- Three main periods of Italian Renaissance Architecture:
- I period - 1420 - 1500: leading architect F. Brunelleschi, center - Florence;
- II period - 1500 - mid-16th century: leading architect D. Bramante, center - Rome;
- III period - second half of the 16th century: leading architect Michelangelo Buonarotti, center - Rome.
Brunelleschi Filippo(Brunelleschi Phillipi) ( 1377-1446 ) - one of the greatest Italian architects of the 15th century. Florentine architect, sculptor, scientist and engineer worked in Florence in the first half of the 15th century - during the Early Renaissance.
Filippo Brunelleschi began his artistic career as a sculptor in 1401, sharing first place with Ghiberti in a competition to design the doors of the Florentine Baptistery.
However, Brunelleschi's colossal influence on his contemporaries is associated primarily with architecture. They saw the fundamental novelty of his work in the resurrection of ancient traditions. Renaissance figures associated the beginning of a new era in architecture with his name. Moreover, Brunelleschi was, in the eyes of his contemporaries, the founder of all new art. Albert called him the first among those who contributed to the revival of art in Florence, and dedicated his “Treatise on Painting” to him, and the historian Giovanni Rucellai ranked him among the four most famous citizens of Florence. “Blessed be the soul of Filippo Brunelleschi, a glorious Florentine citizen and worthy architect... who revived the ancient style of architecture in our city of Florence,” wrote Filarete.
Brunelleschi still retained memories of the traditional frame principle, dating back to Gothic, which he boldly associated with the order, thereby emphasizing the organizing role of the latter and assigning the wall the role of neutral filling. The development of his ideas can be seen in modern world architecture.
Brunelleschi's first architectural work, the majestic octagonal dome of the Florence Cathedral (1420-1436), is the first major monument of Renaissance architecture and the embodiment of his engineering, as it was erected using mechanisms specially invented for this purpose. After 1420 Brunelleschi became the most famous architect in Florence.
Simultaneously with the construction of the dome, in 1419-1444 Brunelleschi supervised the construction of a shelter for orphans - the Orphanage (Ospedale di Santa Maria degli Innocenti), which is rightfully considered the first monument of the Renaissance style in architecture. Italy has never known a building that was so close to antiquity in its structure, natural appearance and simplicity of form. Moreover, it was not a temple or a palace, but a municipal house - an orphanage. Graphic lightness, giving a feeling of free, unconstrained space, became a distinctive feature of this building, and subsequently formed an integral feature of the architectural masterpieces of Filippo Brunelleschi.
He discovered the basic laws of linear perspective, revived the ancient order, raised the importance of proportions and made them the basis of a new architecture, without at the same time abandoning the medieval heritage. Exquisite simplicity and at the same time harmony of architectural elements, united by the relationships of the “divine proportion” - the golden section, became attributes of his work. This was evident even in his sculptures and bas-reliefs.
In fact, Brunelleschi became one of the “fathers” of the Early Renaissance, along with the painter Masaccio and the sculptor Donatello - three Florentine geniuses opened a new era in architecture and fine arts... On our website, in addition to the biography of the great sculptor and architect, we offer to familiarize yourself with his works , preserved to this day, without which it is impossible to imagine the appearance of Florence even to a modern person.
Competition of 1401 - doors of the Florentine Baptistery
In 1401, the largest Florentine guilds allocated money to decorate the baptistery with a new pair of bronze doors. The trustees of the temple of San Giovanni Battista sent out an invitation to all the craftsmen “who were famous for their learning” to make bronze doors for the named temple. The Baptistery of San Giovanni was erected in the 11th century on the site of an older baptistery in the Florentine square, where the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and the bell tower. The baptistery building had an octagonal shape - typical of a Romanesque baptismal building. It was located in the middle of the square and had a pyramid-shaped dome with a span of 25.6 meters. In its style, this building belongs to the proto-Renaissance style, which originated in Florence in the 11th-12th centuries and was the earliest to manifest itself in architecture. The octagon of the baptistery is divided outside into three tiers. The general appearance of the building, although it has “Romanesque” features, is distinguished by a much more subtle sense of proportions and elegance, which were not so characteristic of Romanesque buildings. Corinthian pilasters and semi-columns, an elegant pattern of arches on the facade, light Ionic columns resting on a barrier decorated with mosaic portraits of prophets in the interior, the use of multi-colored marble in the decoration, a subtle sense of proportions - all this gave the appearance of the building a proto-Renaissance style.
The Florentines were proud of their baptistery and continued to improve it, inviting the best craftsmen. It was for this purpose that a competition was organized in 1401 to decorate the second doors of the baptistery, in which, after a careful selection, seven masters, mainly drawn to the Gothic style, were allowed to participate, along with already famous masters, such as Jacopo della Quercia, and two young sculptors who were a little over twenty years old - Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi.
Of these, the jury most highly appreciated two reliefs executed by young, at that time unknown artists Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi. The commission members did not dare to give the palm to any of the contenders. It was only recognized that their samples were much superior to those of their competitors, and they were invited to continue working on doors “on an equal footing.” Brunelleschi refused this offer, and the order completely passed to Ghiberti.
"Crucifixion" in the Church of Santa Maria Novella (c. 1410)
Vasari, in his biography of Brunelleschi, mentions the “Crucifixion” in Santa Maria Novella, which was performed by the master who won Donatello in a fierce competition. The wooden crucifix is usually dated to around 1410. The master depicted an ideally exalted Christ, but without the exaggerated expression favored by late Gothic masters.
The straight figure of the Savior is carved without a sharp bend, without tension, with refined arms and legs. Filippo strove for harmony in his depiction, for the same harmony that determined the structure of his proportions in architecture. Brunelleschi was one of the first to depict the figure of Christ completely naked, without a loincloth.
Dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence (1420-1436)
The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore rises in the very center of the ancient city. The carved marble building of the cathedral is crowned by a huge rusty-red dome. In Italy, the size of the Florence Cathedral is second only to St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome.
The dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is the earliest of Brunelleschi's major works in Florence.
The dome of the Florence Cathedral - one of the most grandiose architectural achievements of the Renaissance - was erected by an architect who did not receive any special education, an amateur architect, a jeweler by profession. For the 15th century, at least for the first half of it, this was common. There was no special architectural education, just as until the middle of the Quattrocento the term “architect” itself did not exist. The authors of architectural projects were sculptors, painters and jewelers, like Brunelleschi.
In medieval Europe they did not know how to build large domes, so the Italians of that time looked at the ancient Roman Pantheon with admiration and envy. And this is how Vasari evaluates the dome of the Florentine Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, erected by Brunelleschi: “It can definitely be said that the ancients did not reach such a height in their buildings and did not dare to take such a risk that would make them compete with the sky itself, as it seems with it , indeed rivals the Florentine dome, for it is so high that the mountains surrounding Florence appear equal to it. And indeed, one might think that the sky itself envies him, for it constantly and often strikes him with lightning all day long.”
The proud power of the Renaissance! The Florentine dome was not a repetition of either the dome of the Pantheon or the dome of St. Sophia of Constantinople, which delight us not with their height, not even with the majesty of their appearance, but above all with the spaciousness that they create in the temple interior.
Brunelleschi's dome crashes into the sky with its entire slender bulk, signifying for contemporaries not the mercy of heaven to the city, but the triumph of human will, the triumph of the city, the proud Florentine Republic. Not “descending onto the cathedral from heaven,” but organically growing out of it, it was erected as a sign of victory and power in order (indeed, it seems to us) to captivate cities and peoples under its shadow.
Yes, it was something new, unprecedented, marking the triumph of new art. Without this dome, erected over a medieval cathedral at the dawn of the Renaissance, those domes that, following Michelangelo’s (over St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome), crowned the cathedrals of almost all of Europe in subsequent centuries, would have been unthinkable.
Among different ideas, proposed for consideration by the commission, Filippo Brunelleschi's proposal stood out: in order to save materials, build a dome without scaffolding. The design he proposed was a lightweight hollow dome with double shell, and a frame of 8 main ribs and 16 auxiliary ribs, surrounded by rings. Brunelleschi managed to convince his colleagues that his calculations were correct, although the master did not reveal the details of his plan until its full implementation. At the Florence Cathedral appeared real chances be completed.
In the model proposed by Brunelleschi, the dome should not be spherical, otherwise the upper part of such a dome will collapse, but pointed, elongated upward and ribbed. The eight ribs of the dome must bear the main load. Between them Brunelleschi placed 16 auxiliary ribs, converging at the top. The main ribs must support not one, but two dome shells. At the level of the bend, the ribs are connected by “chains” of massive wooden beams connected by iron fasteners. Later, a white marble lantern was added, which made this cathedral the tallest in the city. It is still the tallest building in Florence, designed in such a way that the entire population of the city could fit inside.
The dome was built in 1446. Its diameter is 42 meters, its height is 91 m from the floor of the cathedral, the lantern is 16 m high. The dome weighs about nine thousand tons without the heavy marble lantern. According to Sanpaolesi's calculations, during its construction, about six tons of materials had to be carried daily to the suspended scaffolding, for which Filippo invented special lifting mechanisms.
The dome of Santa Maria del Fiore was one of the first steps in the transition from the architecture of the Middle Ages to the architecture of the Renaissance. The silhouette of the dome changed the panorama of the city, giving it new, Renaissance contours. And although the dome of the cathedral is not spherical and, in the strict sense of the word, it is not even a dome, but is a tent, in documents, in various kinds written sources since 1417, the Florentines persistently call it a dome. Brunelleschi tried to give it the most convex, round outline possible. And his efforts were crowned with success: the octagonal tent entered the history of architecture as the first Renaissance dome, which became a symbol not only of Renaissance Florence, but also of all Tuscan lands.
Before starting work, Brunelleschi drew a plan for the dome in life size on the shallows of the Arno River near the city. Brunelleschi did not have any ready-made calculations; he had to check the stability of the structure on a small model. The study of the remains of ancient buildings allowed him to use the achievements of Gothic in a new way: the Renaissance clarity of divisions gives a powerful smoothness to the general upward direction of the famous dome, the strict harmony of its architectural forms already defining the appearance of Florence from afar.
The mystery of the construction of this grandiose dome has not yet been solved. Of course, Brunelleschi brilliantly found the right bend of the ribs - 60 degree arc has the greatest strength. Second technical discovery - masonry method when the bricks are not positioned horizontally, but with an inward slope, in this case the center of gravity of the vault is inside the dome - the vaults grew evenly (eight synchronous groups of masons) and the balance was not disturbed. In addition, in each blade of the arch the rows of bricks form not a straight line, but a slightly concave, sagging line that does not cause breaks. The bricks used to build the dome were of very high quality.
Upon completion of the magnificent dome, Brunelleschi was offered to lead the work of building the cathedral until its completion, and by the time of his death in 1446, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore was almost completed.
Orphanage in Florence (1421-1444)
At the end of the 13th century, the General Council of the People in Florence entrusted the largest guilds with the care of orphans and illegitimate children. At first, existing hospitals and monasteries were used for this. At the beginning of the 15th century, it was decided to build another shelter in the small square of Santissima Annunziata (Piazza della Santissima Annunziata), as an institution of a new type. Construction began at the request of a workshop of silk weavers and jewelers, of which Brunelleschi was a member; he developed the project for the first orphanage in Europe, which opened in 1444. The model of the shelter made by Brunelleschi was kept for a long time in the building of the silk workshop, construction continued in accordance with it, and later it was lost.
Vasari, in his Biography, mentions in passing the Orphanage, among the projects developed during the construction of the dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Unlike Vasari, modern historians and art critics give Brunelleschi's Orphanage project the highest rating. It is generally recognized as the first monument of the Renaissance style in architecture; the fact that Brunelleschi’s reformatory activity in architecture began precisely with a secular building is indicative.
Brunelleschi created a kind of ideal children's institution, which required an ideal architectural embodiment, but did not coincide with real needs. He decided to create an architectural variation on the theme of antiquity - as it was understood at that time. Porticoes, loggias with columns, regular courtyards and underground rooms full of symbolic meaning for work and meals. The new type of institution was supposed to have a staff of educators of a new, humanistic bent. However, it was not taken into account from the very beginning main function home - serve as a shelter for babies. Initially, there were no rooms for nannies and nurses, for washing babies, for washing and drying clothes, or even rooms for children. The great architect created a building that was included in textbooks on the history of architecture, but which had to be completely rebuilt inside.
At the first glance at this building, one is struck by its significant and fundamental difference from Gothic and ancient buildings. The façade of the building is transformed into an airy arcade supported by thin Corinthian columns; it connects together the space of the house and the square in front of it; between the square and the building there is a staircase of several steps, almost the entire width of the facade. The emphasized horizontality of the facade, the lower floor of which is occupied by a loggia opening onto the square with nine arches, the symmetry of the composition, completed on the sides by two wider openings framed by pilasters - all evokes the impression of balance, harmony and peace. Brunelleschi did not embody the classical concept in the full-fledged forms of ancient architecture. The light proportions of the columns, the grace and subtlety of the profiling of the cornices reveal the kinship of Brunelleschi’s creation, reminiscent of examples of the Tuscan Proto-Renaissance.
Brunelleschi Filippo was born in 1377 in Florence. Philippe was taught reading, writing and arithmetic, as well as some Latin, from an early age; His father was a notary and thought that his son would do the same. WITH early years He showed interest in drawing and painting and was very successful at it. When his father decided, according to custom, to teach him a craft, Philippe chose jewelry, and his father, being a reasonable man, agreed with this. Thanks to his painting studies, Philippe soon became a professional in the jewelry craft.
In 1398 Brunelleschi joined the Arte della Seta and became a goldsmith. However, joining the guild did not yet provide a certificate; he received it only six years later, in 1404. Prior to this, he completed an internship in the workshop of the famous jeweler Linardo di Matteo Ducci in Pistoia. Filippo remained in Pistoia until 1401. In 1401, participating in a sculpting competition (won by L. Ghiberti), Brunelleschi completed the bronze relief “The Sacrifice of Isaac” (National Museum, Florence) for the doors of the Florentine Baptistery. This relief, distinguished by realistic innovation, originality and freedom of composition, was one of the first masterpieces of Renaissance sculpture.
Sacrifice of Isaac 1401-1402, National Museum of Florence
Philippe had a large fortune, had a house in Florence and land holdings in its environs. He was constantly elected to the government bodies of the Republic, from 1400 to 1405 - to the Council del Pololo or Council del Comune. Then, after a thirteen-year break, from 1418 he was regularly elected to the Council del Dugento and at the same time to one of the “chambers” - del Popolo or del Commune.
All of Brunelleschi's construction activities, both in the city itself and outside it, took place on behalf of or with the approval of the Florentine Commune. According to Philippe's designs and under his leadership, a whole system of fortifications was erected in the cities conquered by the Republic, on the borders of the territories subordinate to it or controlled by it. Large fortification works were carried out in Pistoia, Lucca, Pisa, Livorno, Rimini, Siena and in the vicinity of these cities. In fact, Brunelleschi was the chief architect of Florence.
Dome over the Florence Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore
In medieval Europe they did not know how to build large domes, so the Italians of that time looked at the ancient Roman Pantheon with admiration and envy.
Dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence.
Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. 1296-1436 Architects Arnolfo di Cambio, Andrea Pisano, Francesce Talenti, Philippe o Brunelleschi (dome).
Western façade 19th century. Lengthwise cut.
The construction of the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore was an extremely difficult task, and seemed impossible to many. Brunelleschi worked on it for eighteen years (the dome was completed in 1436). After all, a huge opening had to be blocked, and since Brunelleschi did not have any ready-made calculations, he had to check the stability of the structure on a small model.
It was not for nothing that Brunelleschi studied the wreckage of ancient buildings with such enthusiasm. This allowed him to use the achievements of Gothic in a new way: the Renaissance clarity of divisions gives a powerful smoothness to the overall upward direction of the famous dome, which already from afar determined the appearance of Florence with the strict harmony of its architectural forms.
As the founder of the architectural system of the Renaissance and its first ardent guide, as a transformer of all European architecture, as an artist whose work is marked by an individuality unparalleled in its brightness, Brunelleschi entered the world history art. He was one of the founders of the scientific theory of perspective, the discoverer of its basic laws, which were of great importance for the development of all painting of that time.
In contrast to the Gothic, in the general increase in upsurges, as if striving to eliminate the wall, to overcome the very mass of matter, the new architecture pursued completely different tasks, purely “earthly”, “human” in its scale, sought a harmonious and stable relationship between horizontals and verticals.
The creative daring of Filippo Brunelleschi formed the basis for the greatest achievements of Italian architecture of this era. With every decade of the 15th century. secular construction is taking on an ever-increasing scope in Italy. Not a temple, not even a palace, but a public building had the high honor of being the firstborn of truly Renaissance architecture. This is the Florentine Foundling House, the construction of which Brunelleschi began in 1419. Purely Renaissance lightness and grace distinguish this creation of the famous architect, who brought to the facade a wide open arched gallery with thin columns and thus, as it were, connecting the building with the square, the architecture - “ part of life” - with the very life of the city.
Orphanage in Florence. Started in 1419. General view.
Lovely medallions made of glazed baked clay with images of swaddled newborns decorate small tympanums, colorfully enlivening the entire architectural composition. And here is Brunelleschi's masterpiece, the most delightful of all architectural creations of this era - the interior of the Pazzi Chapel in Florence, the chapel of the powerful Pazzi family. Back in 1430, Brunelleschi began construction of the Pazzi Chapel, where the architectural and constructive techniques of the sacristy of the Church of San Lorenzo were further improved and developed.
Plan. Lengthwise cut.
Pazzi Chapel in Florence. Started in 1430. Façade.
In 1436, Brunelleschi began working on the design of the Basilica of San Spirito. Brunelleschi's last iconic building, in which there was a synthesis of all his innovative techniques, was the oratorio (chapel) Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence (founded in 1434). This building was not finished.
Oratorio (chapel) Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence
A number of works have been preserved in Florence that reveal, if not Brunelleschi’s direct participation, then, in any case, his direct influence. These include Palazzo Pazzi, Palazzo Pitti and Badia (Abbey) in Fiesole.
Palazzo Pitti in Florence. Originally completed approx. 1460 Facade.
Not a single one of the large construction projects started by Philip was completed; he was busy with all of them, managing them all at the same time. And not only in Florence. At the same time, he built in Pisa, Pistoia, Prato - he traveled to these cities regularly, sometimes several times a year. In Siena, Lucca, Volterra, in Livorno and its environs, in San Giovanni Val d'Arno, he headed fortification work. Brunelleschi sat on various councils, commissions, gave advice on issues related to architecture, construction, engineering; he was invited to Milan in connection with the construction of the cathedral, they asked his advice regarding the strengthening of the Milan Castle. He traveled as a consultant to Ferrara, Rimini, Mantua, and carried out an examination of marble in Carrara.
