Wednesday, January 20, 1999

Announcements:

• none

•  For information on slides, consult Monday's overhead

Comparison between Florence Cathedral Dome and St. Peter's Head from the "Tribute Money" (continued from Monday)

• both are monuments to human dignity
• both are examples of humanism
• men are governed by will alone
• every man is at the center of the world

Florence Cathedral, begun by Arnolfo de Cambio, 1296; Dome by Brunelleschi 1420-36

• the cathedral was planned/designed to eventually have a dome added
• example of Medieval architecture
• the technology of the time could not support the development of such a dome

Dome from the Florence Cathedral, Brunelleschi, 1420-36

• Brunelleschi had to work with the existing architecture; the two styles flow freely
• the dome is an example of Early Italian Renaissance architecture
• mathematical symmetry
• 8 sections, divided by ribs; it has an inner shell (16 ribs) and outer shell (8 ribs)
• the marble copula absorbs outward stress supporting the dome
• innovative: allows better transfer of weight (dividing total load)
• the arch is pointed in the Gothic style but the result is more innovative--the result of great individual achievement
• Brunelleschi was influenced by the classical style of the Pantheon (Rome 118-125 C.E.)
• Brunelleschi's work influenced Michelangelo's St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome (High Renaissance)

• Brunelleschi
• was trained as a sculptor
• became an engineer/architect
• devised the formula for one-point perspective

San Lorenzo, Florence, Brunelleschi, 1421-69
• austere exterior
• can determine structure of interior based on exterior
• pared down, innovative
• commissioned by the rich families (including d'Medicis)
• uses Roman-inspired arches
• uses Greek-inspired capitals and columns
• recalls Roman basilicas
• uses ancient Roman architecture to solve contemporary engineering and architecture problems
• sense of serenity and balance
• symmetry
• measured, mathematical
• symmetry, one-point perspective toward the apse and alter
• uses mathematics to enhance religious experience

• Secular architecture
• secular architecture comes into its own in the Early Italian Renaissance period
• palaces

Palazzo Medici-Ricardi, Florence, Michelozzo, begun 1444

• example of contemporary structural problem solving
• not as elegant as Brunelleschi's sacred work
• explicitness (outside=inside)
• stories are graded in height
• order, clarity, regularity (first floor arches are an example)
• massive in size, solidity
• different textures on each story (floor)

Palazzo Rucellai, Florence, Leone Battista Alberti, 1446-51

• contemporary with Michelozzo's work (see above)
• less massive, plainer
• same three stories, explicit separation, same grading
• texture is smoother and more consistent
• seems more two-dimensional than Michelozzo
• uses pilasters (flattened columns)
• aesthetic, not functional
• inspired by the arches on the Coliseum in Rome
• uses capitals on pilasters (doric, ionic, and corinthian)

• Alberti (as writer)
• worked to enhance the status of the artist
• wrote on the one point perspective
• wrote on theories of classical architecture
• analyzed styles
• concerned more with aesthetics than engineering