Tthe Brunelleschi's Dome by Ross King - Book Report/Review Example

Brunelleschis Dome Summary of the book Brunelleschis Dome: Brunelleschis Dome by Ross King, published in 2000, is a non-fictional historical story that describes how the Italian architect Filippo Brunelleschi designed the dome of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, which was completed in 1436.  Work started on this Cathedral in 1296, yet the dome that had been proposed in the original drawings was considered impossible for human construction. It was thus the greatest wonder and also a puzzle to all, when in 1436, the dome was completed and its beauty was seen to be incomparable. Though King goes into too much of technical details of the construction work, it is yet quite enthralling to learn as to how the roof vault (cupola) was raised, right from its inception, to completion, and glorification. King tells us the story of the architect, Filippo Brunelleschi, an effervescent man with intense personality that managed to survive through sheer dint of perseverance and ingenuity, the endless onslaught of hindrances he was forced to face, while building this dome, starting right from the difficult nature of the project, to rough weather, war, constant derisions from his rival, Ghiberti. Thus, we find an enigmatic reconstruction of the 15th century renaissance period Florence where war, political rivalries, artists’ calumniations, and the deadly plague, form the backdrop of the story behind one of human’s greatest creations. Discussion of Brunelleschis persona and character, as it emerges from the text: Ross King in his book paints an enigmatic personality of an architect, who is determined to succeed against all odds in life. A brilliant architect, Brunelleschi also stands out as a volatile character that starts out as an apprentice to a goldsmith and ends becoming one of the greatest sculptors of his era. During his early days, Brunelleschi learnt the techniques of engraving, mounting, and embossing on gold. To learn architecture and mathematics, he later joined the Mason’s guild. His volatile nature is well portrayed, when we find him also dabbling with various scientific machineries of motion, like cogs, wheels, weights, etc., which later helped him in sojourn when he was awarded the most coveted, and perhaps the greatest commission of his life, building the dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Ross gives us an insight into his ingenuity, while describing Brunelleschi’s feat of making an egg stand on a felt marble block (since the dome would be egg shaped), in front of the Commission, that won him the contest. By his sheer brilliance and enterprise, Brunelleschi won this Commission, and despite political rivalries, ravaging war and plague, unfavourable weather conditions, and various insinuations from Ghiberti, he managed to create the greatest structure that any human ever hoped to achieve. Ross also mentions the secretive nature of Brunelleschi, which could have been partly true, since in those days, there were no concept of ‘intellectual property rights,’ and the artist was quite understandably protective of his various scientific discoveries (machines), and his sketches. In this context, Ross mentions that “fascinated by Filippo’s machines, Leonardo made a series of sketches of them, and as a result, is often given credit for their invention. How Filippo would have reacted to this misattribution...scarcely bears contemplation.” Thus what emerges from this book is the picture of a man, who is not only a genius, but is also perseverant enough to persist in his cause, to finally emerge victorious. Brunelleschis key antagonists: Brunelleschis chief rival was Lorenzo Ghiberti (1381- 1455), a Florentine man who similar to that of Brunelleschi, also started his career as an apprentice to a goldsmith. Equally brilliant but temperamental in nature, Ghiberti first came into prominence as the winner of a prestigious contest that took place in 1401, for a set of bronze doors for the Florence Baptistery. Here he defeated Brunelleschi, whose panel came second in the jury’s choice for the final order (fig 1: A and B). (A) (B) Fig 1: the two surviving panels of the 1401 competition (A) - Lorenzo Ghiberti’s panel that won the contest; and (B) Brunelleschi’s panel that stood second (Source: Benoy, Filippo Brunelleschi). Thus we find that Ghiberti was singularly lucky in having been awarded with an excellent commission right at the beginning of his career. The bronze door that he created was of such an excellent nature that even Michelangelo almost 100 years later was mesmerised by their beauty, and claimed that the doors certainly led to paradise. Despite his prowess in the field of art and sculpture, Ghiberti is also seen in King’s representation, as a shrewd personality and of a jealous disposition, who never forgives Brunelleschi for winning the competition of the dome. Ghiberti, maintained good connections with some of Florence’s political and governing heads, and was sure to win the competition. However, Brunelleschi foiled his plans, and by the dint of his ingenuity won the contest, and after winning refused in any way to work alongside Ghiberti, thus turning the latter into his lifelong enemy. Besides, the first set of bronze doors for the Baptistery of the cathedral in Florence, Ghiberti also commissioned other equally beautiful pieces of art work that included monumental gilded bronze statues placed within select niches in Florence, a statue of Saint John, a statue of of St. Matthew, and a bronze figure of St. Stephen.  Thus, we find that Ghiberti, a great sculptor and a famous artist, and also a historian in his own right, was not above human fallacies, and the relationship between Brunelleschi and Ghiberti which soured after the incident of the competition for the dome, never improved during the lifetime of these two artists. Another great antagonist of Brunelleschi, as shown in the book by Ross King, was not any man, but nature itself, in form of gravitational laws. The Florence authorities wanted to create a dome that would be larger in size than the dome of St. Sophia in Constantinople. The dome had to be self supporting, without any flying buttresses (they were banned in Italy), and no normal scaffolding work could support the dome owing to its large size. Thus the construction of the dome was considered to be impossible, as per the laws of gravity. Brunelleschi managed to win the competition through his enterprising nature, however in all probability, he was not exactly aware as to how to go about his construction work, at that time; though ne maintained he had a secret. While, the whole of Florence found the task to be impossible and predicted that a self supporting dome would succumb to the gravitational