With great honors, his body was installed in May 1447 in the Florentine Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The tombstone was made by Cavalcanti. The epitaph in Latin was compiled by the famous humanist and chancellor of the Florentine Republic, Carlo Marsuppini. In the inscription, “a grateful fatherland” glorified the architect Filippo both for the “amazing dome” and “for the many structures invented by his divine genius.”
Vasari wrote: “... On April 16, he left for a better life after the many labors he put into creating those works with which he earned a glorious name on earth and a resting place in heaven.”
In compiling this material we used:
1. Lyubimov L.D. Art of Western Europe. Middle Ages. Renaissance in Italy. A book to read. M., "Enlightenment", 1976.
2. http://www.brunelleschi.ru/
3. http://www.peoples.ru/art/architecture/brunelesky/
4. www.artyx.ru
Filippo Brunelleschi (Filippo Brunelleschi (Brunellesco); 1377-1446)
General history architecture:
Filippo Brunellesco - first Great master architecture of modern times, a major artist, inventor and theoretical scientist.
Filippo's father, the notary Ser Brunellesco di Lippo Lappi, intended him to become a notary, but at his son's request he was apprenticed to the jeweler Benincasa Lotti. In 1398, Brunellesco joined the workshop of silk spinners (which also included jewelers) and in 1404 received the title of master. In 1405-1409, 1411-1415, 1416-1417. Brunellesco traveled to Rome, where he studied architectural monuments. My creative activity he began as a sculptor and participated in a competition for the bronze doors of the Florentine Baptistery. At the same time he studied the laws of perspective; he is credited with paintings with illusory effects depicting the squares - the Cathedral and the Signoria (1410-1420). Brunellesco carried out a number of engineering and fortification works in Pisa, Lucca, Lastere, Rencina, Stage, Ferrara, Mantua, Rimini and Vicopisano.
Architectural works of Brunellesco in or near Florence: the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore (1417-1446); Orphanage (since 1419); the church of San Lorenzo and the old Sacristia (from 1421) (the project was later reworked); Palazzo di Parte Guelph (design commissioned in 1425, construction - 1430-1442); Pazzi Chapel (from 1430); oratorio Santa Maria degli Angeli (after 1427); Church of San Spirito (started in 1436). In addition, the following buildings are associated with the name of Brunellesco: Palazzo Pitti (the project could have been completed in 1440-1444, built in the 1460s); Palazzo Pazzi (the project was commissioned in 1430, built in 1462-1470 by Benedetto da Maiano); the Barbadori Chapel in the Church of Santa Felicita (1420); Villa Pitti in Rusciano near Florence; the second courtyard of the monastery of Santa Croce (built according to a modified design by Brunellesco), the abbey in Fiesole (Bagia Fiesolana, rebuilt in 1456-1464 by Brunellesco's followers).
Brunellesco began his architectural career by solving the most significant and difficult task facing the builders of his native Florence - the construction domes of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore(Fig. 4).
* The cathedral was founded in 1296 by Arnolfo di Cambio. In 1368, after the construction of the basilica, a special meeting approved the model of the dome, developed by eight “painters and craftsmen” (not preserved). The foundations of the dome pylons were laid already in 1380. In 1404, Brunellesco and Lorenzo Ghiberti joined the construction commission. In 1410, the dome drum with round windows was completed; Brunellesco's role in the creation of the drum is unclear. A competition for models of the dome was held in 1418. The technical model of Brunellesco and Nanni di Banco was approved only in 1420, and construction of the dome began in October of that year. The builders were Brunellesco, Ghiberti and B. d'Antonio. Since 1426 Brunellesco has been the main builder of the dome. The dome was completed in 1431, the apses of its drum in 1438, and the balustrade in 1441. After the completion of the dome to the upper ring and the consecration of the cathedral in 1436, a competition was announced for a model of the lantern; Brunellesco emerged victorious again. The lantern of the dome was built only after the death of the architect according to a slightly modified design. The model of the lantern of the dome was made by Brunellesco in 1436, but its first stone was laid only in March 1446. Michelozzo, A. Manetti, Ciaccheri, B. Rossellino and Suchielli participated in the construction of the lantern, who completed it in 1470. The main external cornice and gallery at the base of the dome remained unfulfilled. Made by Baccio d'Agnolo in the 16th century. on one of the faces of the dome, the cornice with a gallery does not correspond to Brunellesco's plan.
The construction of a dome over the altar part (choir) of the basilica, given the enormous size of the covered space and the height of the cathedral, turned out to be an impossible task for Brunellesco's predecessors, and the construction of special scaffolding was no less difficult for them than the construction of the dome itself. The length of the cathedral is 169 m, the width of the central cross is 42 m, the height of the octagonal dome space is 91 m, and together with the lantern it is 107 m.
The medieval domed buildings of Italy, going back to Byzantine models, could not suggest the necessary solution, since they were much smaller in size and had a different structure. Despite these difficulties, the idea for the dome matured back in the 14th century, which is confirmed, in particular, by the explanatory note of Brunellesco himself *. It is known that when the new model was approved in 1367, the builders were obliged not to deviate from it under oath and under pain of heavy fines. This complicated and made it difficult to solve purely constructive and engineering problems, which were mainly faced by Brunellesco.
* The image of the cathedral on the fresco of the “Spanish Chapel” in the Church of Santa Maria Novella, although it dates back to 1365-1367, i.e. to the time of the new model of the cathedral, in accordance with which its construction was carried out, but is so divergent from the actual building that it can hardly serve as a basis for judging the role of Brunellesco. At the same time, Brunellesco’s explanatory note says that the upper shell of the dome is being erected “... both to protect it from dampness and to make it more magnificent and convex.” This shows Brunellesco's significantly more active role in determining the shape and curvature of the dome than is generally assumed.
Brunellesco's proposals for the construction of the dome, shown on his model approved in 1420, and set out in the explanatory note to it, were almost completely implemented in kind. The master accepted the shape and basic dimensions of the dome (diameter and rise of the internal vault), established by the model of 1367. But the questions of the structure and methods of constructing the dome - the number of shells, the number of load-bearing ribs and their thickness, the design of the shells and their masonry, the design of the dome's support ring, its fastening and connections, the method and sequence of laying vaults without scaffolding ( to a height of 30 cubits (17.5 m) the dome was erected without scaffolding, higher - on auxiliary circles ) etc. - were developed and solved in detail by Brunellesco himself (Fig. 5).
The difficulty lay not only in the enormous size of the span to be covered, but also in the need to build the dome on a high octagonal drum with a relatively thin wall thickness. Therefore, Brunellesco tried to lighten the weight of the dome as much as possible and reduce the thrust forces acting on the walls of the drum. The architect achieved this by creating a hollow dome with two shells, of which the inner, thicker one is load-bearing, and the thinner, outer one is protective, as well as by lightening the material: from solid masonry at the base to brick in the upper parts of the faces (trays) of the dome .
The rigidity of the structure is ensured by a system of load-bearing ribs connecting the shells of the dome: eight main ones at the corners of the octahedron and sixteen additional ones - two in each face of the dome. The main and auxiliary ribs are connected to each other at certain distances by encircling rings, in which stone masonry is skillfully combined with wooden ties. Unloading arches and stairs are placed between the shells of the vault.
The thrust of the dome, freely placed on the relatively thin walls of a high drum, without buttresses and open to its entire height, was extinguished inside the dome itself by means of the mentioned ring ties, and especially by a spacer ring of wooden ties located at a height of 7 m from the base. This major innovation in Renaissance construction technology was combined with the pointed outline of the vault, characteristic of Gothic architecture, which also helped to reduce the expansion. The lantern is also of significant structural importance, which, by closing and loading the frame structure of the closed vault at its apex, gives it greater stability and strength.
This is how Brunellesco truly innovatively solved architectural and construction (a new structural system of a hollow dome with two shells) and technical (construction without scaffolding) problems.
Despite the complexity and many ambiguities of the history of the Florence Cathedral, Brunellesco's innovative role is generally recognized and indisputable. However, the historical and artistic significance of the dome and the progressive features of its architectural image go far beyond the scope of engineering and technical tasks. Dedicating his treatise on painting to Brunellesco, Alberti says that this “... a great structure, rising to the heavens, so vast that it overshadows all the Tuscan peoples and erected without any help of scaffolding or cumbersome scaffolding, is a most skilful invention, which truly, if I judge correctly, it is as incredible in our time as, perhaps, it was unknown and inaccessible to the ancients" ( Leon Batista Alberti. Ten books about architecture. M., 1937, vol.II, p. 26 ).
The dominant role that the dome of the Florence Cathedral received in the city landscape, its outlines and dimensions fully met the aspirations of the Florentines and the most progressive trends in the worldview of the young bourgeoisie. However, modern foreign art criticism, based primarily on formal stylistic considerations, persistently rejects the presence of artistic innovation in Brunellesco’s dome, pointing to the Gothic nature of the entire concept (the use of ribs, the pointed outline of the dome, the hipped completion of the lantern, the nature and profiling of its details). Meanwhile, the Gothic principle of the pointed rib vault was reworked by the master on the basis of new bold designs, and it is precisely those parts of the composition that undoubtedly belong to Brunellesco that reveal his inherent freedom and courage. This fully applies to the elements of the order system he used. These are the semicircular small apses located along the diagonals of the dome part, with their semicircular niches framed by double Corinthian semi-columns; This is the internal gallery at the base of the dome, and most importantly, a completely new composition of the octagonal lantern with corner Corinthian pilasters and buttresses in the form of arches topped with volutes. The main external cornice under the dome was left unfinished. There should have been a gallery-arcade under the cornice, but hardly in the form in which it was made on one of the faces in the 16th century. Baccio d'Agnolo; its excessive fragmentation gave it a controversial large-scale character (Michelangelo irritably called it a “cricket cage”).
The progressive significance of the dome is not limited to the use of new designs and order forms. For the first time in Western European architecture, the external shape of the dome was determined not only by the shape and overlap of the internal space, but also by the desire, conscious from the very beginning, to reveal this space outside; For the first time, the architectural and artistic significance of the dome is determined by its external plastic volume, which received an outstanding role in the ensemble of the city. This new image of the dome as a monument erected to the glory of the city embodied the victory of the new secular worldview over the ecclesiastical one. Indeed, already in 1296, the Florentine government, entrusting the design of a new cathedral to Arnolfo di Cambio, ordered him to create a structure in which “a heart that has become very large would beat, for it consists of the souls of all citizens united by one will.”
The dome dominated the whole of Florence and the surrounding landscape. Its significance in the ensemble of the city and the strength of its artistic “long-range action” are determined not only by the elasticity and at the same time ease of its take-off, not only by its absolute size, but also by the highly enlarged scale of the parts rising above the urban buildings: the drum with huge, highly profiled round windows and smooth edges of the arch with powerful ribs separating them. The simplicity and severity of the dome's forms are emphasized by the smaller divisions of the crowning lantern, which enhances the impression of the height of the entire structure.
The entire plastic composition of the dome and the large and small apses subordinate to it, accurately reproducing the spatial composition of the under-dome part of the cathedral, is essentially centric, loosely connected with the basilica: completing the search begun over a century by Arnolfo di Cambio, Brunellesco created the first clear image of a centric domed structure, which from now on became one of the most important themes of Italian Renaissance architecture. The creative efforts of several generations of architects were devoted to the further development of the centric composition, both independently and in its combination with the basilica type. The Florentine dome and the domes in Brunellesco's original centric compositions are the prerequisites without which neither Michelangelo's dome, nor its numerous repetitions throughout Europe over the next three centuries, would have been unthinkable.
The features of the new architectural direction were most fully revealed in the Orphanage built by Brunellesco (Ospedale degli Innocenti - Shelter of the Innocents) *.
* Started in 1419 by order of the workshop of silk weavers and jewelers, of which Brunellesco was a member; the last time Brunellesco's name is mentioned in documents was in 1424, when the outer portico was built, and only part of the walls were erected inside. In 1427, Francesco della Luna, who also worked in 1435-1440, was appointed builder of the Orphanage for three years. According to the testimony of the alleged author of the anonymous biography of Brunellesco - Antonio di Tuccio Manetti - Francesco della Luna belongs to the southernmost building (around 1430), which violated the proportions of the facade and the design of Brunellesco. The orphanage was opened in 1445. It is built of brick, walls and vaults plastered. Columns, archivolts, inter-storey rods and all ornamental elements are made of local limestone (macigno). Terracotta bas-reliefs depicting swaddled babies were made by Andrea della Robbia.
There were educational institutions and shelters for abandoned children back in the Middle Ages, usually in church and monastery complexes. During the Renaissance, their number increases greatly, reflecting the humaneness and secular nature of the new culture. Ospedale degli Innocenti Brunellesco was the first large public building of this type, standing apart and occupying a prominent place in the city. The composition of this complex complex, which combined residential, utility, public and religious premises, * is clearly built around a central courtyard. The courtyard, an integral part of residential buildings and monastic complexes in Italy, was masterfully used by Brunellesco to unite all the rooms. The square courtyard, framed by light arched galleries that protect the premises from the scorching rays of the sun, is surrounded by various rooms with two halls on both sides of the deep axis of the courtyard (Fig. 6). The entrances to the building are located along the main axis of the courtyard.
* It is impossible to establish exactly the purpose of individual premises of the Orphanage, however, the placement of entrances, staircases, rooms and their sizes suggest that the main service premises (kitchen, dining room, servants’ quarters, administration and children’s reception rooms) were located on the ground floor, in direct connection with lower loggias of the courtyard; The bedrooms of children and teachers and rooms for classes were located on the second floor along the perimeter of the yard.
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Open to Piazza Santissima Annunziata, the loggia, repeating the main motif of the courtyard arcade on a monumental scale and with richer details, connects the Orphanage with the city (Fig. 7). Brunellesco gave the ancient motif of an arched colonnade the appearance of a friendly, hospitable vestibule, open to the square and accessible to everyone. This is emphasized by the spans of widely spaced slender columns and elastic semi-circular arches of the loggia, raised on nine steps along its entire length. The main theme of the entire composition is the arcade and therefore Brunellesco does not emphasize the center of the facade.
The façade of the building, divided into two floors of unequal height, is distinguished by its simplicity of form and clarity of proportional structure, based on the width of the loggia arcade span. Enlarged divisions of the main facade, its width (g loose side extensions noticeably disrupted the proportions of the façade, excessively lengthening the building and complicating its composition ) and the size of the arcade span of the loggia were adopted by Brunellesco, taking into account the size of the area and the perception of the building from a considerable distance (the arcades around the small courtyard are one and a half times smaller than the external ones).
The lightness and transparency of the loggia, its elegance would be unthinkable without the constructive innovation that manifested itself here. The sail vault chosen by Brunellesco, long forgotten in Italy, had all the necessary static qualities: with the same dimensions of the base and the height of the girth arches as the cross vault, it had a larger lift and, therefore, a smaller expansion. This made it possible to make it much thinner and lighter than the cross vault. Metal rods located in the lower part of the arches, connecting the columns with the wall, helped to absorb a significant portion of the thrust. The high wall of the second floor, loading the arcades of the loggia, and filling the cavities between the arches in to a greater extent localized the rest of the arch thrust.
The entablature, lying directly on the archivolts of the arcade and on the large Corinthian pilasters framing the outer bays, unifies the entire composition not only horizontally, but also vertically. Forming a single whole with the wall, in which the frieze is conventionally highlighted by a constant profile, like a frame running around it on all sides, this entablature transfers the load of the second floor to the arcade. The light, smooth wall of the second floor, cut through by a metric row of simple windows with triangular pediments and topped with a modest and light cornice, emphasized the depth and spaciousness of the sun-protected loggia.
The compositional design, clearly reflecting the social purpose of the building, the tectonicity and simplicity of the forms, the clarity of the proportional structure and the correspondence of the development to the area give this firstborn of a new direction in architecture a harmony that makes it similar to the architecture of ancient Greece. Despite the fact that in the entire façade of the Orphanage there is not a single element directly borrowed from ancient monuments, the building is close to them in character due to its order system, the ratio of supported and load-bearing parts and proportions that are lighter at the top.
The completion of the right and left sides of the facade conceived by Brunellesco is not known exactly. A. Manetti mentions paired small pilasters and another cornice, which supposedly should have been above the pilasters at the ends of the facade. The question of the extent to which the author's design was violated in the side arches closing the loggia, as well as in the unusual rotation of the main architrave at a right angle downward to the base *, remains controversial.
* The framing of the outer pilasters (and the entire loggia) with a curved architrave aroused the indignation of Vasari, who attributed this “violation of the rules” to Brunellesco’s assistant, Francesco della Luna. However, in Brunellesco's works there are many deviations from accepted forms, which are explained by the originality of his artistic thinking and the conditions for the formation of a new style based on ancient and medieval traditions.
The loggia of the Orphanage contributed to the formation of a new type of arcades, the proportions, divisions and forms of which are subject to the logic of order construction. Gradually, such arcades became common in 15th-century architecture. both in Tuscany and beyond.
* Second courtyard of the monastery of Santa Croce, courtyard of the monastery of San Marco, courtyard of the Palazzo Strozzi and other palaces in Florence, loggia of the abbey in Fiesole, hospital in Pistoia, etc.; from the second half of the 15th century. arcades of this type are being built throughout the country, for example, the palaces in Nubbio and Urbino.
Simultaneously with the construction of the Orphanage, Brunellesco began (in 1421) the reconstruction and expansion of the old Basilica of San Lorenzo, the parish church of the Medici family.
Old sacristy(sacristy) Church of San Lorenzo in Florence, completed during the master’s lifetime, provides the first example in Renaissance architecture of a spatial centric composition, reviving the system of a dome on sails over a square room in plan (Fig. 8). The structure of the internal space of the sacristy is distinguished by its clarity and simplicity. The cubic room is covered with a ribbed dome (actually a closed “monastery” rib vault) on sails and four thin girth arches carried by a wall dissected below by a full Corinthian order of pilasters.
The design of the ribbed dome on the sails is very original. In order to lighten the dome, reduce the expansion and illuminate the space under the dome, Brunellesco installed vertical walls with round windows at the bases of the strongly flared edges of the dome. The static advantages are that the vertical walls, by loading the dome support ring and reducing the thrust, make the entire system more stable. As in the dome of the cathedral, the spread of the umbrella dome of the sacristy of San Lorenzo is extinguished by means of a well-tied spacer ring arranged at its base and expressed by a strong profile. Using Byzantine samples of a dome on sails and a Gothic rib system, Brunellesco solved the problem of extinguishing the thrust in a new way and created an original, unusually simple composition of the internal space. It amazed not so much with the designs and consistent application of the forms of the ancient order, but with the novelty of the entire tectonic image, created through the organic combination of architectural forms and techniques that developed on the basis of arched-vaulted (wall) and post-beamed (architrave) structural systems.
