| Father Delminico talks about Architecture |
By The VirRen Team I am glad you came to look at our dome here at the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. It is a great example of our architects' genius. Our architects have created new styles of their own, drawing inspiration from the classical forms of the early Romans and Greeks. Because many of them are also sculptors and painters, such as Michelangelo, they think that the way a building looks is more important artistically than the way it is structured. Because of this they do not hesitate to conceal the inner workings of their structures for the sake of outward appearance. They accomplish this with false columns and facades or even paintings. Our dome here is a wonderful example of this. The cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore was begun during the Middle Ages, but its construction was halted before completion of the dome. This was due to its size. An eight-sided drum surrounded its large central crossing which is 136 feet in diameter. Normally to build a dome, architects would use a hemispherical wooden framework to support the construction, but there were no trees long enough to span the large space. Even if a dome could be constructed with the traditional method, the weight of it would push out the walls. The flying buttresses used to solve this weight problem in other buildings could not be used because of limited space. To solve these problems, the Guild of Wool Merchants here in Florence decided to hold a competition in 1418 to design a new dome (cupola) for the cathedral. There were only two architects who dared step forward, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446). They were both assigned the task. However, the committee wanted Brunelleschi to explain to them how he was going to accomplish the task. Brunelleschi asked the members of the committee to demonstrate to him how they would stand an egg on the table. No one could. With that, Brunelleschi banged an egg on the table breaking its shell at the end and proceeded to stand this egg on the table. When the members of the committee protested that any one of them could have done that, Brunelleschi explained that this was exactly his point. If he told the committee how he planned to complete the task of the dome, all would claim that they could have done it. After several month of arguing, the committee allowed him to proceed and work began on the dome in the summer of 1420. Brunelleschi had studied Roman architecture, specifically the great dome of the Pantheon. Combining the techniques of the Roman arch and vault with the Gothic method of stone ribbing, he concealed structural ribs both inside and outside the dome for added strength. His secret for accomplishing the building of the dome without any framework or scaffolding inside the dome, was to build the dome one complete course, or layer, of bricks at a time (Brunelleshi's plans). This way, the weight of the current layer being laid would be supported by the previous layer. Each layer was stepped slightly inward so that as the dome rose it tapered toward the center. Brunelleschi designed a great many different types of cranes and machines for the project in order to get materials to the work site which toward the end of the project was almost 375 feet above the ground. We still have his 3-speed wench here. As to the weight problem, Brunelleschi build the dome with a double shell of stone and brick. Inside the double shell, were the structural ribs as well as narrow stairs to allow workers to perform safety checks and repairs. (Cutaway of the "duomo") We still have architects coming to examine the way Brunelleschi built the dome with its lower portion octagonal to fit its base, but the top part circular. It is most definite that his dome has helped propel our architecture toward the future. Written and compiled by the Virtual Renaissance Team |
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