Brunelleschi’s dome is the Florence Cathedral cruise cover. The Duomo’s dome is known worldwide as Brunelleschi’s dome, and it is perfectly correct to quote the author when he is nominated: it is the most important architectural work ever built in Europe since Roman times. Thanks, Mr. Brunelleschi. When it was built it was the largest dome in the world and remains the largest masonry dome ever built even nowadays.
The dome numbers
- 55 m tax base,
- 21 m lantern,
- 13 m of tambour,
- 34 m dome
Filippo Brunelleschi,
the “goldsmith-architect”
The dome dimensions gave a hard time for several years during the construction of the Duomo. A lot of architects were looking for a way that could support the size, obviously avoiding sudden cracks or collapses.
Brunelleschi was not the first choice for the construction of the dome, on the contrary, his election caused quite a stir. He was not an architect but a goldsmith and watchmaker who had never studied architecture. Previously, among the Florentine architects, some had postponed the problem, others had tried to ignore it and some proposed the most absurd solutions (one of which was filling the dome with soil to keep it stable).
Brunelleschi, instead, was inspired by Roman architecture for the interlocking of herringbone bricks to avoid collapses, potentially due to the inclination, during the masonry. Many extremely advanced techniques have been used, for the skills of that historical period.
Brunelleschi’s work is still studied and analyzed to get to the bottom of both the construction methods and the logical thinking that inspired the creation of what is still a unique piece of Renaissance architecture.