* Ancient Roman architecture mainly used only a mechanical combination of walls and vaults with an order, which was “attached” to the load-bearing pillars and played a purely decorative role.
The entire “framework” of the composition - pilasters, architrave, archivolts of arches, edges and ribs of the dome, as well as window casings, round medallions inscribed in the sails and between the concentric arches, brackets - all these elements are made of dark stone and clearly stand out against the light background of plastered walls The sharpness of this contrast was perhaps softened by the rich polychrome, now poorly preserved. The order divisions of the sacristy outline the basic patterns of its composition, giving it clarity, peace and lightness.
The interior of the sacristy and the dome have lost the heaviness and monumental staticism so characteristic of domed buildings of the early Middle Ages. The architect also unambiguously revealed the tectonic role of the wall: small consoles under the entablature of too widely spaced pilasters, which baffled many researchers, are clearly unable to support the entablature located above them and therefore show the viewer in the best possible way that this entablature is not real, but only divides the wall ; It is also obvious that the girth arches cannot support the dome and only frame the load-bearing wall. This use of the order became the master’s favorite and most characteristic compositional technique.
By gradually fragmenting and lightening the architectural forms, the impression of great depth of the under-dome space was achieved and the patterns of tectonic interaction between the load-bearing and non-supporting parts of the structure were revealed. This is also facilitated by the decreasing size of the main divisions of the sacristy from bottom to top and the distribution of light in the interior, concentrated in the dome, illuminated by round windows (they are currently closed).
Brunellesco improved and developed the compositional and constructive techniques used in the old sacristy of the Church of San Lorenzo in Pazzi Chapel*, a family chapel, also intended for meetings of the chapter of the monastery of Santa Croce (Fig. 8). This is one of Brunellesco's most characteristic and most perfect works. The complex purpose of the chapel required large free space and a relatively small choir with an altar. The location of the building in the courtyard of the medieval monastery of Santa Croce played an important role in the planning decision. Brunellesco composes a rectangular room, somewhat elongated along an axis perpendicular to the main axis of the church, and closing one of the short end sides of the courtyard, surrounded by arcades (see Fig. 2 and 9). This contrast emphasizes the independence of the small chapel and achieves its compositional unity with the monastery courtyard.
* The chapel was commissioned by the Pazzi family. The construction, begun by Brunellesco in 1430, was completed in 1443. The completion of the façade of the chapel with a protective roof on wooden posts came later; The author's intention is unknown to us. The balustrade in one of the intercolumns of the portico is also a later addition. The sculptural work was carried out by Desiderio da Settignano and Luca della Robbia. The reliefs of the apostles inside the chapel are attributed to Brunellesco. The building is made of brick; the columns, pilasters, entablatures and panels of the facade are made of limestone, the interior details are made of fine crystalline sandstone, and many decorative decorations (the rosettes of the outer dome and round medallions) are made of glazed and ordinary terracotta.
To make the internal space and volume of the structure as significant as possible and to distinguish the building from the surrounding buildings, Brunellesco masterfully subordinates the transversely developed interior and facade to a volumetric-spatial centric composition, completed in the center with a dome on sails. The parts of the rectangular hall to the right and left of the dome are balanced along the main axis of the building by the rooms of the choir and the central part of the portico, also covered with domes.
The construction of a dome over the center of a rectangular room with short branches was possible only if a spacer ring was introduced with walls loading it. Otherwise, the expansion of the dome would be perceived by the arches only in one transverse direction.
The high attic with which the entrance portico is crowned does not seem too heavy, since it is visually lightened by small double pilasters with light paneled inserts between each pair. The general impression of harmony and lightness is promoted by the decreasing divisions of the façade upwards. The cylindrical vault above the portico is interrupted in the center by a dome on sails. By extinguishing the expansion of the vault, the high attic loads the columns of the portico, which explains the relatively frequent arrangement of columns. In the central span, the façade arch and the dome behind it made it possible to almost double the intercolumnium.
In the interior of the chapel, Brunellesco develops his technique of identifying the basis of the composition with the material and color of the order. As in the sacristy, the order forms change according to their place and role in the composition: the small projections of the pilasters in the corners of the choir were apparently thought of as a protruding part of a built-in pillar; The corners of the interior are decorated with pilasters, as if moving from one wall to another.
The interior of the chapel lacks the high semi-circular windows above the entablature, which were not entirely successfully connected with the archivolts of the concentric arches and were used in the old sacristy.
The elegant pattern of the dark purple frame on the pearl-gray planes of the walls creates the illusion of their weightlessness. The interior order corresponds to the external divisions of the building. This connection between the interior and the portico of the chapel is evident both in the use of painted ceramics and in the general cheerful polychromy of the walls and details. These are, for example, round medallions inside the building, decorated with majolica by Luca della Robbia, round majolica cassettes of the dome under the portico, a painted terracotta frieze with angel heads, etc.
Along with centric domed buildings, Brunellesco's innovative tendencies also manifested themselves when he created churches of the traditional basilica type. Churches of San Lorenzo(started in 1421) and San Spirito* - the most remarkable buildings of this kind, created in Florence during the Renaissance. Their plan is based on traditional form three-nave basilica in the form of a Latin cross with a transept, choir and dome over the middle cross. In the Church of San Lorenzo, this scheme has been significantly changed in accordance with the new requirements for the layout of religious buildings. The transept, usually reserved for high clergy and feudal nobility, is now surrounded by the family chapels of wealthy citizens. The chapels of the Florentine bourgeoisie were built at their expense along the side naves, making the interior of the church more dissected (Fig. 10).
* The project of the Church of San Lorenzo, completed by Brunellesco almost simultaneously with the project of the sacristy, was later reworked by him. During the life of the architect, the old sacristy and transept with choir without a dome were completed. After his death, the builder of the church was A. Manetti Ciaccheri, who apparently changed the author’s plans in many ways. Based on some evidence from contemporaries, a number of scientists (for example, Willich) believe that Brunellesco’s original unrealized plan included a three-nave part of the church without side chapels and a dome over the middle cross with windows and a lantern. The design of the Church of San Spirito dates back to 1436 (maybe 1432), construction began only in 1440. During Brunellesco’s lifetime, in all likelihood, the walls of the side naves and chapels were erected to the base of the vaults, and the foundations of the nave columns. After Brunellesco, the church was built by Antonio Manetti Ciaccheri and later Giuliano da Sangallo. The dome was erected only in 1482. The facades of both churches were not completed.
The naves and transept of the church form a system of interconnected but clearly differentiated hall spaces with chapels along the perimeter of the church. Thus, the main parts of the church now received an additional function, becoming, as it were, the antechambers of private chapels.
In the Church of San Spirito, built later and mainly at the expense of the monastery, Brunellesco separated the chapels less, and although the new arrangement of the chapels and their connection with the naves, transept and choir is also present here, the internal space is perceived even more clear and holistic.
On the columns of the main nave of both churches rest semi-circular arches supporting walls with windows and a flat coffered ceiling. In both cases, the arches rest not directly on the capitals of the columns, but on a kind of impost, in the form of a segment of a complete entablature corresponding to the entablature of the order of pilasters on the walls of the side naves. The order encircles the entire space of the basilica, uniting it.
Unlike the Church of San Lorenzo, where the pilasters of the side naves are smaller than the columns of the main span, in the Church of San Spirito the colonnade of the main nave is reproduced on the walls of the side naves in the form of semi-columns of the same dimensions. The bracing of the entablature above them corresponds to the imposts of the central arcade; the archivolts of the arches and the girth arches of the side vaults rest on them (Fig. 10, 11).
The Church of San Spirito has a unique plan: the side naves with the adjacent chapels form a continuous row of equal semicircular cells-niches that go around the entire perimeter of the church, except for its entrance part ( according to Brunellesco's original plan, semicircular cells were also planned for the main façade, but this would have precluded the creation of a ceremonial central entrance, which was required by the church ). This has significant structural significance: the folded wall could be extremely thin and at the same time serve as a reliable buttress, absorbing the thrust of the sail vaults of the side naves. Here Brunellesco directly used the achievements of late Roman technology ( in a Roman monument of the 4th century. AD - Temple of Minerva Medica ).
A number of chapels encircling the church look like apses with semi-conical roofs protruding from the facades (like the apses located under the drum of the dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore).
The typical Brunellesco motif of an arched colonnade with light and elastic arches reminiscent of the portico of the Orphanage (including corner pilasters), the central dome system he developed in the old sacristy of the Church of San Lorenzo and in the Pazzi Chapel was the basis for the composition of the interiors of both basilicas.
The interiors of the basilicas with their arches, as if floating above the slender rows of columns (which is facilitated by the order impost between the capital and the arch), flat coffered ceilings, the rapid rise of light girth arches, ribbed domes ( the erection of a smooth, heavy and poorly lit dome over the central cross of the Church of San Lorenzo clearly violated Brunellesco's plan ) and sail vaults, are likened to the ceremonial interiors of secular buildings.
Brunellesco's last iconic building was Oratorio Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence ( Construction probably began in 1427 or 1428, commissioned by the Scolari family. In 1436, the building was brought almost to the capitals of the internal order, but was not completed. Drawings and drawings of the oratorio, modern and later, have survived, some of them attributed to Brunellesco. Judging by them, the architect tried to incorporate a choir room into the building, but its shape and combination with the main volume are not clear. You can get an idea of the appearance of the building only from a later engraving. ). This structure, octagonal on the inside and sixteen-sided on the outside, is the earliest centric-domed structure of the Renaissance. Here, for the first time, the idea of a centric structure “perfect” in form was realized, which dominated the minds of architects until the 17th century. The complex system of radial and transverse walls and abutments surrounding the central space of the chapel has the important structural significance of buttresses that absorb the expansion of the dome (Fig. 13).
These unique buttresses (used by Brunellesco in the Church of San Spirito) made it possible to make the walls of the vaulted structure extremely thin and light. The walls connecting the outer hexagonal contour of the oratorio with the hall are lightened by niches in which there are doors connecting the chapels in a circular path.
On the outside, the mass of the wall is also lightened by semicircular niches. The main supporting pillars of the octogon with two corner pilasters have an order structure and support the arcade dividing the domed room of the chapel. Above the arcade, apparently, there was supposed to be a rather high octagonal drum in the form of an attic, with a round window on each side, supporting a spherical dome with a tent covering. Thus, the volumetric composition of the building was conceived as a stepped two-tier, with a gradual increase in volume in height and from the periphery to the center. This corresponded to the structure of the internal space, the development of which proceeds from smaller and more complex forms of chapels to a large octogonal core.
The simplicity and completeness of the composition of the building turned out to be in clear contradiction with its religious purpose, since there was no choir. The drawings that have reached us, as well as the testimony of A. Manetti, show that it was precisely this almost impossible task of joining the choir to the centric composition that worried many contemporaries. Despite the options (outlined in the drawings), the surviving parts of the structure indicate their compliance with the original plan (chapels with window openings and external niches that excluded the possibility of adding a choir). This building by Brunellesco completes a series of centric compositions he developed.
The question of Brunellesco’s role in the creation of a new type of palace is extremely complicated by the fact that the only work of this kind in which the master’s authorship is documented is Palazzo di Parte Guelph (College of Captains of the Guelph Party, 1420-1452. in charge of the confiscated property of the Ghibelline nobility, undertook the reconstruction of her palace. Francesco della Luna and Maso di Bartolomeo took part in the construction. The building is entirely built of dark gray sandstone, the surfaces of the walls are finely cut. The external entablature and pilasters in the hall are made of limestone ) - was not residential and remained unfinished, and later distorted by repeated alterations. Having used the order for the first time in the composition of the palace, Brunellesco boldly broke long-standing traditions and outlined here a completely new image of a monumental public building (Fig. 14).
An order of large pilasters, which remained unfinished, spans the corners of the building to the entire height of the walls of the second floor. The pilasters of the facades should not differ in any way from the wall in terms of the cutting of the seams, the nature of the masonry and the texture, being its integral part. A large hall located on the second floor ( completed by Vasari in the 50s of the 16th century. ) is also dissected by a large order of pilasters.
In Florence, a number of buildings have been preserved, built, if not by Brunellesco himself, then at least under his influence. Palazzo Pitti and the abbey at Fiesole, since the time of Vasari, has often been attributed to Brunellesco himself. One of these buildings was the Palazzo Pazzi ( The palace (finished before 1445) was built for the same Pazzi family for whom Brunellesco built the chapel. The walls of the palace are made of rubble and plastered. The walls of the first floor date back to an older building, and the rusticated cladding and finishing were carried out at the same time as the new sandstone building. The author of the building was also called Benedetto da Maiano ).
The premises of the palazzo are arranged on three sides of an open courtyard elongated across the width of the building, surrounded on the ground floor by deep loggias. A wide three-flight staircase connects the courtyard with the second floor, where there were reception rooms with a main hall decorated with a richly coffered wooden ceiling, and in the left wing there was a small chapel. The loggias on the third floor, open to the courtyard, were used for processing and drying wool. The courtyard was adjacent to outbuildings and a large garden. Main facade exceptionally simple: above the rusticated first floor are two smoothly plastered upper floors with finely and richly decorated window frames. Round windows of later origin. The building is completed by a light, strongly extended wooden cornice, the carved cantilevered rafters of which are one of the few surviving and therefore most precious examples of wooden carving in the external architecture of the 15th century. (Fig. 15,16).
Palazzo Pitti(1440-1466) with its heroic scale and severe appearance is a unique phenomenon in the architecture of the Italian Renaissance. The name of Brunellesco is associated with the palace only on the basis of the testimony of Vasari.
* The palace was built after Brunellesco's death. The building originally had only seven axes and three large arched entrances on the ground floor; windows in the blocked side arches were added later. The side wings and courtyard were added later. The building is built of brick and lined with stone squares. The inside of the building has been extensively rebuilt. Vasari talks about the participation in the construction of the palazzo by Alberti’s student, Luca Fancelli. The building is also attributed to Alberti. About the expansion of the palace and its courtyard facade, built in the 16th century. Ammanati.
It is possible that the architectural image of the palace was formed as a result of the architect’s appeal to the heroic past of Florence and its medieval monuments (Bargello, Palazzo Vecchio, etc.). The appearance of the palazzo is preserved medieval features feudal dwelling-fortress, impregnable and closed. The truly titanic power of this structure, the size of which stands out even among the large-scale buildings of Florence, is expressed in the huge rough-hewn blocks of its rusticated cladding and in the unusual rhythm of the façade; three huge floors, but identical in height and type of masonry, and the absence of a strong cornice that completes the entire building seem to indicate that the powerful development of the structure has not yet been completed, but has only stopped (Fig. 15, 17).
Abbey in Fiesole(Badia Fiesolana) is a small monastic complex built more than ten years after the death of Brunellesco (1456-1464) in a picturesque hilly area near Florence. The ensemble, combining the features of a monastery and a country villa, consists of a church surrounded by arcaded enclosed courtyards, a large vaulted refectory and a group of living quarters of Cosimo de' Medici (Fig. 18).
The arrangement of the main premises around an open courtyard with loggias, the skill with which individual symmetrical and asymmetrical elements of the building are combined, the clear identification of the front courtyard as the compositional center of the ensemble - all this vividly recalls Brunellesco's Orphanage. In a small one-nave church you can see Brunellesco’s characteristic combination of the surface of the wall with a clearly drawn dark “framework” of the composition.
In stylistic kinship with the works of Brunellesco are the villa in Rusciano, rebuilt, according to Vasari, by Brunellesco in the 1420s, and again in 1453, the second courtyard of the monastery of Santa Croce (the lower arcade with profiling and round medallions resembles the façade of the Orphanage) , sacristy of the church of Santa Felicita (1470), closely reproducing the compositional scheme of the old sacristy of the church of San Lorenzo and the Pazzi Chapel.
Brunellesco's bold innovation is determined primarily by the synthetic nature of his work, his universal talent as a scientist, architect, engineer and artist, and the breadth of his historical, scientific and practical knowledge. This helped him create the first brilliant works of a new architectural movement.
Brunellesco not only enriched architecture with major engineering and technical innovations, not only played a decisive role in the creation of new and radical reworking of existing architectural types (central-domed and basilica churches, public buildings, palaces), Brunellesco found new means of expression in order to embody in architecture the new aesthetic ideals of the humanistic worldview with unprecedented completeness and attractiveness.
Brunellesco's architectural images, in addition to their great innovative content, are full of the charm of the personal creative style of this great artist. Clarity of spatial composition, light, spacious and bright interiors, elegant lightness of lines, elastic rise of semi-circular arches, often emphasized by their repetition, the predominance of space over mass and light over shadow, and finally, the sophistication of a few decorative details- these are some characteristic features that are often combined in the expression “Brunellesco manner”.
Chapter “Architecture of Tuscany, Umbria, Marche”, section “Renaissance Architecture in Italy”, encyclopedia “General History of Architecture. Volume V. Architecture of Western Europe of the XV-XVI centuries. Renaissance". Executive editor: V.F. Marcuson. Authors: V.E. Bykov, (Tuscany, Umbria), A.I. Venediktov (Marki), T.N. Cosina (Florence - city). Moscow, Stroyizdat, 1967
Biography of Filippo Brunellesco - Florentine sculptor and architect
(Giorgio Vasari. Lives of the most famous painters, sculptors and architects)
Many, to whom nature has given small stature and a plain appearance, have a spirit filled with such greatness and a heart filled with such immeasurable daring that they never find peace in life until they take on difficult and almost impossible things and achieve them. completely amazing to those who contemplate them, and no matter how unworthy and base all those things that chance hands them and no matter how many there are, they transform them into something valuable and sublime. Therefore, one should not at all wrinkle one’s nose when meeting with persons who do not seem to possess that immediate charm and that attractiveness that nature should have endowed upon his birth to anyone who shows his valor in anything, for there is no doubt that that under the clods of earth there are gold-bearing veins. And often in people of the frailest type such generosity of spirit and such directness of heart are born that, since nobility is combined with this, nothing but the greatest miracles can be expected from them, for they strive to decorate their physical deformity with the power of their talent. This is clearly seen in the example of Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, who was no less homely in appearance than Forese da Rabatta and Giotto, but who possessed a genius so sublime that one can truly say that he was sent to us by heaven to give us new uniform architecture, which had already gone astray for several centuries and on which the people of that time wasted untold wealth to spite themselves, erecting structures devoid of any structure, poor in execution, pitiful in design, full of the most bizarre inventions, characterized by a complete lack of beauty and more worse than that, finished. And so, after so many years had not appeared on earth a single person possessing a chosen soul and a divine spirit, heaven wished that Filippo would leave behind him to the world the largest, highest and most beautiful building of all created, not only in our time , but also in antiquity, thereby proving that the genius of Tuscan artists, although lost, was not yet dead. Besides, the sky decorated him high virtues, of whom he possessed the gift of friendship to such an extent that there was never anyone more tender and loving than he. In his judgment he was impartial and, where he saw the value of other people's merits, he did not take into account his own benefit and the benefit of his friends. He knew himself, endowed many with the abundance of his talent, and always helped his neighbor in need. He declared himself a merciless enemy of vice and a friend of those who labored in virtue. He never wasted time, being always busy either for himself or helping others in their works, visiting friends during his walks and constantly giving them encouragement.