pull, Brunelleschi remain undaunted, and set about to work, which was time consuming and extremely difficult. However, the ultimate structure that Brunelleschi created was indeed gravity defying and astounded the entire world. Thus we find that Brunelleschi emerges as the hero (in King’s depiction) who managed to defeat his powerful antagonists, a human and a brilliant sculptor in the form of Ghiberti; and nature in the form of the age old laws of gravity. Brunelleschis major accomplishments with respect to the construction of the Cathedral: The dome that Brunelleschi completed in 1436 was so revolutionary in nature that he had to find out scientific measures to create this huge structure, (143 feet diametrically, weighing nearly 7 million pounds, yet self supporting in nature). To make this design possible, he used ancient long-forgotten techniques of the Romans, while his knowledge on machineries and tools also came to his use, and he invented an ox-powered machine that served similar to modern day gears and pulleys, for hoisting material up. With his ingenuity, he visualised that it was not possible for his workers to come down each time for lavatory or for food, so he designed sanitary facilities high above in the skies, within the scaffolding structure itself, and also made lunch arrangements above in the air. Here King describes the atmosphere, “on sweltering summer days the workers drank wine...it might also have given a fillip of courage to them clinging to an inward vault several hundred feet above the ground.” (Fig 2) Figs. 2 and 3: the first diagram shows the double dome of the cupola; while the next picture shows the finished dome that stands even today, defying all laws of natural gravity and predictions of failure of Ghiberti (Source: Florence Art Guide, 2007). Another part of the revolutionary nature of this work is revealed when we read in King’s book that Brunelleschi designed two shells (outer and inner- Fig 2) for the dome. The inner shell was constructed of material that light weight in nature, while the outer shell was made of a heavier material that was wind-resistant. Thus by creating two shells of the dome, Brunelleschi solved the problem of the large weight of the dome, because during (Fig 3) the ongoing constructions, the workers would sit on the inner shell (in the space that formed between the two shells-Fig 2) and completed the construction work of the outer shell. To make the dome self supporting in nature Brunelleschi, in the 15th century, devised a method that is used by the modern engineers. It is the ‘ring and rib support’ that were made out of large oak woods. The rings were created in such a manner that they ‘hugged’ both the shells, while the supports were made to pass through them; and the ingenuity of the work is revealed when we find that the supports are in place even today, with a few minor modifications made to preserve the rotting wood. Another novelty was the placing of the bricks on the upper part of the dome, without letting them fall during construction. Once again, we find Brunelleschi applied a modern twentieth century method, where he used the bricks in a herringbone pattern that helped to redirect the weight of these bricks outwards, aimed towards the supports, instead of directing them downwards towards the ground. Discussion of Brunelleschis other major accomplishments: Besides the dome, Brunellecschi had other major accomplishments. In 1434, he first brought in the concept of three dimensional art work on a 2-dimensional paper, using the technique of ‘illusion of reality’ based on precise mathematical calculations. As King comments “Filippo is generally regarded as its [3-D perspective] inventor, the one who discovered (or rediscovered) its mathematical laws. For example he worked out the principle of the vanishing point, which was known to the Greeks and Romans but, like so many other knowledge, had long since been lost. ” Brunelleschi also designed many of Florence’s protective fortifications during the various wars; while for a short time-period worked in the line of ship making, and in 1427, built Il Badalone for transporting marbles from Pisa to Florence. However the entire venture was a disaster, when the ship sank on its first voyage, taking with it some part of Brunelleschis own wealth. Besides creating architectural wonders, he is also credited with inventing ‘one-point linear perspective’ which completely transformed the Renaissance period art style, and allowed the development of naturalistic art form. Thus apart from being a great sculptor, he was also an architect, an inventor of scientific machineries, and a mathematician, proving Brunelleschi was a versatile genius who completely represented the true nature and spirit of the Renaissance period. Image of Brunelleschi: Brunelleschi was a brilliant man, though rather volatile in nature. He was ambitious and that is revealed in the manner he won the competition for the cupola. However, using his ingenuity and his enterprising nature Brunelleschi managed to create and achieve, what was in those days considered completely unachievable. A man with a scientific bend of mind he worked and created many machines, most of which unfortunately, has been lost with time, while some of his works have been credited to Leonardo Vinci. With his mathematical brain, he created the 3-D concept and changed the very nature of art forever. Thus, undoubtedly, a genius and an interesting personality, Brunelleschi represented the true spirit of his times. The book: The book by Ross king is a historical biography on the life and works of Brunelleschi. It also describes the Renaissance period Italy, and its neighbouring countries, and the constant fight between the Pope and his opponents. It gives us an interesting insight into the various political rivalries, social customs, and the nature of the various artworks that were taking place under the patronage of the Pope, the rulers, and other powerful men with great wealth and social standing. The feudal nature of Europe is well shown in the book, along with the petty rivalries and jealousies that were quite common amongst the artists’ section, which largely survived on the patronage of the wealthy people. Thus, all in all, the book takes us into a pleasant journey, back into 15th century Renaissance Italy, when great, brilliant minds were at work, and great discoveries in various fields were taking place, all at one time. References Ross K. (2000). Brunelleschis Dome: The Story of the Great Church in Florence. New York: Walker. Fig: 1 Benoy, K. Filippo Brunelleschi. Retrieved from, http://www.sabresocials.com/kevin/Civ12MtheM/Massachio.ppt. Fig 2 and 3: The Florence Art Guide. (2007). The Cupola. Retrieved from. http://www.mega.it/eng/egui/monu/bdd.htm Read More