Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Brunelleschi's Dome by Ross King

This is the story of the building of the dome on Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy over a period of 28 years by Filippo Brunelleschi.

In August, 1418 a competition was held to determine who would design and construct the dome on the cathedral which had been under construction for over a century. The dome was considered by many to be impossible because it would span 143 feet. It is still the largest dome in the world. The winner of that competition was the goldsmith and clockmaker, Filippo Brunelleschi.

Not only did he design the dome but he had to design and build the machines that would be used in its construction, the scaffolding used by the workers, and the selection of the building materials and methods.

This would be enough of a challenge in itself but the dome was built in the midst of the turbulent life of Florence--wars, plagues, politics, and rivalries.

Ross King' book makes the period come alive and we step into that time and meet both a true Renaissance genius and a very human man.

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