They say that in Florence there was a man of the most good reputation, very commendable morals and active in his affairs, named Ser Brunellesco di Lippo Lapi, who had a grandfather, called Cambio, a learned man and the son of a very famous doctor at that time, called Master Ventura Bacherini. And so, when Ser Brunellesco took as his wife a very well-bred maiden from the noble Spini family, he received as part of his dowry a house in which he and his children lived until his death and which is located opposite the church of San Michele Bertelli, diagonally in a back street , passing Piazza degli Agli. Meanwhile, while he labored in this way and lived for his own pleasure, in 1377 a son was born to him, whom he named Filippo in memory of his already deceased father and whose birth he celebrated as best he could. And then he thoroughly taught him from childhood the basics of literature, in which the boy discovered such talent and such an exalted mind that he often stopped straining his brains, as if he had no intention of achieving greater perfection in this area; or rather, it seemed that his thoughts were directed towards things more useful. Ser Brunellesco, who wanted Filippo, like his father, to become a notary or, like his great-grandfather, a doctor, experienced the greatest grief from this. However, seeing that his son was constantly engaged in skillful inventions and handicrafts, he forced him to learn to count and write, and then assigned him to a goldsmith shop so that he could learn to draw from one of his friends. This happened to the great satisfaction of Filippo, who, having begun to study and practice this art, after a few years was already setting precious stones better than the old masters of this matter. He worked as a mob and performed large works of gold and silver, such as, for example, some figures made of silver, like the two half-figures of prophets located at the ends of the altar of St. Jacob in Pistoia, which were considered the most beautiful things and which he executed for the church guardianship of this city, as well as bas-relief works in which he showed such the importance of this craft that, willy-nilly, his talent had to go beyond the boundaries of this art. Therefore, having established relations with some learned people, he began to delve, with the help of his imagination, into the nature of time and motion, weights and wheels, thinking about how they can be rotated and why they are set in motion. And he went so far as to build several excellent and beautiful watches with his own hands. However, he was not content with this, for the greatest desire for sculpture awoke in his soul; and all this happened after Filippo began to constantly communicate with Donatello, a young man who was considered strong in this art and from whom very much was expected; and each of them so appreciated the talent of the other, and both had such love for each other that one, it seemed, could not live without the other. Filippo, who had very great abilities in a variety of fields, worked simultaneously in many professions; and he did not do it for long, when among knowledgeable people he began to be considered an excellent architect, as he showed in many works on the decoration of houses, such as the house of his relative Apollonio Lapi on the corner of Via dei Chai, on the road to the Old Market, on which he took great pains while he was building it, and also outside Florence in rebuilding the tower and house of the Villa Petraia at Castello. In the palace occupied by the Signoria, he outlined and laid out all those rooms where the office of the pawnshop employees was located, and also made doors and windows there in a manner borrowed from the ancients, which was not very much used at that time, since the architecture in Tuscany was extremely rude. When then in Florence it was necessary to make from linden wood for the brothers of St. Spirit statue of the penitent St. Mary Magdalene in order to place her in one of the chapels, Filippo, who executed many small sculptures and wanted to show that he could achieve success in large things, undertook the execution of the said figure, which, when completed and placed in its place, was considered the most beautiful a thing, but which subsequently, during the fire of this temple in 1471, burned along with many other remarkable things.
He worked a lot on perspective, which was used very poorly at that time due to the many mistakes that were made in it. He lost a lot of time on it until he himself found a way by which it could be made correct and perfect, namely by drawing a plan and profile, as well as by intersecting lines - a thing truly in highest degree witty and useful for the art of drawing. He was so carried away by this that with his own hand he depicted the Piazza San Giovanni with alternating inlays of black and white marble on the walls of the church, which cut with special grace; in the same way he made the house of the Misericordia, with the shops of the waffle makers and the Volta dei Pecori, and on the other side the column of St. Zinovia. This work, which won him the praise of artists and people who understood this art, encouraged him so much that a little time passed before he began another and depicted the palace, the square and the loggia of the Signoria, together with the canopy of the Pisans and all the buildings that are visible around; These works were the reason for awakening interest in perspective in other artists, who have since been engaged in it with great diligence. In particular, he taught it to Masaccio, a young artist at that time and his great friend, who did honor to his lessons with his works, as can be seen, for example, from the buildings depicted in his paintings. He did not fail to teach those who worked in intarsia, that is, in the art of assembling colored varieties of wood, and inspired them so much that he should be credited with good techniques and many useful things achieved in this skill, as well as many excellent works that at that time and for many years they brought glory and benefit to Florence.
One day Messer Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli, returning from his studies and preparing to dine in the garden with some of his friends, invited Filippo, who, listening to him discuss the mathematical arts, became such a friend of him that he learned geometry from him. And although Filippo was not a bookish person, he, using the natural arguments of everyday experience, explained everything to him so intelligently that he often baffled him. Continuing in the same spirit, he studied the Holy Scriptures, tirelessly taking part in the disputes and sermons of learned persons; and this, thanks to his amazing memory, benefited him so much that the above-mentioned Messer Paolo, praising him, said that it seemed to him, when he listened to the reasoning of Filippo, as if he were a new Saint Paul. In addition, at that time he diligently studied the works of Dante, which he correctly understood regarding the location of the places described there and their sizes, and, often referring to them in comparisons, he used them in his conversations. And his thoughts were only occupied with the fact that he was constructing and inventing intricate and difficult things. And he never met with a mind more satisfying to him than Donato, with whom he had easy conversations like home, and both drew joy from each other and together discussed the difficulties of their craft.
Meanwhile, Donato had just completed a wooden crucifix, which was subsequently placed in the Church of Santa Croce, in Florence, under a fresco painted by Taddeo Gaddi and depicting the story of the young man resurrected by St. Francis, and wanted to know Filippo's opinion; however, he repented of this, since Filippo answered him that he had crucified the man. He replied: “Take a piece of wood and try it yourself” (where this expression came from), as Donato’s life story tells about this at length. Therefore Filippo, who, although he had cause for anger, was never angry at anything said to him, remained silent for many months until he had completed a wooden crucifix of the same size, but of such high quality and executed with such skill, design and effort, that when he sent Donato ahead to his home, as if by deception (for he did not know that Filippo had done such a thing), Donato slipped out of his hands the apron, which he had full of eggs and all sorts of food for a joint breakfast, while he looked at the crucifix, beside himself with surprise and at the sight of the ingenious and skilful devices which Filippo used to convey the legs, torso and arms of this figure, so generalized and so complete in its arrangement, that Donato not only recognized himself defeated, but also praised her as a miracle. This thing is in the church of Santa Maria Novella, between the Strozzi Chapel and the Bardi Chapel from Vernio, immensely glorified in our time. When this revealed the valor of both truly excellent craftsmen, the butcher's and linen workshops ordered two marble figures from them for their niches in Orsanmichel, but Filippo, who had taken on other work, left them to Donato, and Donato alone brought them to completion.
Following this, in 1401, bearing in mind the height that the sculpture had reached, the question of new two bronze doors for the Baptistery of San Giovanni was brought up for discussion, since since the death of Andrea Pisano there were no craftsmen who could take on this . Therefore, having notified all the sculptors who were in Tuscany at that time about this plan, they sent for them and assigned them content and a year of time for execution, each with one story; among them were called Filippo and Donato, who each separately had to make one story in competition with Lorenzo Ghiberti, as well as Jacopo della Fonte, Simone da Colle, Francesco di Valdambrina and Niccolò d'Arezzo. These stories were completed in the same year and put up for comparison, they all turned out to be very good and different from each other; one was well drawn and poorly worked, like Donato, the other had an excellent drawing and was carefully worked, but without the correct distribution of the composition depending on the reduction of the figures, as he did. Jacopo della Quercia; the third was poor in concept and had too small figures, as Francesco di Valdambrina solved his problem; the worst of all were the stories presented by Niccolo d'Arezzo and Simone da Colle. Best of all was the story performed by Lorenzo di Cione Ghiberti. It stood out for its design, careful execution, design, art and beautifully sculpted figures. However, the story of Filippo, who depicted Abraham sacrificing Isaac, was not much inferior to it. It shows a servant who, while waiting for Abraham and while the donkey is grazing, removes a thorn from his foot: a figure deserving of the greatest praise. So, after these stories were exhibited, Filippo and Donato, who were satisfied only with the work of Lorenzo, recognized that in this work of his he surpassed them and all the others who had made other stories. So, with reasonable arguments, they convinced the consuls to transfer the order to Lorenzo, proving that this would benefit society and individuals. And it was true good deed true friends, valor free from envy, and sound judgment in knowing ourselves. For this they deserve more praise than if they had created the perfect work themselves. Happy are the men who, while helping each other, enjoyed praising the works of others, and how unhappy are our contemporaries today who, having caused harm, are not satisfied with this, but are bursting with envy, sharpening their teeth on their neighbor.
The consuls asked Filippo to take up the work together with Lorenzo, and, however, he did not want this, preferring to be first in art alone than equal or second in this matter. Therefore, he presented his story, cast in bronze, to Cosimo de' Medici, who subsequently placed it in the old sacristy of the Church of San Lorenzo on the front side of the altar, where it remains to this day; The story, performed by Donato, was placed in the building of the money changers' workshop.
After Lorenzo Ghiberti received the order, Filippo and Donato conspired and decided to leave Florence together and spend several years in Rome: Filippo to study architecture, and Donato to study sculpture. Filippo did this, wishing to surpass both Lorenzo and Donato, just as architecture is more necessary for human needs than sculpture and painting. And so, after Filippo sold the small estate that he owned in Settignano, they both left Florence and went to Rome. There, seeing the grandeur of the buildings and the perfection of the structure of the temples, Filippo was so stunned that it seemed as if he was beside himself. So, having set out to measure the cornices and take plans of all these structures, he and Donato, working tirelessly, spared neither time nor expense, and did not leave a single place either in Rome or in its environs without examining and measuring everything. what good they could find. And since Filippo was free from household worries, he, sacrificing himself for the sake of his research, did not care about food or sleep - after all, his only goal was architecture, which at that time had already died - I mean good ancient orders , and not German and barbarian architecture, which was very popular in his time. And he carried within himself two great ideas: one of them was the restoration of good architecture, since he thought that having regained it, he would leave behind no less a memory than Cimabue and Giotto; the other was to find, if possible, a way to erect the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence; the task was so difficult that after the death of Arnolfo Lapi, no one was found who would dare to build it without the greatest expense on wooden scaffolding. However, he never shared this intention with Donato or with anyone else, but not a day passed in Rome when he did not think about all the difficulties that arose during the construction of the Rotunda and the method of erecting the dome. He noted and sketched all the ancient vaults and constantly studied them. And when they accidentally discovered buried pieces of the capitals, columns, cornices and bases of a building, they hired workmen and forced them to dig to get to the very foundation. As a result, rumors about this began to spread throughout Rome, and when they, dressed shabbily, walked down the street, they were shouted: “treasure diggers,” because the people thought that these were people who practiced witchcraft to find treasures. And the reason for this was that they once found an ancient clay shard full of medals. Filippo did not have enough money, and he made a living by setting precious stones for his friends, jewelers.
While Donato returned to Florence, he remained alone in Rome and, with even greater diligence and zeal than before, labored tirelessly in search of the ruins of buildings, until he sketched all types of buildings, temples - round, quadrangular and octagonal - basilicas, aqueducts, baths, arches, circuses, amphitheaters, as well as all the temples built of brick, in which he studied ligatures and couplings, as well as the laying of vaults; he filmed all the ways of connecting stones, castle and console, and, observing in all big stones hole, hollowed out in the middle of the bed, he established that it was for that same iron device, which we call “ulivella” and with the help of which stones are lifted, and again introduced it into use, so that from that time on they began to use it again. So, he established the difference between the orders: Doric and Corinthian, and his research was such that his genius acquired the ability to personally imagine Rome as it was when it had not yet been destroyed.
In 1407, Filippo became uncomfortable with the unusual climate of this city, and so, following the advice of friends to change the air, he returned to Florence, where during his absence much had fallen into disrepair in the city buildings, for which, upon his return, he introduced many projects and gave a lot of advice. In the same year, the trustees of Santa Maria del Fiore and the consuls of the woolen workshop convened a meeting of local architects and engineers on the question of erecting a dome; Filippo spoke among them and advised that the building be raised under the roof and not follow Arnolfo's design, but make a frieze fifteen braccia high and make a large dormer window in the middle of each face, since this would not only relieve the shoulders of the apse, but would also facilitate the construction of the vault . And so the models were made, and they began to implement them. When, after a few months, Filippo had completely recovered and one morning was in the Piazza Santa Maria del Fiore with Donato and other artists, the conversation was about ancient works of sculpture, and Donato said that, returning from Rome, he chose the route through Orvieto, to look at the so famous marble facade of the cathedral, executed by various masters and revered in those days as a remarkable creation, and that, then passing through Cortona, he went into the parish church and saw a most beautiful ancient sarcophagus, on which was a story carved in marble - a thing at that time a rare time, since such a large number of them have not yet been excavated as in our days. And so, when Donato, continuing his story, began to describe the techniques that the then master used to perform this thing, and the subtlety that is contained in it along with the perfection and quality of the craftsmanship, Filippo was fired up with such an ardent desire to see it that he was right in what he was , in a cloak, hood and wooden shoes, without saying where he was going, he left them and went on foot to Cortona, drawn by the desire and love that he had for art. And when he saw the sarcophagus, he liked it so much that he depicted it in a drawing with a pen, with which he returned to Florence, so that neither Donato nor anyone else noticed its absence, thinking that he was probably drawing or depicting something. Returning to Florence, he showed a drawing of the tomb, carefully reproduced by him, at which Donato was immensely amazed, seeing what love Filippo had for art. After which he remained for many months in Florence, where he secretly made models and machines, everything for the construction of the dome, at the same time, however, he hung out and joked with the artists, and it was then that he played a joke with the fat man and with Matteo, and for fun I often went to Lorenzo Ghiberti to help him finish this or that in his work on the doors of the baptistery. However, upon hearing that we're talking about about the selection of builders for the construction of the dome, he decided to return to Rome one morning, because he believed that he would be more respected if he had to be called from afar than if he remained in Florence.
Indeed, while he was in Rome, they remembered his works and his most insightful mind, which revealed in his reasoning that firmness and that courage that other masters were deprived of, who lost heart along with the masons, became exhausted and no longer hoped to find a way to erect a dome and a frame strong enough to support the frame and weight of such a huge building. And so it was decided to bring the matter to an end and write to Filippo in Rome with a request to return to Florence. Filippo, who only wanted this, kindly agreed to return. When, upon his arrival, the board of trustees of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore met with the consuls of the woolen workshop, they reported to Filippo all the difficulties - from small to great - that were being caused by the craftsmen who were present with them at this meeting. To which Filippo said the following words: “Gentlemen, trustees, there is no doubt that great things encounter obstacles in their path; in some other case, but in our business there are more of them than you perhaps assume, for I do not know that even the ancients ever erected a dome as daring as this one; I, having more than once thought about internal and external scaffolding and how one could safely work on them, could not decide on anything and I am frightened by the height of the building no less than its diameter. Indeed, if it could be built on a circle, then it would be enough to apply the method that the Romans used when building the dome of the Pantheon in Rome, the so-called Rotunda, but here you have to take into account eight sides and introduce stone connections and teeth, which will be a very difficult task difficult. However, remembering that this temple is dedicated to the Lord and the Blessed Virgin, I hope that while it is being built for her glory, she will not fail to send down wisdom to those who are deprived of it, and to increase the strength, wisdom and talents of the one who will be the leader of such a work . But how, in this case, can I help you without being involved in its execution? I confess that if it had been entrusted to me, I would, without any doubt, have had the courage to find a way to erect the dome without so many difficulties. But I haven’t thought of anything for this yet, and you want me to show you this method. But as soon as you, gentlemen, decide that the dome should be erected, you will be forced to try not only me, for my advice alone, as I believe, is not enough for such a great undertaking, but you will have to pay and arrange that within a year On a certain day, architects gathered in Florence, not only Tuscan and Italian, but also German, French, and all other nations, and offered them this work, so that after discussion and decision among so many masters, they would begin to work on it and hand it over to him who will most surely hit the target or will have the best method and reasoning for carrying out this task. I couldn’t give you any other advice or show you a better solution.” The consuls and trustees liked Filippo's decision and advice; True, they would have preferred it if he had prepared a model and thought it over during this time. However, he pretended not to care and even took leave of them, saying that he had received letters demanding his return to Rome. Finally, the consuls, convinced that neither their requests nor the requests of the trustees were enough to keep him, began to ask him through many of his friends, and since he still did not bow, the trustees one morning, namely May 26, 1417, wrote to him as a gift, the amount of money that is listed in his name in the trusteeship account book. And all this to please him. However, he, adamant in his intention, nevertheless left Florence and returned to Rome, where he worked continuously on this task, approaching and preparing for the completion of this work and believing - which, however, he was sure of - that no one , except for him, will not be able to bring it to the end. The advice to appoint new architects was put forward by him for no other reason than so that they would be witnesses of his genius in all its greatness, and not at all because he assumed that they would receive an order for the construction of the dome and take on the task, too difficult for them. And so a lot of time passed before those architects arrived, each from their own country, who were called from afar through the Florentine merchants who lived in France, Germany, England and Spain and who had instructions to spare no money in order to obtain from the rulers of these countries sending the most experienced and capable craftsmen that were ever in those parts. When the year 1420 arrived, all these foreign masters, as well as Tuscan and all the skilled Florentine draftsmen, finally gathered in Florence. Returned from Rome and Filippo. So, everyone assembled in the guardianship of Santa Maria del Fiore in the presence of consuls and trustees, together with chosen representatives from the most judicious citizens, in order, after listening to everyone's opinion on this matter, to decide on how to build this vault. And so, when they were called to the meeting, the opinion of everyone and the project of each architect, which he had thought out for this case, were heard. And it was surprising to hear strange and different conclusions on such a matter, for who said that it was necessary to lay pillars from the ground level on which the arches would rest and which would support the weight of the frame; others - that it would be good to make a dome from tuff to lighten its weight. Many agreed on placing a pillar in the middle and erecting a hipped vault, as in the Florentine Baptistery of San Giovanni. There were also many who said that it would be good to fill it from the inside with earth and mix small coins into it so that, when the dome was completed, everyone who wanted would be allowed to take this earth, and thus the people would steal away in an instant would have it without any expenses. One Filippo said that the vault could be erected without cumbersome scaffolding and without pillars or earth, with much less expense for such a large number of arches and, in all likelihood, even without any timbering.
