Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture

Ross King's captivating narrative brings to life the personalities and intrigue surrounding the twenty-eight-year-long construction of the dome, opening a window onto Florentine life during one of history's most fascinating eras.. At first denounced as a madman, Brunelleschi literally reinvented the field of architecture amid plagues, wars, and political feuds to raise seventy million pounds of metal, wood, and marble hundreds of feet in the air. He also designed and erected a dome over the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore-a feat of architectural daring that we continue to marvel at today-thus securing himself a place among the most formidable geniuses of the Renaissance. An Independent Bestseller By all accounts, Filippo Brunelleschi, goldsmith and clockmaker, was an unkempt, cantankerous, and suspicious man-even by the generous standards according to which artists were judged in fifteenth-century Florence

Its span of more than 140 feet exceeds St Paul's in London and St Peter's in Rome, and even outdoes the Capitol in Washington, D.C., making it the largest dome ever constructed using bricks and mortar. --Jerry Brotton, . The story of the dome goes back to 1296, when work began on the cathedral, but it was only in 1420, when Brunelleschi won a competition over his bitter rival Lorenzo Ghiberti to design the daunting cupola, that work began in earnest. Both dome and architect offer King plenty of rich material. The story of its creation and its brilliant but "hot-tempered" creator is told in Ross King's delightful Brunelleschi's Dome. King argues that it was Brunelleschi's improvised brilliance in solving the problem of suspending the enormous cupola in bricks and mortar (painstakingly detailed with precise illustrations) that led him to "succeed in perfo

I LOVED IT I loved this book. Perhaps because I love Florence, have stood spellbound looking up at the dome of the church of Santa Maria del Fiore or perhaps because the story of how a man's dream of building a dome without buttresses or wooden centering (wooden support posts) actually came to pass. Whatever the reason, I found the book both beautiful and fascinating.Though the book was about the building of the dome it was about so much more. It told the reader about life in renaissance Florence and brought us into the lives of the people, how they lived, what they ate, the inner workings of their g. "the economics the rivalries and the competition that drove the great works of this era" according to Bernard H Ballou. I am not accustomed to writing book reviews. I will say simply that this text is a revelation. I have traveled to Florence and have visited the dome. I simply did not understand the time, the people, the culture, the politics,the economics the rivalries and the competition that drove the great works of this era. I had no real concept of the enormity of Brunelleschi's accomplishment. One comes away from reading King's book with a deep and broad understanding of this era and all that is embodied therein. The science and architecture that went into the construction of the dome is astonishing.. Narut Ujnat said Very good read on architecture for the general reader.. This is my second book by this author, and I was very happy to read the book. Having been fortunate to have visited Florence twice and having been to admire the incredible dome, this book was a terrific explanation of this Medieval wonder.King brings together the time and place of Florence in the Middle Ages. The feel of the times, and wonder of new developments we might see as pedestrian are brought to some semblance of life.The book isn't long at under "Very good read on architecture for the general reader." according to Narut Ujnat. This is my second book by this author, and I was very happy to read the book. Having been fortunate to have visited Florence twice and having been to admire the incredible dome, this book was a terrific explanation of this Medieval wonder.King brings together the time and place of Florence in the Middle Ages. The feel of the times, and wonder of new developments we might see as pedestrian are brought to some semblance of life.The book isn't long at under 200 pages, but the ability to make the reader understand how this dome was conceived and built is terrific. I understood the architectura. 00 pages, but the ability to make the reader understand how this dome was conceived and built is terrific. I understood the architectura