Florence Cathedral (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore)

Florence Cathedral (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore)

The Florence Cathedral, officially called the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower) and usually simply referred to as “il Duomo,” or “the Cathedral,” is arguably the Florentine building. It has earned this reputation largely because of its titanic dome, which, aside from being the largest in the world at the time of its construction, also serves as one of the city’s chief landmarks. That dome, built from 1418 to 1434 under the direction of the architect Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446), was placed on top of an earlier Gothic cathedral structure designed by Arnolfo di Cambio (1240-1310), whose construction began in 1296. This combination produces perhaps the most potent symbol of the fledgling Renaissance: the sight of a dome built “based to some degree on Roman domes” like the Pantheon (Wiesner-Hanks, 141) soaring into the sky over an older cathedral formed from groin vaults and pointed Gothic arches. The new culture, here, literally surmounted the old.

The novel architectural techniques that would come to prominence in the following years, based on advanced geometry and precise engineering and inspired by classical buildings and Vitruvius’ Architecture, weren’t “direct descendants” (as it were) of Brunelleschi’s design for the Florence Cathedral’s dome; the ingredients for Renaissance architecture were already present by the time construction began. At the same time, however, the massive dome leaves a shadow that is both metaphorically and physically long. It is hard not to see il Duomo as the beginning of a new architectural paradigm, especially given its location at the center of the city where the Renaissance first truly blossomed. Even Vasari, who dismissed the work of Early Renaissance architects, felt compelled to justify this dismissal by saying that the “fineness and excellence” (Vasari, 91) of Brunelleschi’s work on the Florence Cathedral made him an outlier among his contemporaries. The fact that this building is a cathedral is also of note, considering that it’s a perfect example of the involvement of Church money in sponsoring the architectural adventures of the Renaissance.

Photograph: Giuseppe Mondi
Architects: Filippo Brunelleschi, Arnolfo di Cambio

https://unsplash.com/photos/Qq1fwSLM0N0

Merry Wiesner-Hanks, Early Modern Europe

Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists

Begun 1296, dome completed 1434, facade completed 1887

Brendan Glenn

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Photograph