It seemed to the consuls, the trustees and all the citizens present, who were expecting to hear some harmonious project, that Filippo had said something stupid, and they laughed at him, mocked him, turned away from him and told him to talk about something else and that his words are worthy only of a madman like him. To which, feeling offended, Filippo objected: “Gentlemen, rest assured that there is no way to build this vault differently than I say; and no matter how much you laugh at me, you will be convinced (unless you want to persist) that it should not and cannot be done any other way. If it is to be built as I have planned, it must be round in an arc with a radius equal to three-quarters of the diameter, and be double, with internal and external vaults, so that one can pass between both. And at the corners of all eight slopes, the building should be interlocked with teeth in the thickness of the masonry and in the same way surrounded by a crown of oak beams along all edges. In addition, you need to think about light, stairs and drains through which water could drain during rain. And none of you thought that you would have to take into account the need for internal scaffolding for the execution of mosaics and many other difficult works. But I, who already see it built, know that there is no other way and no other way to build it than the one I outlined.” The more Filippo, heated by his speech, tried to make his plan accessible, so that they would understand it and believe him, the more he aroused doubts in them, the less they believed him and considered him an ignoramus and a talker. Therefore, after he was released several times, but he did not want to leave, they finally ordered the servants to carry him out of the meeting in their arms, considering him completely crazy. This shameful incident was the reason why Filippo later told how he did not dare to walk around the city, fearing that they would say: “Look at this madman.” The consuls remained in the assembly very embarrassed both by the too difficult projects of the first masters and by the last project of Filippo, in their opinion, stupid, since it seemed to them that he had confused his task with two things: firstly, to make the dome double, which would have been enormous and useless heaviness; secondly, build it without scaffolding. Filippo, who spent so many years working to receive this order, for his part, did not know what to do, and more than once was ready to leave Florence. However, if he wanted to win, he had to arm himself with patience, since he knew well enough that the brains of his fellow citizens were not so firmly fixed on one decision. True, Filippo could have shown the small model that he kept to himself, but he did not want to show it, knowing from experience the little prudence of the consuls, the envy of artists and the fickleness of citizens, who favored one one, another another, each according to his own taste. Yes, I’m not surprised at this, because in this town everyone considers himself called upon to know as much in this matter as the experienced masters in it, while there are very few who really understand - no offense to them if it’s said! And so Filippo began to achieve separately what he could not do at the meeting: talking first with one of the consuls, then with one of the trustees, as well as with many of the citizens and showing them parts of his project, he led them to what they decided entrust this work either to him or to one of the foreign architects. Encouraged by this, the consuls, trustees and elected citizens gathered together, and the architects began to discuss this subject, but they were each and every one defeated and defeated by the reasoning of Filippo. It is said that it was then that a dispute arose about the egg, and in the following way: they allegedly expressed the desire that Filippo would express his opinions in detail and show his model in the same way as they showed theirs; but he did not want this and this is what he proposed to foreign and domestic craftsmen: the one who can make a dome of them is the one who can stand up an egg on a marble board and in this way discover the power of his mind. And so, having taken the egg, all these masters tried to make it stand upright, but no one found a way. When they told Filippo to do this, he gracefully took him in his hands and, striking his backside against a marble board, forced him to stand. When the artists made a fuss, which they also could have done, Filippo replied, laughing, that they could have built the dome if they had seen the model and the drawing. So they decided to entrust him with the management of this matter and invited him to make a more detailed report about it to the consuls and trustees.
And so, returning home, he wrote his opinion on a piece of paper as frankly as he could, for transmission to the magistrate in the following form. “Taking into account the difficulties of this construction, I find, most honorable gentlemen trustees, that the dome in no case can be a regular spherical vault, since its upper surface, on which the lantern should stand, is so large that its load would soon lead to crash. Meanwhile, it seems to me that those architects who do not have in mind the eternity of the structure are thereby deprived of love for their future glory and do not know why they are building. Therefore, I decided to build this vault so that it had as many lobes on the inside as the outer walls, and so that it had a measure and an arc with a radius equal to three quarters of the diameter. For such an arc in its bend rises higher and higher, and when it is loaded with a lantern, they will mutually strengthen each other. This vault should have at its base a thickness of three and three-quarters of a cubit and should be pyramidal from the outside to the point where it closes and where the lantern should be located. The arch should be closed to the thickness of one and a quarter cubits; then another vault should be built outside, which at its base would have a thickness of two and a half cubits to protect the inner vault from water. This outer vault should contract in exactly the same pyramidal manner as the first, so that it, like the inner one, closes where the lantern begins, having in this place a thickness of two-thirds of a cubit. There should be an edge at each corner - eight in total, and two on each slope, in the middle of each of them - sixteen in total; these ribs, located in the middle between the indicated corners, two on the inner and outer sides of each slope, should have a thickness of four cubits at their base. Both of these vaults should be rounded one along the other, pyramidally reducing their thickness in the same ratios, up to the height of the peephole closed by the lantern. Then you should begin to build these twenty-four ribs, together with the vaults laid between them, as well as six arches from strong and long pieces of machino, firmly fastened with galvanized iron pyrons, and on top of these stones put iron hoops that would connect the said vault with its ribs. At first the masonry should be continuous, without gaps, up to a height of five and a quarter cubits, and then continue with the ribs and separate the vaults. The first and second crowns from the bottom should be completely tied with transverse masonry made of long limestone stones so that both vaults of the dome rest on them. And at the height of every nine cubits of both vaults, small vaults should be placed between each pair of ribs, tied with a strong oak frame, which would fasten the ribs supporting the inner vault; further, these oak beams should be covered with iron sheets, keeping in mind the stairs. The ribs should be entirely composed of machino and pietraforte, as well as the very edges entirely of pietraforte, and both the ribs and the vaults should be connected to each other up to a height of twenty-four cubits, from where the brick or tuff masonry can begin, depending on the deciding who will be entrusted with this, so that it is as easy as possible. Outside, above the dormer windows, it will be necessary to build a gallery, which in its lower part would be a balcony with through railings, two braccia high, in accordance with the railings of the lower small apses, or which, perhaps, would consist of two galleries, one above the other, on a well-decorated cornice and so that the upper gallery is open. The water from the dome will fall onto a marble trough one-third of a cubit wide, which will throw the water to where the trough below will be made of sandstone. It is necessary to make eight corner ribs of marble on the outer surface of the dome so that they have the proper thickness and protrude above the surface of the dome by one cubit, having a gable profile and a width of two cubits and being a ridge along its entire length with two gutters on both sides; from its base to its apex, each rib should contract pyramidally. The laying of the dome should take place as described above, without scaffolding to a height of thirty cubits, and from there upward - in a manner that will be indicated by those craftsmen to whom it will be entrusted, for in such cases practice itself teaches.”
When Filippo wrote this down, he went to the magistrate in the morning, and after he gave them this sheet, they discussed everything, and, although they were not capable of doing so, but, seeing the liveliness of Filippo’s mind and the fact that none of the others the architects did not have such ardor, but he showed an unshakable confidence in his words, constantly objecting the same thing, so that it seemed that he had undoubtedly erected at least ten domes. The consuls, having retired, decided to transfer the order to him, expressing, however, the desire to see with at least one eye the experience of how it is possible to erect this vault without scaffolding, for they approved everything else. Fate met this desire, for just at that time Bartolomeo Barbadori wanted to build a chapel in the Church of Felicita and came to an agreement with Filippo, who during this time, and without scaffolding, built a dome for the chapel, located at the entrance to the church on the right, where the vessel for the saint water, filled with him; in the same way at this time he built another chapel - with vaults for Stiatta Ridolfi in the church of Santo Jacopo, on the Arno, next to the chapel of the great altar. These works of his were the reason that his deeds were believed more than his words. And so the consuls and trustees, whom his note and the buildings they saw strengthened their confidence, ordered him a dome and, after voting, appointed him the main leader of the work. However, they did not negotiate with him for a height greater than twelve cubits, saying that they would still see how the work would work out, and that if it succeeded, as he assured them of it, they would not fail to order him the rest. It seemed strange to Filippo to see such stubbornness and such distrust in the consuls and trustees; and if he had not been sure that he alone could bring this matter to completion, he would not have put his hand to it. But, filled with the desire to gain glory for himself, he took it upon himself and undertook to bring the work to final perfection. His note was copied into a book in which the conductor kept incoming and outgoing accounts for timber and marble, together with his obligation mentioned above, and he was assigned maintenance on the same terms on which the main supervisors of the work had previously been paid. When the order given by Filippo became known to artists and citizens, some approved it, others condemned it, which, however, has always been the opinion of the mob, fools and envious people.
While the material was being prepared to begin masonry, a group of dissatisfied people appeared among the artisans and citizens: speaking out against the consuls and builders, they said that this matter had been rushed, that such work should not be done at the discretion of one person, and that they could forgive if they did not have worthy people, which they had in abundance; and that this will not serve in the least to the honor of the city, for if any misfortune should happen, as sometimes happens during construction, they may incur censure as people who have placed too much responsibility on one, and that, taking into account the harm and the disgrace that this could entail for public affairs, it would be good, in order to curb Filippo’s insolence, to assign a partner to him. Meanwhile, Lorenzo Ghiberti achieved great recognition, having tested his talent at the doors of San Giovanni; the fact that he was loved by some very influential persons was clearly revealed; indeed, seeing how Filippo's fame grew, they, under the pretext of love and attention to this building, obtained from the consuls and trustees that Lorenzo was attached to Filippo as a partner. What despair and what bitterness Filippo experienced when he heard what the trustees had done is evident from the fact that he was ready to flee Florence; and without Donato and Luca della Robbia to console him, he might have lost all self-control. Truly inhuman and cruel is the malice of those who, blinded by envy, endanger the glory of others and beautiful creations for the sake of vain rivalry. Of course, it was no longer up to them that Filippo did not break the models, burn the drawings, and in less than half an hour destroy all the work that he had been doing for so many years. The trustees, having first apologized to Filippo, persuaded him to continue, arguing that he and no one else was the inventor and creator of this structure; and meanwhile they assigned Lorenzo the same content as Filippo. The latter began to continue work without much desire, knowing that he alone would have to endure all the hardships associated with this matter, and then share honor and glory with Lorenzo. However, firmly deciding that he will find a way, so that Lorenzo would not endure this work too long, he continued with him according to the same plan, which was indicated in the note presented by him to the trustees. Meanwhile, the idea awoke in Filippo's soul to make a model, of which no one had ever been made before; and so, having taken up this task, he ordered it from a certain Bartolomeo, a carpenter who lived near the Studio. And in this model, which accordingly had exactly the same dimensions as the building itself, he showed all the difficulties, such as illuminated and dark staircases, all types of light sources, doors, connections and ribs, and also made a piece of order for the sample galleries. When Lorenzo found out about this, he wanted to see her; but, since Filippo refused him this, he, angry, decided in turn to make a model in order to create the impression that it was not for nothing that he received the allowance paid to him and that he, too, was somehow involved in this matter. Of these two models, the one made by Filippo was paid for fifty lire and fifteen soldi, as appears from the order in the book of Migliore di Tommaso dated October 3, 1419, and in the name of Lorenzo Ghiberti - three hundred lire for the labor and expenses of making it model, which was more likely explained by the love and favor he enjoyed than by the requirements and needs of the building.
This torment continued for Filippo, before whose eyes this all happened, until 1426, for Lorenzo was called an inventor on a par with Filippo; vexation took such hold of Filippo's soul that life for him was full greatest suffering. Therefore, since he had various new plans, he decided to get rid of him completely, knowing how unsuitable he was for such work. Filippo had already brought the dome in both vaults to a height of twelve cubits, and there stone and wooden ties were already to be laid, and since this was a difficult matter, he decided to talk about it with Lorenzo in order to test whether he was aware of it. in these difficulties. Indeed, he was convinced that it had not even occurred to Lorenzo to think about such things, since he replied that he left the matter to him as the inventor. Filippo liked Lorenzo's answer, since it seemed to him that in this way he could be removed from work and discover that he was not a man of the intelligence that his friends and the favor of the patrons who had given him this position ascribed to him. When all the masons had already been recruited for work, they awaited orders to begin to remove and tie the vaults above the reached level of twelve cubits, from where the dome begins to converge to its apex; and for this they were forced to build scaffolding so that the workers and masons could work in safety, for the height was such that it was enough to look down for even the bravest person to have a heart ache and trembling. So, the masons and other craftsmen waited for orders on how to build the scaffold connections, but since no decision came from either Filippo or Lorenzo, the masons and other craftsmen began to grumble, not seeing the previous order, and since they, being poor people , they lived only by the labor of their hands and doubted whether either architect had enough spirit to complete this work, they remained on the construction site and, delaying the work, as best they could and knew how, they repaired and cleaned up everything that had already been built.
One fine morning, Filippo did not show up for work, but tied his head, went to bed and, continuously shouting, ordered the plates and towels to be quickly heated, pretending that his side hurt. When the craftsmen, who were awaiting orders to work, found out about this, they asked Lorenzo what they should do next. He replied that the order must come from Filippo and that he must wait for it. Someone said to him: “Don’t you know his intentions?” “I know,” said Lorenzo, “but I won’t do anything without him.” And he said this to justify himself, for, having never seen Filippo’s model and never once, so as not to appear ignorant, without asking him about his plans, he spoke about this matter at his own peril and answered with ambiguous words, especially knowing that he is participating in this work against Filippo's will. Meanwhile, since the latter had been ill for more than two days, the foreman and many masons went to visit him and persistently asked him to tell them what to do. And he: “You have Lorenzo, let him do something,” and more could not be achieved from him. Therefore, when this became known, many rumors and judgments arose that cruelly condemned this whole undertaking: some said that Filippo fell ill from grief, that he did not have the courage to erect the dome and that, having become involved in this matter, he was already repenting; and his friends defended him, saying that if this was grief, then it was grief from resentment that Lorenzo was assigned to him as an employee and that the pain in his side was caused by overwork at work. And after all this gossip, the matter did not progress, and almost all the work of the masons and stonemasons stopped, and they began to murmur against Lorenzo, saying: “He is a master at receiving a salary, but managing the work was not the case. What if Filippo isn't there? What if Filippo is ill for a long time? What will he do then? What is Filippo’s fault that he is sick?” The trustees, seeing that they were disgraced by these circumstances, decided to visit Filippo, and, coming to him, they first expressed sympathy for his illness, and then informed him in what disarray the building was and what trouble his illness had plunged them into. To this Filippo answered them with words excited both by the feigned illness and by his love for his work: “What! Where is Lorenzo? Why doesn't he do anything? I am truly amazed at you!” Then the trustees answered him: “He doesn’t want to do anything without you.” Filippo objected to them: “I would have done it without him!” This most witty and ambiguous answer satisfied them, and, leaving him, they realized that he was sick because he wanted to work alone. So they sent his friends to him to drag him out of bed, since they intended to remove Lorenzo from work. However, having come to the construction and seeing the full strength of the patronage that Lorenzo enjoyed, and also that Lorenzo received his maintenance without making any effort, Filippo found another way to disgrace him and completely disgrace him as ignorant of this craft and addressed the trustees in the presence of Lorenzo with the following reasoning: “Gentlemen, trustees, if we could have the same confidence in the time allotted to us for life, with which we are confident in our death, there is no doubt that we would see the completion of many things that had just begun, at that time how they actually remain unfinished. The episode of illness I went through could have taken my life and stopped the construction; Therefore, if I or, God forbid, Lorenzo should ever fall ill, so that one or the other could continue his part of the work, I believed that, just as your Lordship was pleased to divide our contents for us, in the same way it would be necessary to divide work, so that each of us, prompted by the desire to show our knowledge, can confidently acquire honor and prove useful to our state. Meanwhile, there are precisely two difficult tasks that must be taken on at the present time: one is the scaffolding, which, so that the masons can carry out masonry, is needed inside and outside the building and on which it is necessary to place people, stones and lime, as well as place cranes for lifting weights and other similar tools; the other is a crown, which should be placed on the already built 12 cubits, which would fasten all eight parts of the dome and tie the entire building so that the weight pressing from above would be compressed and constrained so much that there would be no unnecessary load or tension, and the entire building would rest evenly on itself. So, let Lorenzo take one of these tasks for himself, the one that seems easier to him, but I will undertake to complete the other without difficulty, so as not to waste any more time.” Hearing this, Lorenzo, for the sake of his honor, was forced not to refuse either of these two works and, although not willingly, decided to take on the crown as an easier task, counting on the advice of the masons and remembering that in the vault of the church of San Giovanni in Florence had a stone crown, the structure of which he could have borrowed partly, if not entirely. So, one took the scaffolding, the other the crown, and both finished the job. Filippo's scaffolding was made with such talent and skill that they formed an opinion about him that was truly the opposite of what many had previously had about him, for the craftsmen worked on them with such confidence, pulled in heavy loads and walked calmly, as if they were standing on solid ground. earth; models of these scaffolds have been preserved in trust. Lorenzo, with the greatest difficulty, made a crown on one of the eight faces of the dome; when he had finished it, the trustees showed it to Filippo, who said nothing to them. However, he talked about this with some of his friends, saying that it was necessary to make other connections and put them in the opposite direction than they had done, that this crown was insufficient for the load that it carried, because it pulled less than necessary, and that the maintenance that was paid to Lorenzo was, together with the crown ordered for him, thrown away money.
