding the rules of a game...By common agreement the armies declined to fight in certain conditions: at night, in winter, on steep slopes, or on boggy ground.'

'This lack of bloodshed shows that warfare in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, contrary to popular conceptions, could be reasonably civilized. Most battles resembled chess matches in which opposing commanders sought to outmaneuver each other, the loser being the one who conceded that his position was technically vulnerable.'

'The following year, as plague raged through Tuscany, his forces defeated the Florentines at Zagonara, in Romagna. There were only three casualties, all Florentine soldiers who fell from their horses and drowned on the battlefield in their heavy plate armor (it had trained heavily in Zagonara the night before).'

Quelle surprise! 'In times of plague the houses nearest the churches were always the first to become infected.' Where is your God now?

'In 1339 one of the streets south of the cathedral, the Corso degli Adamari...was lowered so that the cathedral's height should have even more impressive to anyone approaching from that direction.'

'Even the original planners of the dome had been unable to advise how their project might be completed: they merely expressed a touching faith that at some point in the future God might provide a solution, and architects with a more advanced knowledge would be found.'

'Already at work on the building site, which sprawled through the heart of Florence, were scores of other craftsmen: carters, bricklayers, leadbeaters, even cooks and men whose job it was to sell wine to the workers on their lunch breaks.' Ah, Italia!

'Already at work on the building site, which sprawled through the heart of Florence, were scores of other craftsmen: carters, bricklayers, leadbeaters, even cooks and men whose job it was to sell wine to the workers on their lunch breaks.' Ah, Italia!

One of my #fridayreads :)

I m going to Florence this summer for my daughter's graduation trip, so I chose this book to learn about the famous dome on the Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore which is a centerpiece of the city. The first few chapters remind us the often failure of some sort is the key to success because had Fillipo Brunelleschi won the contest to make the bronze doors, he would never have been able to learn about architecture.

Brunellleschi adopted an orphan named Adrea Cavalcanti. I can't help wondering if Alexandre Dumas knew this when he used that name in The Count of Monte Cristo.

I'm really enjoying this. So much detail about Brunelleschi and what construction and culture was like in this era. I wish it didn't have to end.

I enjoyed this one. Interesting and easy to read.

Figured I should read something relevant for a change...

A must if you're heading to the Tuscany/Florence area. Will give you a new appreciation for the architecture you encounter even outside of the duomo in Florence.

A really interesting read so far. Don't expect is to get less interesting.

Full of interesting tidbits

Full of interesting tidbits