Brunelleschi's Dome
How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture
0 of 1 copy available
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.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
July 21, 2020 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781705236857
- File size: 190326 KB
- Duration: 06:36:30
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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The fifteenth-century Italian who invented a new way to build domed roofs, thus inventing a large portion of Renaissance architecture, was an ill-tempered clock-maker. As Ross King and narrator Richard Matthews make clear, however, Filippo Brunelleschi was also a fascinating genius. King does an excellent job of imbuing a story of inventive engineering with the history, culture, and personalities of the time. Matthews builds on this with a thoughtfully paced, involved narration. He reads with a rhythm and inflection that enliven the interesting, though dialogue-free, nonfiction. His pleasant voice is also warmed by an inviting humor that dramatizes the operatic complexities of Florentine life. A.C.S. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine -
October 2, 2000
Walker was the hardcover publisher of Dava Sobel's sleeper smash, Longitude, and Mark Kurlansky's steady-seller Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World. This brief, secondary source-based account is clearly aimed at the same lay science-cum-adventure readership. British novelist King (previously unpublished in the U.S.) compiles an elementary introduction to the story of how and why Renaissance Italian architect Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446) designed and oversaw the construction of the enormous dome of Florence's Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral--designing its curves so that they needed no supporting framework during construction: a major Renaissance architectural innovation. Illustrated with 26 b&w period prints, the book contains 19 chapters, some very brief. Although the result is fast moving and accessible, King overdoes the simplicity to the point that the book appears unwittingly as if it was intended for young adults. (Donatello, Leonardo and Michelangelo, for example, "took a dim view of marriage and women.") This book feels miles away from its actual characters, lacking the kind of dramatic flourish that would bring it fully to life. Despite direct quotes from letters and period accounts, the "would have," "may have" and "must have" sentences pile up. Still, the focus on the dome, its attendant social and architectural problems, and the solutions improvised by Brunelleschi provide enough inherent tension to carry readers along.
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