Filippo's opinion was made public, and he was instructed to show how to get to work to build such a crown. And since he already had drawings and models made, he immediately showed them; when the trustees and other masters saw them, they realized what a mistake they had made in patronizing Lorenzo, and, wanting to make amends for this mistake and show that they understand what is good, they made Filippo the lifelong manager and head of this entire building and decreed that nothing in this matter was not undertaken except according to his will. And to show that they recognized him, they gave him one hundred florins, written in his name by order of the consuls and trustees on August 13, 1423, by the hand of the notary of the guardianship, Lorenzo Paolo, and payable through Gherardo, son of Messer Filippo Corsini, and assigned him a lifelong allowance of calculation at one hundred florins per year. And so, having ordered the construction to begin, he carried it out with such rigor and such precision that not a single stone was laid without his not wanting to see it. On the other hand, Lorenzo, having found himself defeated and, as it were, put to shame, was so favored and supported by his friends that he continued to receive his salary, proving that he could not be dismissed before three years. Filippo always prepared drawings and models of masonry equipment and cranes for every slightest need. Nevertheless, many evil people, friends of Lorenzo, still did not cease to drive him into despair, constantly competing with him in making models, one of which was even presented by a certain master Antonio da Verzelli, and certain other masters, patronized and promoted by one, then to other citizens, who thereby revealed their inconstancy, little awareness and lack of understanding, having perfect things in their hands, but putting forward imperfect and useless ones. The crowns around all eight sides of the dome had already been completed, and the inspired masons worked tirelessly. However, forced by Filippo more than usual, they began to become burdensome to him because of several reprimands they received during the laying, as well as because of many other things that happened daily. Driven by this, as well as by envy, the elders, having gathered, agreed and announced that this work was hard and dangerous and that they did not want to erect the domes without high pay (although it was increased by them, more than what was customary), thinking so a way to take revenge on Filippo and profit from it. The trustees did not like all this, nor did Filippo, who, having thought it over, decided one Saturday evening to fire them all. Having received the payment, and not knowing how this whole thing would end, they became despondent, especially when, on the following Monday, Filippo hired ten Lombards for the construction; being present on the spot and telling them: “Do this here, and do that there,” he trained them so much in one day that they worked for many weeks. And the masons, for their part, having been fired and lost their jobs, and also disgraced, not having work so profitable, sent intermediaries to Filippo: they supposedly would have gladly returned - and curried favor with him as best they could. He kept them for many days in uncertainty: whether he would take them or not; and then accepted again, at a payment less than what they received before. So, thinking to gain, they miscalculated and, taking revenge on Filippo, caused themselves harm and shame.
When the rumors had already ceased and when, at the sight of the ease with which this structure was erected, it was necessary to recognize the genius of Filippo, impartial people already believed that he had shown such courage that, perhaps, none of the ancient and modern architects had yet discovered in his creations; and this opinion arose because he finally showed his model. On it, everyone could see the great prudence with which he conceived the stairs, internal and external light sources in order to avoid bruises in dark places, and how many different iron railings on steep slopes he built and judiciously distributed, not to mention the fact that he I even thought about iron parts for the internal scaffolding in case it was necessary to carry out mosaic or paintings; and also, by distributing drains in less dangerous places, where they were closed and where they were open, and by installing a system of vents and various kinds of openings to remove the wind and so that fumes and earthquakes could not harm, he showed how much his research benefited him during the many years he spent in Rome. Taking into account, moreover, all that he did for the tray, laying, joining and connecting the stones, it was impossible not to be overwhelmed with awe and horror at the thought that the genius of one person contained in itself everything that the genius of Filippo, who grew continuously and so much so that there was no thing that he, no matter how difficult and complex, would not make easy and simple, which he showed in lifting weights with the help of counterweights and wheels driven by one ox, while while otherwise six pairs would hardly have moved them from their place.
The building had already grown to such a height that it was the greatest difficulty, having once risen, then returned to the ground again; and the masters lost a lot of time when they went out to eat and drink, and suffered greatly from the heat of the day. And so Filippo arranged that dining rooms with kitchens were opened on the dome and that wine was sold there; thus, no one left work until the evening, which was convenient for them and extremely useful for the business. Seeing that the work was going well and was going well, Filippo was so inspired that he worked tirelessly. He himself went to brick factories where bricks were kneaded in order to see and knead the clay for himself, and when they were fired, with his own hand, he selected the bricks with the greatest diligence. He supervised the stonemasons to ensure that the stones were crack-free and strong, and gave them models of struts and joints made of wood, wax, or even rutabaga; He did the same with the Yankee staple smiths. He invented a system of hinges with a head and hooks and in general greatly facilitated the construction work, which, undoubtedly, thanks to him, reached a level of perfection that, perhaps, it never had among the Tuscans.
Florence spent the year 1423 in immense prosperity and contentment, when Filippo was chosen to serve as prior of the quarter of San Giovanni for May and June, while Lapo Niccolini was elected to the office of "Gonfalonier of Justice" for the quarter of Santa Croce. The list of priors includes: Filippo di Ser Brunellesco Lippi, which should not be surprising, since he was so called by the name of his grandfather Lippi, and not by the family of Lapi, as it should have been; so appears in this list, which, however, was used in many other cases, as is well known to everyone who has seen the book and who is familiar with the customs of that time. Filippo carried out these duties, as well as other positions in his city, and in them he always behaved with the strictest prudence. Meanwhile, he could already see how both vaults began to close near the peephole, where the lantern was supposed to begin, and although he made many models of both in clay and wood in Rome and Florence, which no one had seen, he All that remained was to finally decide which of them to accept for execution. At the same time, intending to finish the gallery, he made for it a whole series of drawings, which remained in trust after his death, but have now disappeared due to the negligence of officials. And in our days, in order to complete the building, a part of the gallery was made on one of the eight sides; but, since it did not correspond to Filippo’s plan, it was rejected on the advice of Michelangelo Buonarroti and not completed.
In addition, Filippo himself made a model of an octagonal lantern in proportions corresponding to the dome, which was truly a success both in terms of design, variety and decoration; he made a staircase in it by which one can climb to the ball - a truly divine thing, however, since Filippo plugged the opening of the entrance to this staircase with a piece of wood inserted from below, no one except him knew where the beginning of its ascent was. Although he was praised and, although he had already brought down the envy and arrogance of many, he still could not prevent the fact that all the craftsmen who were in Florence, having seen his models, also began to make models in different ways, to the point that a certain person from the Gaddi house decided to compete in front of the judges with the model made by Filippo. He, as if nothing had happened, laughed at someone else’s arrogance. And many of his friends told him that he should not show his model to any of the artists, no matter how much they learned from it. And he answered them that there was only one real model, and that all others were nonsense. Some other makers incorporated parts from Filippo's model into their models. Seeing this, he told them: “And this Other model that he will make will also be mine.” Everyone praised him immensely, however, since the exit to the stairs leading to the ball was not visible, it seemed to him that his model was flawed. Nevertheless, the trustees decided to order this work from him, with the understanding, however, that he would show them the entrance; then Filippo, taking out from the model that piece of wood that was below, showed inside one of the pillars a staircase, which can be seen now, having the shape of a blowgun cavity, where on one side there is a trench with bronze stirrups, along which, placing one foot first , then another, you can go upstairs. And since he, having grown old, did not live long enough to see the completion of the lantern, he bequeathed that it should be built as the model was and as he set it out in writing; otherwise, he assured, the building would collapse, since the vault, having an arc with a radius equal to three-quarters of the diameter, needed a load in order to be more durable. Before his death, he was never able to see this part completed, but still brought it to the height of several cubits. He managed to perfectly process and transport almost all the marble parts that were intended for the lantern, and at which, looking at how they were transported, the people marveled: how is it possible that he decided to load the vault with such weight. Many smart people believed that he could not stand it, and it seemed to them great happiness that Filippo had finally brought him to this point, and that to burden him even more would be to tempt the Lord. Filippo always laughed at this and, having prepared all the machines and all the tools necessary for the scaffolding, did not waste a minute of time, mentally foreseeing, collecting and thinking about all the little things, right down to how the corners of the hewn marble parts would be chipped when they were lifted , so that even all the arches of the niches were laid in wooden scaffolding; for the rest, as was said, there were his written orders and models. This creation itself testifies to how beautiful it is, rising from the level of the ground to the level of the lantern by 134 cubits, while the lantern itself is 36 cubits, the copper ball is 4 cubits, the cross is 8 cubits, and all together 202 cubits, and we can say with confidence that the ancients never reached such a height in their buildings and never exposed themselves to such great danger, wanting to enter into single combat with the sky - after all, it truly seems as if it is entering into single combat with it when you see that it rises to such a height that the mountains surrounding Florence appear similar to it. And, truly, it seems that the sky is jealous of him, since constantly, all day long, arrows from heaven strike him.
While working on this work, Filippo built many other buildings, which we will list below in order: he made with his own hand a model of the chapterhouse of the Church of Santa Croce in Florence for the Pazzi family - a rich and very beautiful thing; also a model of a house of the Busini family for two families and then a model of the house and loggia of the Innocenti orphanage; The vaults of the loggia were built without scaffolding, in a way that everyone can observe to this day. It is said that Filippo was summoned to Milan to make a model of a fortress for Duke Filippo Maria, and that he therefore entrusted the care of the construction of the said orphanage to his closest friend Francesca della Luna. The latter made a vertical continuation of one of the architraves, which is architecturally incorrect; and so, when Filippo returned and shouted at him for having done such a thing, he replied that he borrowed it from the temple of San Giovanni, which was built by the ancients. Filippo told him: “There is only one fault in this building; and you just took advantage of it.” The model of the orphanage, executed by the hand of Filippo, stood for many years in the building of the silk workshop, which is located at the Santa Maria gate, since it was very much taken into account for that part of the orphanage building that remained unfinished; This model has now disappeared. For Cosimo de' Medici, he made a model of the monastery of the regular canons in Fiesole - a very comfortable, elegant, cheerful and generally truly magnificent piece of architecture. The church, covered with barrel vaults, is very spacious, and the sacristy is convenient in all respects, as, indeed, are all other parts of the monastery. It should be borne in mind that, being forced to place the levels of this structure on the side of the mountain, Filippo made very judicious use of the lower part, where he placed cellars, laundries, ovens, stables, kitchens, wood and other warehouses, all in the best possible way; Thus, he placed the entire lower part of the structure in the valley. This gave him the opportunity to build on one level: loggias, a refectory, a hospital, a novitiate, a dormitory, a library and other main premises of the monastery. All this was built at his own expense by the magnificent Cosimo de' Medici, motivated both by his piety, which he always showed in everything for the Christian religion, and by the affection he had for Father Timoteo of Verona, the most excellent preacher of this order; Moreover, in order to better enjoy his conversation, he built many rooms for himself in this monastery and lived in them with comfort. Cosimo spent on this building, as is clear from one entry, one hundred thousand crowns. Filippo also designed a model of the fortress in Vicopisano, and in Pisa a model of the old fortress. There he strengthened the sea bridge, and again he gave a design for connecting the bridge with two towers of the new fortress. In the same way he executed a model of the fortifications of the harbor at Pesaro, and returning to Milan, he made many designs for the Duke and for the cathedral of that city, commissioned by its builders.
At this time, the church of San Lorenzo began to be built in Florence, according to the decree of the parishioners, who elected the rector, a man who fancied himself in this matter and was engaged in architecture as an amateur, for his own entertainment, as the main manager of the construction. The construction of the brick pillars had already begun when Giovanni di Bicci dei Medici, who had promised the parishioners and the rector to build a sacristy and one of the chapels at his own expense, invited Filippo to breakfast one morning and, after all sorts of conversations, asked him what he thought about the beginning of the construction of San Lorenzo and What is his opinion anyway? Yielding to the requests of Giovanni, Filippo was forced to express his opinion, and, not wanting to hide anything from him, he largely condemned this enterprise, started by a man who, perhaps, had more bookish wisdom than experience in this kind of construction. Then Giovanni asked Filippo if it was possible to make something more beautiful. To which Filippo replied: “Without a doubt, and I am surprised at you, how you, being the head of this matter, did not release several thousand crowns and did not build a church building with separate parts worthy both of the place itself and of so many glorious tombs located in it, for with your light hand, others will do their best to follow your example in the construction of their chapels, and this is all the more so since there will be no other memory left from us except the buildings that testify to their creator for hundreds and thousands of years.” Encouraged by Filippo's words, Giovanni decided to build a sacristy and a main chapel along with the entire church building. True, no more than seven families wished to take part in this, since others did not have the means; these were Rondinelli, Gironi della Stoufa, Neroni, Chai, Marignolli, Martelli and Marco di Luca, and their chapels were to be built in the transept of the temple. First of all, the construction of the sacristy progressed, and then, little by little, the church itself. And since the church was very long, they gradually began to give away other chapels to other citizens, although only to parishioners. No sooner had the roofing of the sacristy been completed than Giovanni de' Medici died and was left behind by Cosimo, his son, who, being more generous than his father and having a passion for monuments, completed the sacristy, the first building he built; and this gave him such joy that from then on until his death he did not stop building. Cosimo hurried this construction with special fervor; and while one thing was beginning, he was finishing another. But he loved this building so much that he was present at it almost all the time. His participation was the reason why Filippo completed the sacristy and Donato carried out the stucco work, as well as the stone framing of the small doors and the large bronze doors. Cosimo ordered the tomb of his father Giovanni under a large marble slab supported by four balusters in the middle of the sacristy, where the priests vest, and for the other members of his family separate tombs for men and women. In one of the two small rooms on either side of the sacristy altar, he placed a reservoir and a crypt in one of the corners. In general, it is clear that every single thing in this building was made with great prudence.
Giovanni and other leaders of the building at one time ordered that the choir should be located just under the dome. Cosimo canceled this at the request of Filippo, who significantly enlarged the main chapel, previously conceived in the form of a small niche, so that the choir could be given the appearance that it currently has; When the chapel was finished, all that remained was to make the middle dome and the remaining parts of the church. However, both the dome and the church were covered only after Filippo's death. This church is 144 cubits long, and many errors are visible in it; This, by the way, is the error in columns standing directly on the ground, without having a base under them with a height equal to the level of the bases of the pilasters standing on the steps; and this gives a lame appearance to the whole building, due to the fact that the pilasters appear shorter than the columns. The reason for all this was the advice of his successors, who were jealous of his fame, and during his lifetime competed with him in making models; Meanwhile, some of them were at one time put to shame by the sonnets written by Filippo, and after his death they took revenge on him for this not only in this work, but also in all those that came to them after him. He left the model and completed part of the canonicate of the same San Lorenzo, where he made a courtyard with a gallery 144 braccia long.
While work on this building was going on, Cosimo de' Medici wanted to build himself his own palace and communicated his intention to Filippo, who, putting aside all other concerns, made him the most beautiful and large model for this palace, which he wanted to locate behind the Church of San Lorenzo, in a square isolated on all sides. Filippo's skill was so evident in this that the building seemed too luxurious and large to Cosimo, and, fearing not so much the expense as envy, he did not begin its construction. Filippo, while he was working on the model, said more than once that he was grateful to fate for the chance that forced him to work on a thing that he had dreamed of for many years, and brought him into contact with a person who wants and can do it. But, having heard the decision of Cosimo, who did not want to take on such a task, out of frustration he broke his model into thousands of pieces. However, Cosimo still regretted that he did not accept Filippo's project after he had already carried out another project; and the same Cosimo often said that he had never had the opportunity to talk with a person with a greater mind and heart than Filippo.
In addition, Filippo made another model - a very unique Temple of the Angeli for the noble Scolari family. It remained unfinished and in the state in which it can be seen at the present time, since the Florentines spent the money deposited in the bank for this purpose on other needs of the city or, as some say, on the war they were just waging with Lucca . On the model they spent the money that Niccolo da Uzzano had also set aside for the construction of the university, as is described at length elsewhere. If this temple degli Angeli had actually been completed according to Brunellesco's model, it would have turned out to be one of the most exceptional works of Italy, although in its present form it deserves the greatest praise. The sheets with the plan and finished view of this octagonal temple, executed by the hand of Filippo, are in our book along with other drawings by this master.
Also for Messer Luca Pitti, Filippo made a design for a luxurious and magnificent palace, outside Florence, outside the gates of San Niccolo, and in a place named Rusciano, in many ways, however, inferior to the one that Filippo began for the same Pitti in Florence itself; he carried it up to the second row of windows in such dimensions and with such magnificence that nothing more exceptional or more magnificent was built in the Tuscan manner. The doors of this palace are two squares, 16 cubits high, 8 cubits wide, the first and second windows are similar to doors in everything. The vaults are double, and the whole building is so skilfully constructed that it is difficult to imagine a more beautiful and magnificent architecture. The builder of this palace was the Florentine architect Luca Fancelli, who completed many buildings for Filippo, and for Leon Battista Alberti - commissioned by Lodovico Gonzaga - the main chapel of the Florentine Temple of Annunziata. Alberta took him with him to Mantua, where he performed a number of works, married, lived and died, leaving behind heirs who are still called Luke after his name. This palace was bought several years ago by the Most Serene Signora Leonora of Toledo, Duchess of Florence, on the advice of her husband, the Most Serene Signor Duke Cosimo. She expanded it so much all around that she planted a huge garden below, partly on the mountain and partly on the slope, and filled it in the most beautiful layout with all varieties of garden and wild trees, arranging the most charming bosquets of countless varieties of plants, green in all seasons, not to mention fountains, springs, drains, alleys, cages, enclosures and trellises and an infinite number of other things truly worthy of a magnanimous sovereign; but I will keep silent about them, because there is no way for anyone who has not seen them to somehow imagine all their greatness and all their beauty. And truly nothing could have fallen into the hands of Duke Cosimo more worthy of the power and greatness of his spirit than this palace, which, one might think, was really built by Messer Luca Pitti according to the design of Brunellesco specifically for his Serene Highness. Messer Luke left it unfinished, distracted by the worries that he bore for the sake of the state; his heirs, who did not have the means to complete it in order to prevent its destruction, were glad, by giving it up, to please the lady duchess, who, while she was alive, spent money on it all the time, however, not so much that she could hope to complete it so quickly his. True, if she were alive, judging by what I recently learned, she would be able to spend forty thousand ducats on this in one year to see the palace, if not completed, then, in any case, brought to excellent condition. And since Filippo’s model was not found, her ladyship commissioned another from Bartolomeo Ammanati, an excellent sculptor and architect, and work continues on this model; Most of the courtyard has already been done, rusticated, like the outer facade. Indeed, everyone who contemplates the grandeur of this work is amazed how the genius of Filippo could embrace such a huge building, truly magnificent not only in its external facade, but also in the distribution of all the rooms. I will leave aside the most beautiful view and the semblance of an amphitheater which is formed by the most charming hills surrounding the palace on the side of the city walls, for, as I have already said, the desire to speak completely about it would carry us too far, and no one who has not seen it with his own eyes will carry us too far. I could never have imagined how superior this palace is to any other royal building.
