Florence Cathedral By Brunelleschi

Deborah Parker

Professor Mainville

Art 123-2

17 February 2008

Florence Cathedral

Introduction

Florence Cathedral is a cathedral church in Italy being notable for its dome designed by famous architect Filippo Brunelleschi . Actually Florence cathedral is famous for its exterior gothic design made of marble panels incorporating various shades of pink and green bed with white color and its interior design . Florence Cathedral is built on the site of the Santa Reparata , the previous cathedral , and it is known that Brunelleschi was strongly influenced by cathedrals in Siena and

br Pisa when designing his own . Cathedral has long history , where it was the seat of Florence Council in 1439 and the silent witnesses of murder of Giuliano di Piero de 'Medici in 1478

When working on design , Brunelleschi faced many technical problems especially with a stone dome . Architect was inspired by the great dome of the Roman Pantheon and was willing to create similar impressive construction . Brunelleschi refused to use concrete in his work returning the glory of brick constructions . Filippo 's solutions and ideas were unprecedented and ingenious as he referred to distinctive octagonal design of the dome which was unknown in those times . Brunelleschi decided to rest on a drum building of entire dome without the need for scaffolding . Nowadays , Florence Cathedral weighs about 37 ,000 tons and it consists of more than 4 million bricks . Moreover , Brunelleschi invented special lewissons and machines which are claimed to be significant contribution to architectural development (Bartlett 1992

Exterior Design

The original fazade of Florence Cathedral was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio and is attributed to Giotto . Nevertheless , art critics argue that cathedral 's fazade was a collective work of several artists such as Taddeo Gaddi and Andrea Oragna . Till 19th century only lower portion was decorated , whereas the rest of cathedral remained unfinished Brunelleschi designed neo-gothic fazade of the dome bed in red and green marble as it allowed a harmonious entity with Florence Cathedral Actually , the whole fazade is devoted to the Mother of Christ . Three bronze doors portraying the scenes from Madonna 's life are attributed to 1903 . Cathedral is decorated with beautiful mosaics in the lunettes designed by Niccolo Barabino . Mosaics portray founders of Florentine philanthropic institutions , Mary and John the Baptist , merchants and humanists , and Florentine artisans . The pediment located above the central portal represents Mary with a flowered sceptre . The top of fazade is decorated with niches representing twelve Apostles of Christ and Madonna carrying her Child . Florence Cathedral is also famous for its galleries whereas Florentine artists are portrayed (King 2000

Interior Design

Florence Cathedral is built as basilica , in which two aisles and a nave form Roman cross . They are also divided by wide arches with pilasters and four square bays . The dimensions of the cathedral are really impressive as its length is more than 150m , its width is 38m and its width at the crossing is about 90m . The interior is presented in gothic style providing the visitors with the impression of emptiness . Relative...