Brunelleschis Dome, Ross King
Brunelleschis Dome, Ross King
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Brunelleschi's Dome
How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture

Author: Ross King

Narrator: James Cameron Stewart

Unabridged: 6 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 07/21/2020


Synopsis

On August 19, 1418, a competition concerning Florence's magnificent new cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore was announced: "Whoever desires to make any model or design for the vaulting of the main Dome . . . shall do so before the end of the month of September." The proposed dome was regarded far and wide as all but impossible to build. The dome would literally need to be erected over thin air.

Of the many plans submitted, one stood out. It was offered not by a master mason or carpenter, but by a goldsmith and clockmaker named Filippo Brunelleschi, who would dedicate the next twenty-eight years to solving the puzzles of the dome's construction. In the process, he did nothing less than reinvent the field of architecture.

Brunelleschi's Dome is the story of how a Renaissance genius bent men, materials, and the very forces of nature to build an architectural wonder we continue to marvel at today. Denounced at first as a madman, Brunelleschi was celebrated at the end as a genius. He engineered the perfect placement of brick and stone, built ingenious hoists and cranes to carry an estimated 70 million pounds hundreds of feet into the air, and designed the workers' platforms and routines so carefully that only one man died during the decades of construction.

About Ross King

Ross King is the author of many bestselling books on Italian history and art, including Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling and Brunelleschi's Dome. He lectures widely on Renaissance art at museums, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Frick Collection, and the National Gallery, and is a regular participant in Italian Renaissance seminars at the Aspen Institute. He lives in the historic town of Woodstock, near Oxford, England.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Will on February 01, 2014

Updated July 17, 2013 - added image and links At the height of the Renaissance in Florence a competition was announced. The cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore had been under construction for more than a century, but no one knew how to construct the massive dome that was called for in the original desig......more

Goodreads review by Jimmy on November 01, 2018

I thought it was a fascinating look at a wonder of architecture and at the always interesting Middle Ages. Filippo is generally recognized as the one who discovered (or rediscovered) the mathematical laws of perspective. For example, he worked out the principle of the vanishing point, which was know......more

Goodreads review by Lucy on March 22, 2011

Gee, when I was younger, I thought I wanted to be an architect. I didn't pursue it because I knew I was terrible at math. What I didn't take into account was my complete lack of physics knowledge. After reading this book, I know I made the right decision. There is A LOT of description of pulleys, mac......more

Goodreads review by Lewis on December 27, 2011

When you stand in the Duomo in Florence and look up, even though you know the dome has been there for over 5 centuries, it's still hard to believe it stays in place. It's even harder to imagine how it was constructed - without supporting scaffolding. Read this book and you will understand, not only......more

Goodreads review by Cherisa on May 06, 2024

Before Brunelleschi, architects were anonymous, but his genius and inventiveness in constructing the miracle of the dome of Florence's Santa Maria del Fiore truly deserved the renown he earned. A good read. 3 1/2 stars.......more