They also say that Filippo invented machines for the district of the church of San Felice, in the square in the same city, for the purpose of representing, or rather celebrating, the Annunciation according to the rite performed in Florence in this place, according to ancient custom. It was a truly amazing thing, and it testified to the talent and ingenuity of the one who created it: indeed, in the heights one could see the sky moving, full of living figures and endless lights that, like lightning, flashed and then went out again. However, I do not want it to seem that I am lazy to tell what exactly the structure of this machine was, because this matter has completely gone wrong, and there are no longer those people alive who could speak about this as eyewitnesses, and there is no hope that it was restored, but no longer exists, since Camaldulian monks no longer live in this place as before, but monks of the Order of St. Peter the Martyr; especially because the Carmelites also destroyed this kind of machine, since it pulled down the mats that supported the roof. Filippo, in order to evoke this impression, fitted between two beams, one of those that supported the roof of the church, a round hemisphere, like an empty bowl, or rather a shaving basin, facing downwards; this hemisphere was made of thin and light planks set into an iron star, which rotated this hemisphere in a circle; the planks converged towards a center balanced along an axis passing through a large iron ring, around which revolved a star made of iron rods supporting a wooden hemisphere. And this whole machine hung on a spruce beam, strong, well sheathed with iron and lying across the roof mats. A ring was set into this beam, which kept the hemisphere suspended and in balance, which seemed like a real vault of heaven to a person standing on the ground. And since it had several wooden platforms on the inner edge of its lower circumference, enough, but not more than spacious, for one to stand on them, and at the height of one cubit, also inside, there was also an iron rod - for each of these platforms A child about twelve years old was placed and girdled with an iron rod at a height of one and a half cubits in such a way that he could not fall, even if he wanted to. These children, of whom there were twelve in all, attached in this way to platforms and dressed as angels with gilded wings and hair of golden tow, took each other’s hands at the appointed time and, when they moved them, it seemed as if they were dancing, especially because the hemisphere was constantly rotating and in motion, and inside the hemisphere above the heads of the angels there were three circles or garlands of lights, obtained with the help of specially designed lamps that could not overturn. From the ground, these lights seemed like stars, and the areas covered with cotton seemed like clouds. Branching off from the ring mentioned above was a very thick iron rod, at the end of which there was another ring with a thin string attached to it, reaching, as will be said below, all the way to the ground. And since the thick iron rod mentioned above had eight branches placed in an arc sufficient to fill the space of a hollow hemisphere, and since at the end of each branch there were platforms the size of a plate, a child of about nine years old was placed on each of them, tightly tied with a piece of iron , attached to the top of the branch, but so freely that it could turn in all directions. These eight angels, supported by the above-mentioned iron rod, were lowered by means of a gradually lowered block from the cavity of the hemisphere eight cubits below the level of the transverse beams bearing the roof, and in such a way that they were visible, but did not themselves obscure the view of those angels who were placed on circle inside the hemisphere. Inside this “bouquet of eight angels” (as it was called) there was a copper mandorla, hollow from the inside, in which in many holes there were placed special kind of lamps in the form of tubes mounted on an iron axis, which, when the release spring was pressed, were all hidden in the cavity copper glow; as long as the spring remained unpressed, all the burning lamps were visible through its holes. As soon as the “bouquet” reached its intended place, a thin string was lowered with the help of another block, and the radiance, tied to this string, quietly descended and reached the platform on which the festive action was played out, and on this platform, where the radiance is exactly and had to stop, there was an elevation in the form of a seat with four steps, in the middle of which there was a hole into which the pointed iron end of the radiance rested vertically. There was a man under this seat, and when the radiance reached its place, he imperceptibly inserted a bolt into it, and it stood vertical and motionless. Inside the radiance stood a boy of about fifteen in the form of an angel, girded with iron and his legs attached to the radiance with bolts so that he could not fall; however, in order to enable him to kneel, this iron belt consisted of three pieces, which, when he knelt, were easily pushed into each other. And when the “bouquet” was lowered and the radiance was placed on the seat, the same person who inserted the bolt into the radiance unlocked the iron parts that bound the angel, so that he, emerging from the radiance, walked along the platform and, reaching the place where there was the Virgin Mary, greeted her and delivered the news. Then, when he returned to the radiance, and the lamps that had gone out during his exit were relighted, the man hiding below would again chain him in those iron parts that held him, take out the bolt from the radiance, and it would rise, while the angels in the "bouquet" and those who revolved in the sky sang, giving the impression that the whole thing was a real paradise; especially because, in addition to the choir of angels and the “bouquet”, near the shell of the hemisphere there was also God the Father, surrounded by angels similar to those mentioned above and supported by iron devices, so that the sky, and the “bouquet”, and God the Father, and the radiance with endless lights, and the sweetest music - all this truly presented a form of paradise. But this is not enough: in order to be able to open and close this sky, Filippo made two large doors, each five square cubits, which had iron and copper shafts on their lower surface, which ran along a special kind of grooves; These gutters were so smooth that when, with the help of a small block, a thin string attached to both sides was pulled, the door opened or closed at will, and both doors simultaneously converged and diverged, sliding along the gutters. This arrangement of doors ensured, on the one hand, that when they were moved, due to their heaviness, they made a noise like thunder, on the other hand, that when they were closed, they served as a platform for dressing angels and preparing other things needed inside . So, all these devices and many others were invented by Filippo, although some claim that they were invented much earlier. Be that as it may, it’s good that we talked about them, since they have completely fallen out of use.
However, returning to Filippo, it must be said that his fame and name grew so much that everyone who needed to build sent for him from afar in order to have designs and models executed by the hand of such a person; and for this purpose friendly connections and very large funds were used. So, among others, the Marquis of Mantua, wanting to get him, very urgently wrote about this to the Florentine Signoria, who sent him to Mantua, where in 1445 he carried out projects for the construction of dams on the Po River and a number of other things at the will of this sovereign, who endlessly kindled him, saying that Florence was as worthy to have Filippo as its citizen, as he was worthy to have such a noble and beautiful city as his fatherland. Likewise in Pisa, Count Francesco Sforza and Niccolò da Pisa, who were surpassed by him in some fortification works, praised him in his presence, saying that if every state had such a man as Filippo, it could consider itself protected and without weapons. In addition, in Florence, Filippo gave a design for a house of the Barbadori family, near the tower of the Rossi family in Borgo San Jacopo, which, however, was not built; and he also made a design for the house of the Giuntini family in Piazza Ognisanti, on the banks of the Arno.
Subsequently, when the captains of the Guelph party decided to build a building, and in it a hall and a reception room for the meetings of their magistrate, they entrusted this to Francesca della Luna, who, having begun work, had already erected the building ten cubits from the ground and made many mistakes in it, and then it was handed over to Filippo, who gave the palace the shape and splendor that we see today. In this work he had to compete with the said Francesco, whom many patronized; This, however, was his lot throughout his entire life, and he competed with one thing or another, who, while fighting with him, constantly tormented him and very often tried to become famous for his projects. He eventually got to the point where he didn't show anything anymore and didn't trust anyone. The hall of this palace does not now serve the needs of the captains of the Guelph party, since after the flood of 1357, which greatly damaged the bank's papers, Mr. Duke Cosimo, for the sake of greater safety of these very valuable papers, placed them and the office itself in this hall. And so that the party administration, which left the hall in which the bank is located and moved to another part of the same palace, could use the old staircase, Giorgio Vasari, on behalf of his lordship, ordered a new, more convenient staircase, which now leads to the bank premises. According to his drawing, a paneled ceiling was also made, which, according to Filippo's plan, rested on several fluted stone pilasters.
Soon after this, in the church of Santo Spirito, Master Francesco Zoppo preached, who was very much loved in this parish, and in his sermon he recalled the monastery, the school, and especially the church, which had recently burned down. And so the elders of this quarter, Lorenzo Ridolfi, Bartolomeo Corbinelli, Neri di Gino Capponi and Goro di Staggio Data, as well as many other citizens, obtained from the Signoria an order for the construction of a new church of Santo Spirito and appointed Stoldo Frescobaldi as trustee, who put a lot of care into this matter, taking to heart the restoration of the old church, where one of the chapels and the main altar belonged to his house. From the very beginning, even before the money was received according to the estimate for individual tombs and from the owners of the chapels, he spent many thousands of scudi from his own funds, which were later reimbursed to him. So, after a meeting was held on this subject, they sent for Filippo to make a model with all the parts that were possible and necessary for the use and luxury of a Christian temple; Therefore, he made every effort to ensure that the plan of this building was turned in the opposite direction, since he wanted at all costs to bring the square in front of the church to the banks of the Arno, so that everyone passing here on the way from Genoa or from the Rivera , from Lunigiana, from Pisa or Lucca, they saw the splendor of this structure. However, since many opposed this, fearing that their houses would be destroyed, Filippo's wish did not come true. So, he made a model of the church, as well as the monastery for the brethren, in the form in which they exist today. The length of the church was 161 cubits and the width 54, and its arrangement is so beautiful that in terms of the order of the columns and other decorations there is no work more rich, more beautiful and more airy. And truly, if it were not for the harmful influence of those who, pretending to understand more than others, always spoil beautifully begun things, this building would now be the most perfect temple of Christianity; however, even in the form in which it exists, it is still superior to any other in beauty and layout, although it is not made according to the model, as can be seen from some external unfinished parts that do not correspond to the internal placement, while, undoubtedly , according to the model, there should have been a correspondence between the door and the window frame. There are other mistakes attributed to him, which I will keep silent about and which, I think, he would not have made if he had continued the construction himself, for he brought all his works to perfection with the greatest prudence, prudence, talent and art. This creation of his, like others, testifies to him as a truly divine master.
Filippo was a great joker in conversation and very witty in his answers, especially when he wanted to tease Lorenzo Ghiberti, who bought an estate near Monte Morello called Lepriano; since he spent twice as much on it as he received in income, it became a burden to him, and he sold it. When they asked Filippo what was the best thing Lorenzo had done, he answered: “The sale of Lepriano,” perhaps remembering the hostility for which he had to repay him.
Finally, being already very old, namely sixty-nine years old, in 1446, on April 16, he left for a better life after the many labors he put into creating those works with which he earned a glorious name on earth and a resting place in heaven. His fatherland grieved endlessly for him, which recognized and appreciated him much more after death than during life. He was buried with the most respectable funeral rites and all honors in the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, although his family tomb was in the Church of San Marco, under the pulpit near the door, where the coat of arms with two fig leaves and green waves on a golden field, since his family came from from the region of Ferrara, namely from Ficaruolo, a fief on the Po River, as evidenced by the leaves marking the place and the waves indicating the river. He was mourned by countless of his friends, artists, especially the poorest, to whom he constantly showed benefits. So, having lived his life as a Christian, he left in the world the fragrance of his kindness and his great virtues.
I think it could be said about him that from the times of the ancient Greeks and Romans to the present day there has not been a more exceptional and excellent artist than him. And he deserves all the more praise because in his time the German style was held in high esteem throughout Italy and was used by old artists, as can be seen in countless buildings. He rediscovered the ancient oblomas and restored the Tuscan, Corinthian, Doric and Ionic orders in their original forms.
He had a disciple from Borgo in Bugiano, nicknamed Bugiano, who created a pond in the sacristy of the Church of St. Reparations depicting children pouring water, as well as a marble bust of his teacher, made from life and placed after his death in the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, near the door, to the right of the entrance, there is also the following tombstone inscription, inscribed there by will state, in order to honor him after death in the same way as he honored his fatherland during his lifetime.
Quantum Philippus architectus arte Daedalea valuerit; cum huius celeberrimi templi mira testudo, tum plures machinae divino ingenio ad eo adinventae documento esse possunt. Quapropter, oh eximias sui animi dotes, sindularesque virtutes eius b. m. corpus XV Kal. Maias anno MCCCC XLVI in hac humo supposita grata patria sepeliri jussit (How valiant the architect Filippo was in the art of Daedalus can be testified both by the amazing dome of his most famous temple, and by many structures invented by his divine genius. Therefore, in view of the precious gifts of his spirit and excellent his virtues, the grateful fatherland ordered to bury his body in this place on May 15, 1446).
Others, however, in order to honor him even more, added the following two inscriptions: Philippo Brunellesco antiquae architecturae instauratori S, P. Q. F. civi suo benemerenti (Filippo Brunellesco, revivalist of ancient architecture, the Senate and people of Florence to their honored citizen).
Giovanni Battista Strozzi composed the second:
Laying a stone on a stone, like this
From circle to circle, I darted upward,
While, ascending step by step,
I did not touch the firmament.
His students were also Domenico from Lake Lugansk, Jeremiah from Cremona, who worked beautifully in bronze, together with one Slav who performed many works in Venice, Simone, who, having made a Madonna in Orsanmichele for the guild of apothecaries, died in Vicovaro, where he did a lot of work for Count Tagliacozzo, the Florentines Antonio and Niccolo, who in Ferrara in 1461 made a large bronze horse of metal for the Duke of Borso, and many others, which would be too long to mention separately. In some things Filippo was unlucky, since, not to mention the fact that he always had opponents, some of his buildings were not completed either during his lifetime or afterwards. So, by the way, it is very regrettable that the monks of the monastery of degli Angeli, as already mentioned, were not able to finish the temple he began, since they spent on the part that we see now over three thousand scudi, received partly from Kalimala’s workshop, partly from bank, where this money was deposited, but the capital was depleted and the building remained and remains unfinished. Therefore, as it is said in one of the biographies of Niccolo da Uzzano, anyone who wants to leave a memory of himself in this life must take care of this himself while he is alive, and not rely on anyone. And what we have said about this building could be said about many others conceived and started by Filippo Brunellesco.
Years of life: 1377 - 1446
Perhaps in no other area of Italian artistic culture was the turn to a new understanding so closely associated with the name of one brilliant master as in architecture, where Brunelleschi was the founder of a new direction.
Presunto ritratto di Brunelleschi, Masaccio, San Pietro in cattedra(1423-1428), Cappella Brancacci, Firenze
Filippo Brunelleschi was born in 1377 in Florence. Manetti talks about Brunelleschi’s childhood and early youth: “As is customary among wealthy people and as is generally done in Florence, Filippo was taught reading, writing and arithmetic, as well as a little Latin, from an early age. His father was a notary and thought that his son would do the same, because among those who did not intend to become a doctor, or a lawyer, or a priest, few at that time studied Latin or were forced to learn it.
Filippo was very obedient, diligent, timid and bashful, and this served him better than threats - at the same time he was ambitious when it was necessary to achieve something. From a very early age he showed interest in drawing and painting and was very successful at it.
When his father decided, according to custom, to teach him a trade, Filippo chose goldsmithing, and his father, being a reasonable man, agreed with this.
Thanks to his painting studies, Filippo soon became a professional in the jewelry craft and, to the surprise of everyone, was very successful. In niello, and smalt, and in stone relief, and in carving, cutting and polishing precious stones, he is in a short time became an excellent master, and this was the case in everything he undertook, and in this art and in every other he achieved much greater success than seemed possible at his age.”
Sacrificio di Isacco Brunelleschi
In 1398, Brunelleschi joined the Arte della Seta and became a goldsmith. In this workshop, which was engaged in the production of silk fabrics, gold and silver threads were also spun. However, joining the guild did not yet provide a certificate; he received it only six years later, in 1404. Prior to this, he completed an internship in the workshop of the famous jeweler Linardo di Matteo Ducci in Pistoia. Filippo remained in Pistoia until 1401. When a competition was announced for the second doors of the Florentine Baptistery, he, apparently, was already living in Florence, he was twenty-four years old.
Northern doors of the Florentine Baptistery
Lorenzo Ghiberti
A trip to Rome with Donatello, where both masters studied monuments of ancient art, was decisive for Brunelleschi in choosing his main business. But his life was connected not only with architecture, but also with politics. Filippo had a large fortune, had a house in Florence and land holdings in its environs. He was constantly elected to the government bodies of the Republic, from 1400 to 1405 - to the Council del Popolo or Council del Comune. Then, after a thirteen-year break, from 1418 he was regularly elected to the Council del Dugento and at the same time to one of the “chambers” - del Popolo or del Comune, and did not miss almost a single meeting.
Giovanni Bandini
All of Brunelleschi's construction activities, both in the city itself and outside it, took place on behalf of or with the approval of the Florentine Commune. According to Filippo's designs and under his leadership, a whole system of fortifications was erected in the cities conquered by the Republic, on the borders of the territories subordinate to it or controlled by it. Large fortification works were carried out in Pistoia, Lucca, Pisa, Livorno, Rimini, Siena and in the vicinity of these cities. Florence found itself surrounded by a wide ring of fortresses. Brunelleschi strengthened the banks of the Arno and built bridges. He is involved in a complex relationship with the Dukes of Milan. During short periods of truce, he was sent to Milan, Mantua, Ferrara - apparently, not only in connection with his professional duties, but also on a diplomatic mission.
Mura di Lastra a Signa
Brunelleschi
If before the competition for the construction of the dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Brunelleschi remained a “private” man, free to choose his activities and entertainment, now he became a statesman, whose life was scheduled by the hour. He worked at several sites at once, leading large groups of foremen and workers. In parallel with the construction of the cathedral, in the same 1419, Brunelleschi began creating the Orphanage complex.
Orphanage
In fact, Brunelleschi was the chief architect of Florence; he almost never built for private individuals and carried out mainly government or public orders. In one of the documents of the Florentine Signoria, which dates back to 1421, he is called: “... a man of the most insightful mind, gifted with amazing skill and ingenuity...”.
Orphanage
The dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is the earliest of Brunelleschi's major works in Florence. The construction of the dome over the altar part of the basilica, begun by the architect Arnolfo di Cambio around 1295 and completed mainly by 1367 by the architects Giotto, Andrea Pisano, Francesco Talenti, turned out to be an impossible task for the medieval construction technology of Italy. It was allowed only by the master of the Renaissance, an innovator, in whose person an architect, engineer, artist, theoretical scientist and inventor were harmoniously combined.
Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore
Before starting work, Brunelleschi drew a life-size plan of the dome. He used the Arno shallows near Florence for this purpose. The official start of construction work was marked on August 7, 1420 with a ceremonial breakfast. Refreshments were carried up the spiral staircase to the drum of the cathedral: a barrel of red wine for the workers and craftsmen, a fiasca of white Trebbiano for the management, and baskets of bread and melons.
Santa Maria del Fiore
Since October of this year, Brunelleschi and Ghiberti began to receive salaries, although very modest, since it was believed that they only provided general management and were not required to be on the construction site regularly.
Santa Maria del Fiore
The difficulty of constructing the dome lay not only in the enormous size of the covered span (the diameter of the dome at the base is about 42 meters), but also in the need to build it without scaffolding on a high octagonal drum with a relatively thin wall thickness. Therefore, all Brunelleschi’s efforts were aimed at maximizing the weight of the dome and reducing the thrust forces acting on the walls of the drum. Lightening the weight of the vault was achieved by constructing a hollow dome with two shells, of which the thicker lower one is load-bearing, and the thinner upper one is protective. The rigidity of the structure was ensured by a frame system, the basis of which was made up of eight main load-bearing ribs located at the eight corners of the octahedron and interconnected by stone rings encircling them. This major innovation in Renaissance construction technology was complemented by a characteristic Gothic technique - giving the vault a pointed outline.
