THE IMPOSSIBLE ENDEAVOR THAT BECAME ETERNAL
Unmatched in the world of architecture, Brunelleschi’s Dome celebrates its 600th year. To date it is still the perfect expression of human ingenuity; a demonstration of what a great artist is capable of conceiving despite the adversities posed by laws of physics and engineering.
For many centuries after its construction, it was the world’s most impressive; to date, it is still the largest masonry dome in the world. Brunelleschi’s Dome, covering Florence’s Cathedral, is a construction that is in many ways unmatched in the history of art and of human ingenuity. It is not just a symbol and an icon of Florence alone, but of the whole of Italy, and 2020 will mark the 600th year after its construction.
The remarkable importance of this anniversary is to be properly celebrated. Celebrations should have begun in April and were postponed to September due to the Covid-19 pandemic: a series of events and artistic performances aimed at paying homage to one of the most famous creations of the Florentine Renaissance. What is it, though, that makes this structure so special? First of all, as mentioned, its size. It dominates the city of Florence as if it were its benevolent guardian; an appropriately sized cover to a building which, given its size, could only want this sort of “companion”: the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, a church that can hold up to 30 thousand people. The measurements of the dome, are record-breaking. The overall elevation of the structure, including the gilt copper sphere and cross that crown it, is about 117 meters: the lantern is 21 meters high, the drum 13 and the dome is about 34 meters high. As for the diameter, the maximum diameter of the inner dome is 45.5 meters, while that of the outer dome is 54.8 meters.
The architectural genius that has brought it to light is indeed Filippo Brunelleschi, a famous 14th-15th century architect and among the primary representatives of the Italian Renaissance. Brunelleschi was famous for his skills as well as, legend has it, for his fiery temper prone to somewhat of a ruthless disposition.
In 1418, the Opera del Duomo di Firenze ran a public competition for the construction of the dome. There were no official winners, in any event, the works were entrusted to Filippo Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti (although the latter was ousted from his duties 5 years later). Construction began on August 7th, 1420, and were completed -with the exception of the lantern- on August 1st, 1436. The solemn blessing of Pope Eugene IV celebrated the closure of the construction site. Once the construction of the dome was completed, another public competition was held for the lantern and, this too, was won by Brunelleschi. The work however only began in 1446, a few months prior to the architect’s death; they then continued and were directed by his friend and follower Michelozzo di Bartolomeo,
and was finally brought to completion by Antonio Manetti on April 23rd, 1461. The interior decoration of Brunelleschi’s dome could be nothing other than equally majestic: the artists Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari were called to fresco the more than 3,600 square meters of wall surface. Between 1572 and 1579 the two painters gave life to about 700 painted figures, a massive fresco displaying the same iconographic theme as the Baptistery: the Last Judgment. To this day Brunelleschi’s Dome is looked upon with amazement by experts and laymen, not only for its magnificence but, above all, for its underlying technical innovation. As a matter of fact this construction isn’t actually a dome, but rather an octagonal vault. The use of centring, in other words temporary wooden structures supporting the walls being constructed until the mortar hardened were essential in this case. Brunelleschi instead, and contrary to any engineering doctrine, devised a selfsupporting dome without the use of such wooden structures. To achieve his goal, the Florentine architect devised a double shell (an inner one and an outer one having a different curvature with a decreasing thickness towards the top) and used a “herringbone” pattern to lay the bricks of the internal vault. To this day, scholars believe these to be some of the elements which allowed for the construction of the dome, however the debate is still open: some experts wonder what other techniques were used which turned out to be truly strategic to the success of the endeavor. A one-of-a-kind endeavor that was considered impossible at the time and which continues to amaze; an idea which was thought would have led
It is not just a symbol and an icon of Florence alone, but of the whole of Italy, and 2020 will mark the 600th year after its construction
to the disastrous collapse of such a large and heavy structure. And yet, 600 years later, this magnificence is still standing, always ready to welcome millions of astonished visitors from all over the world. The official website on the celebrations for the 600 years of Brunelleschi’s Dome: cupola600.operaduomo.firenze.it