Alberti, with the instinct of an artist, understood and appreciated this daring plan, saying that Filippo “erected his huge structure above the heavens,” that is, above the heavens. This was precisely Filippo’s plan, for the implementation of which he fought until the last day - to create a second, man-made sky, “unheard of and unprecedented,” a huge celestial structure, facing the heavens as a challenge and competing with the heavens.
Santa Maria del Fiore
The Florentine dome truly dominated the entire city and its surrounding landscape. Its strength is determined not only by its gigantic absolute dimensions, not only by its elastic power and at the same time the ease of take-off of its forms, but by the highly enlarged scale in which the parts of the building towering above the urban buildings are constructed - the drum with its huge round windows and covered with red tiles the edges of the vault with powerful ribs separating them. The simplicity of its forms and large scale are contrastingly emphasized by the relatively smaller dismemberment of the forms of the crowning lantern.
Santa Maria del Fiore
The new image of the majestic dome as a monument erected to the glory of the city embodied the idea of the triumph of reason, characteristic of the humanistic aspirations of the era. Thanks to its innovative figurative content, important urban planning role and constructive perfection, the Florentine dome was that outstanding architectural work of the era, without which neither Michelangelo’s dome over the Roman Cathedral of St. Peter, nor the numerous domed churches dating back to it in Italy and other European countries would have been unthinkable.
Saint Paul's Cathedral
Bound by the medieval parts of the cathedral, Brunelleschi naturally could not achieve complete stylistic correspondence between the new and old forms in his dome. So the firstborn of the architectural style of the early Renaissance was the Orphanage in Florence.
Orphanage
The plan of the building, which is designed in the form of a large square courtyard built around the perimeter, framed by light arched porticoes, uses techniques that go back to the architecture of medieval residential buildings and monastic complexes with their cozy courtyards protected from the sun. However, with Brunelleschi, the entire system of rooms surrounding the center of the composition - the courtyard - acquired a more orderly, regular character. The most important new quality in the spatial composition of the building was the principle “ open plan", which includes such environmental elements as a street passage, a passage yard, connected by a system of entrances and stairs to all the main premises. These features are reflected in his appearance. The facade of the building, divided into two floors of unequal height, in contrast to medieval buildings of this type, is distinguished by its exceptional simplicity of form and clarity of proportional structure.
Orphanage
The tectonic principles developed in the Orphanage, expressing the originality of Brunelleschi's order thinking, received further development in the old sacristy (sacristy) of the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence (1421-1428). The interior of the old sacristy is the first example in Renaissance architecture of a centric spatial composition, reviving the system of a dome that covers a square room in plan. The interior space of the sacristy is distinguished by its great simplicity and clarity: the room, cubic in proportions, is covered with a ribbed dome on sails and on four supporting arches, resting on an entablature of pilasters of the full Corinthian order. Darker-colored pilasters, archivolts, arches, edges and ribs of the dome, as well as connecting and framing elements (round medallions, window casings, niches) emerge with their clear outlines against the light background of the plastered walls. This combination of orders, arches and vaults with the surfaces of load-bearing walls creates a feeling of lightness and transparency of architectural forms.
Sacristy of the Church of San Lorenzo
At the same time as the reconstruction of the Church of San Lorenzo, Brunelleschi worked on less important construction sites - in the Barbadori Chapel in the Church of Santa Felicita on the other side of the Arno and in the Palazzo Barbadori.
Chapel Barbadori
In 1429, representatives of the Florentine magistrate sent Brunelleschi to Lucca to supervise the work related to the siege of the city. After inspecting the area, Brunelleschi proposed a project. Brunelleschi's idea was to build a system of dams on the Serchio River and raise the water level in this way, to open the floodgates at the right moment so that the water, flowing through special channels, would flood the entire area around the city walls, forcing Lucca to surrender. Brunelleschi's project was implemented, but was a fiasco; the water gushed out and flooded not the besieged city, but the besiegers' camp, which had to be hastily evacuated.
Chapel Barbadori
Perhaps Brunelleschi was not to blame - the Council of Ten did not make any claims against him. However, the Florentines considered Filippo to be the culprit for the failure of the Lucca campaign; they did not give him passage in the streets. Brunelleschi was in despair. In September 1431 he made a will, apparently fearing for his life. There is an assumption that at this time he left for Rome, fleeing shame and persecution.
Chapel Barbadori
However, all this did not prevent Filippo three years later from “entering into battle again, without fear of risk.” In 1434, he pointedly refused to pay a fee to the workshop of masons and woodworkers. It was a challenge posed by an artist who realized himself as independent creative personality, the workshop principle of labor organization. As a result of the conflict, Filippo ended up in debtor's prison. The imprisonment did not force Brunelleschi to submit, and soon the workshop was forced to give in: Filippo was released at the insistence of the Opera del Duomo museum, since they could not continue without him construction works. This was a kind of revenge taken by Brunelleschi after the failure at the siege of Lucca.
Chapel Barbadori
Filippo believed that he was surrounded by enemies, envious people, traitors who were trying to get around him, deceive him, and rob him. It is difficult to say whether this was actually the case, but this is how Filippo perceived his position, such was his position in life.
Chapel Barbadori
Brunelleschi's mood was undoubtedly influenced by the actions of his adopted son, Andrea Lazzaro Cavalcanti, nicknamed Bugiano. Filippo adopted him in 1417 as a five-year-old child and loved him as his own, raised him, made him his student and assistant. In 1434, Bugiano ran away from home, taking all the money and jewelry. From Florence he left for Naples. What happened is unknown, it is only known that Brunelleschi forced him to return, forgave him and made him his only heir. Apparently, Bugiano was not the only one to blame for this quarrel.
Chapel Barbadori
Having come to power, Cosimo de' Medici very decisively dealt with his rivals Albizzi and everyone who supported them. In the elections to the Council in 1432, Brunelleschi was voted out for the first time. He stopped taking part in elections and abandoned political activities.
Chapel Barbadori
Back in 1430, Brunelleschi began construction of the Pazzi Chapel, where the architectural and constructive techniques of the sacristy of the Church of San Lorenzo were further improved and developed. This chapel, commissioned by the Pazzi family as their family chapel and also used for meetings of clergy from the monastery of Santa Croce, is one of Brunelleschi's most perfect and striking works. It is located in the narrow and long medieval courtyard of the monastery and is a rectangular room in plan, stretched across the courtyard and closing one of its short end sides.
Pazzi Chapel
Brunelleschi designed the chapel in such a way that it combines the transverse development of the interior space with a centric composition, and the facade of the building with its domed completion is emphasized from the outside. The main spatial elements of the interior are distributed along two mutually perpendicular axes, resulting in a balanced building system with a dome on sails in the center and three unequal width branches of the cross on its sides. The absence of the fourth is made up for by a portico, the middle part of which is highlighted by a flat dome.
Pazzi Chapel
The interior of the Pazzi Chapel is one of the most characteristic and perfect examples of the unique use of the order for the artistic organization of the wall, which is a feature of the architecture of the early Italian Renaissance. Using the order of pilasters, the architects divided the wall into load-bearing and non-supporting parts, revealing the forces of the vaulted ceiling acting on it and giving the structure the necessary scale and rhythm. Brunelleschi was the first who was able to truthfully show the load-bearing functions of walls and the conventionality of order forms.
Pazzi Chapel
In 1436, Brunelleschi began working on the design of the Basilica of San Spirito. The basilica has a unique plan: the side naves with the adjacent semicircular chapels form a single continuous row of equal cells, going around the entire perimeter of the church, with the exception of the western facade. Such a construction of chapels in the form of semicircular niches has significant structural significance: the folded wall could be extremely thin and at the same time well accommodate the spread of the sail vaults of the side naves.
Basilica of San Spirito
Brunelleschi's last iconic building, in which there was a synthesis of all his innovative techniques, was the oratorio (chapel) Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence (founded in 1434). This building was not finished.
Oratorio Santa Maria degli Angeli
The question of Brunelleschi's role in the creation of a new type of city palace is extremely complicated by the fact that the only work of this kind for which the authorship of the master is documented remains the unfinished and badly damaged Palazzo di Parte of Guelph. However, here too Brunelleschi clearly demonstrated himself as an innovator, breaking with medieval tradition much more decisively than most of his contemporaries and successors. The proportions of the building, its division and form are determined by the system of the classical order, which is the most remarkable feature of this building, which represents the earliest example of the use of the order in the composition of an urban Renaissance palazzo.
Palazzo di Parte Guelph
A number of works have been preserved in Florence that reveal, if not Brunelleschi’s direct participation, then, in any case, his direct influence. These include Palazzo Pazzi, Palazzo Pitti and Badia (Abbey) in Fiesole.
Palazzo Pitti
Not a single one of the large construction projects started by Filippo was completed; he was busy with all of them, managing them all at the same time. And not only in Florence. At the same time, he built in Pisa, Pistoia, Prato - he traveled to these cities regularly, sometimes several times a year. In Siena, Lucca, Volterra, in Livorno and its environs, in San Giovanni Val d'Arno, he headed fortification work. Brunelleschi sat on various councils, commissions, gave advice on issues related to architecture, construction, engineering; he was invited to Milan in connection with the construction of the cathedral, they asked his advice regarding the strengthening of the Milan Castle. He traveled as a consultant to Ferrara, Rimini, Mantua, and carried out an examination of marble in Carrara.
Milan Castle
Brunelleschi very accurately described the environment in which he had to work throughout his life. He carried out the orders of the commune, the money was taken from the state treasury. Therefore, Brunelleschi’s work at all its stages was controlled by various kinds of commissions and officials appointed by the commune. Each of his proposals, each model, each new stage in construction was subjected to verification. Again and again he was forced to participate in competitions, to receive the approval of the jury, which, as a rule, consisted not so much of specialists as of respected citizens, who often did not understand anything about the essence of the issue and settled their political and private scores during discussions.
Brunelleschi had to reckon with the new forms of bureaucracy that had developed in the Florentine Republic. His conflict is not the conflict of a new man with the remnants of the old medieval structure, but the conflict of a man of a new time with new forms of social organization.
Brunelleschi's death mask
Brunelleschi's grave
Text by Dmitry Samin
Essay
Biography and work of the architect Filippo Brunelleschi
Introduction
1. Filippo Brunelleschi (Italian: Filippo Brunelleschi (Brunellesco); 1377-1446) - great Italian Renaissance architect
2. Orphanage
3. Church of San Lorenzo
4. Sacristy of the Church of San Lorenzo
5. Dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiori
6. Pazzi Chapel
7. Temple of Santa Maria del Angeli
8. Church of Santo Spirito. Palazzo Pitti
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
REVIVAL (Renaissance), an era in the history of European culture of the 13th-16th centuries, which marked the advent of the New Age.
The role of art. The revival was self-defined primarily in the sphere of artistic creativity. As an era in European history, it was marked by many significant milestones - including the strengthening of the economic and social liberties of cities, spiritual ferment, which ultimately led to the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, the Peasants' War in Germany, the formation of an absolutist monarchy (the largest in France), the beginning of the era of the Great Geographies discoveries, the invention of European printing, the discovery of the heliocentric system in cosmology, etc. However, its first sign, as it seemed to contemporaries, was the “flourishing of the arts” after long centuries of medieval “decline,” a flourishing that “revived” ancient artistic wisdom, precisely in this sense, the word rinascita (from which the French Renaissance and all its European analogues come) was first used by G. Vasari.
At the same time, artistic creativity and especially fine art are now understood as a universal language that allows one to understand the secrets of “divine Nature.” By imitating nature, reproducing it not in a medieval conventional way, but rather naturally, the artist enters into competition with the Supreme Creator. Art appears in equal measure as both a laboratory and a temple, where the paths of natural scientific knowledge and knowledge of God (as well as the aesthetic sense, the “sense of beauty” that is first forming in its final intrinsic value), constantly intersect.
Philosophy and religion. The universal claims of art, which ideally should be “accessible to everything,” are very close to the principles of the new Renaissance philosophy. Its largest representatives - Nikolai Cusansky, Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, Paracelsus, Giordano Bruno - make the problem the focus of their thoughts spiritual creativity, which, covering all spheres of existence, thereby with its endless energy proves man’s right to be called “the second god” or “as if god.” Such intellectual and creative aspiration may include - along with the ancient and biblical evangelical tradition - purely unorthodox elements of Gnosticism and magic (the so-called “natural magic”, combining natural philosophy with astrology, alchemy and other occult disciplines, in these centuries is closely intertwined with the beginnings of a new, experimental natural science). However, the problem of man (or human consciousness) and his rootedness in God still remains common to everyone, although the conclusions from it can be of a very different nature, both compromise-moderate and daring “heretical” in nature.
Consciousness is in a state of choice - both the meditations of philosophers and the speeches of religious figures of all faiths are dedicated to it: from the leaders of the Reformation M. Luther and J. Calvin, or Erasmus of Rotterdam (preaching the “third way” of Christian-humanistic tolerance) to Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the order Jesuits, one of the inspirers of the Counter-Reformation. Moreover, the very concept of “Renaissance” has - in the context of church reforms - a second meaning, signifying not only the “renewal of the arts”, but the “renewal of man”, his moral composition.
Humanism. The task of educating a “new man” is recognized as the main task of the era. The Greek word (“education”) is the clearest analogue of the Latin humanitas (where “humanism” comes from).
Leonardo da Vinci "Anatomical drawing". Humanitas in the Renaissance concept implies not only the mastery of ancient wisdom, to which great importance was attached, but also self-knowledge and self-improvement. Humanitarian-scientific and human, learning and everyday experience must be united in a state of ideal virtu (in Italian, both “virtue” and “valor” - thanks to which the word carries a medieval knightly connotation). Reflecting these ideals in a natural way, the art of the Renaissance gives the educational aspirations of the era convincing and sensual clarity. Antiquity (that is, the ancient heritage), the Middle Ages (with their religiosity, as well as their secular code of honor) and Modern times (which placed the human mind and its creative energy at the center of its interests) are here in a state of sensitive and continuous dialogue.
Periodization and regions. The periodization of the Renaissance is determined by the supreme role of fine art in its culture. The stages of art history in Italy - the birthplace of the Renaissance - have long served as the main point of reference. They specifically distinguish: the introductory period, the Proto-Renaissance, (“the era of Dante and Giotto”, ca. 1260-1320), partially coinciding with the period of the Ducento (13th century), as well as the Trecento (14th century), Quattrocento (15th century) and Cinquecento (16th century). More general periods are the Early Renaissance (14-15 centuries), when new trends actively interact with Gothic, overcoming and creatively transforming it; as well as the Middle (or High) and Late Renaissance, a special phase of which was Mannerism.
The new culture of the countries located north and west of the Alps (France, the Netherlands, German-speaking lands) is collectively called the Northern Renaissance; here the role of late Gothic (including such an important “medieval-Renaissance” stage as “international Gothic” or “soft style” of the late 14th-15th centuries) was especially significant. The characteristic features of the Renaissance were also clearly manifested in the countries of Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, etc.), and were reflected in Scandinavia. A distinctive Renaissance culture developed in Spain, Portugal and England.
People of the era
Giotto. Raising Lazarus
It is natural that the time, which attached central importance to “divine” human creativity, brought forward personalities in art who, with all the abundance of talents of that time, became the personification of entire eras of national culture (personal “titans,” as they were romantically called later). Giotto became the personification of the Proto-Renaissance; the opposite aspects of the Quattrocento - constructive severity and soulful lyricism - were respectively expressed by Masaccio, Angelico and Botticelli. The "Titans" of the Middle (or "High") Renaissance Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo are artists - symbols of the great turn of the New Age as such. The most important stages of Italian Renaissance architecture - early, middle and late - are monumentally embodied in the works of F. Brunelleschi, D. Bramante and A. Palladio.
J. Van Eyck, I. Bosch and P. Bruegel the Elder personify with their work the early, middle and late stages of painting of the Dutch Renaissance.
A. Dürer, Grunewald (M. Niethardt), L. Cranach the Elder, H. Holbein the Younger established the principles of the new art in Germany. In literature, F. Petrarch, F. Rabelais, Cervantes and W. Shakespeare - to name only the largest names - not only made an exceptional, truly epoch-making contribution to the process of formation of national literary languages, but became the founders of modern lyric poetry, novel and drama as such.
New types and genres
Individual, authorial creativity is now replacing medieval anonymity. The theory of linear and aerial perspective, proportions, problems of anatomy and light and shadow modeling is of great practical importance. The center of Renaissance innovations, the artistic “mirror of the era” was the illusory life-like painting; in religious art it replaces the icon, and in secular art it gives rise to independent genres of landscape, household painting, portrait (the latter played a primary role in the visual affirmation of the ideals of humanistic virtu).
Monumental painting also becomes picturesque, illusory and three-dimensional, gaining greater visual independence from the mass of the wall. All types of fine art now in one way or another violate the monolithic medieval synthesis (where architecture dominated), gaining comparative independence. Types of absolutely round statues, equestrian monuments, and portrait busts (in many ways reviving the ancient tradition) are being formed, and a completely new type of solemn sculptural and architectural tombstone is emerging.
The ancient order system predetermines a new architecture, the main types of which are the harmoniously clear in proportions and at the same time plastically eloquent palace and temple (architects are especially fascinated by the idea of a centric temple building in plan). The utopian dreams characteristic of the Renaissance do not find full-scale embodiment in urban planning, but latently inspire new architectural ensembles, whose scope emphasizes “earthly”, centrically-perspectively organized horizontals, rather than Gothic vertical aspirations upward.
Different kinds decorative arts, as well as fashions acquire a special, in their own way, “pictorial” picturesqueness. Among ornaments, the grotesque plays a particularly important semantic role.
The Baroque, which inherits the Renaissance, is closely associated with its later phases: a number of key figures of European culture - including Cervantes and Shakespeare - belong in this regard to both the Renaissance and the Baroque.
1. Filippo Brunelleschi (Italian Filippo Brunelleschi (Brunellesco) ; 1377-1446) - great Italian Renaissance architect
Biography. The source of information is considered to be his “biography”, attributed, according to tradition, to Antonio Manetti, written more than 30 years after the death of the architect.
The beginning of creativity. Sculpture by Brunelleschi. Son of the notary Brunelleschi di Lippo; Filippo's mother Giuliana Spini was related to the noble Spini and Aldobrandini families. As a child, Filippo, to whom his father's practice was to pass, received a humanistic upbringing and the best education for that time: he studied Latin and studied ancient authors. Brought up by humanists, Brunelleschi adopted the ideals of this circle, longing for the times of “his ancestors” the Romans, and hatred of everything alien, of the barbarians who destroyed Roman culture, including “the monuments of these barbarians” (and among them - medieval buildings, cramped city streets), which seemed alien and inartistic to him in comparison with the ideas that humanists had about the greatness of Ancient Rome.
