Florence Cathedral is also known as the "Cathedral of Santa Maria in Flower City". In 1296, Arnolfo began to design and build it, and later Giotto, Brunelleschi, Giberti and Kelozzo also participated in the design and construction. The original name was the Church of San Reparata, but in 1412 it was changed to this name, which is a metaphor for the lilies of Florence. According to Christianity, the lily was formed by the tears of Eve, who was cast out of the Garden of Eden. The white lily is a symbol of virginity, chastity and purity and is the incarnation of the Virgin.
Spatial layout and interior and exterior decoration
Florence Cathedral is actually a group of buildings, consisting of the cathedral, the bell tower and the baptistery, located in Piazza Duamo and the adjacent Piazza San Giovanni in today's Florence. The cathedral is the main part of the entire building complex. The plan of the church is in the shape of a Latin cross. The main hall is wide and 82.3 meters long. The south, north, and east sides of the church each have semi-octagonal giant rooms, and the periphery of the giant room contains five small chapels arranged radially. The most striking thing in the entire building complex is the central dome. The construction of the central dome itself lasted 14 years, with a top height of 107 meters. Above the base is a drum stand with round windows on all sides. The structure of the dome is divided into inner and outer layers. The interior consists of 8 main ribs and 16 inter-ribs. The structure is reasonable and the force is uniform. There is a famous fresco "The Last Judgment" on the interior walls. At the same time, personnel can reach the inside of the dome through the ring corridor. On the periphery of the central dome, there are also some semi-domes on the polygonal altars, echoing up and down with the domes above. Its outer wall is made of black, green and pink striped marble with various lattice panels, with exquisite carvings, mosaics and stone carved windows, showing a very ornate style. The dome is a representative work of early Renaissance architecture and a landmark building in Florence's urban architecture. It perfectly combines the roof form of the Renaissance with the Gothic architectural style, with obvious transitional features. The bell tower and the baptistery are also very beautiful buildings. The bell tower is 88 meters high, divided into 4 floors and 13.7 meters square. The baptistery built in 1290 is about 31.4 meters high. The appearance of the building is dignified and balanced, with white and green marble finishes. Corresponding to its gorgeous appearance, the dome can be reached by climbing 464 steps, from which you can also overlook the streets of Florence.
Architectural art and design style
The cathedral is a huge building that can accommodate tens of thousands of people. Its interior space has obvious Gothic pointed arch features, except for the famous red dome with a height of 106 meters. Its design and architecture boldly used ancient Greek columns and Romanesque domes and other forms and techniques, so it is regarded as the beginning of Italian Renaissance architecture.
In 1334, the mayor of Florence, out of respect for Giotto's Christian painting, appointed him the architect of Florence Cathedral. A few months later, he began to build the bell tower on the side of the cathedral, showing the multifaceted talents that one would expect from an artist of that era. The clock tower was not completed until after his death. Next to the cathedral is the Giotto Bell Tower, which is 82 meters high and has a similar exterior finish to the cathedral. Giotto's bell tower was built earlier than the cathedral: after the old bell tower was destroyed by fire, the people of Focheng invited Giotto to design the new bell tower. In 1334, under the auspices of Giotto, the construction of the new bell tower began; but Giotto died before the foundation and first floor of the bell tower were completed. Subsequent works were completed by two other architects according to the design drawings left by Giotto (now in the Cathedral Museum), except that the top spire on the original drawing has not yet been built, a total of only cost 30 years. Although Giotto, who is known as the "father of modern painting", is the most important achievement in art, and is the pioneer of art in the budding period of the Renaissance, the clock tower he designed is meticulous and elegant, and it can also be called a masterpiece.
At that time, the construction of the church was very slow. It was not until the beginning of the 15th century that the central hall was completed. The altar is then built at the east end, which is a large octagonal building. As the walls of this intricate octagonal building rose, the project's builders found they were faced with a huge opening 42 meters wide, which had to be covered with a dome. If they give up, cities that are hostile to them, such as Pisa, Siena, Milan, Padua, etc., will be ridiculed when they see that the Cathedral of Florence does not even have a top! Many architects avoid this problem by concentrating on other parts of the project. By around 1413, the wall of the octagonal drum seat at the east end had grown to a full 55 meters, and the issue was on the agenda.
Brunelleschi was very enthusiastic about this project. In 1417 he was already paid for some sketches while he designed and produced a wooden model. In 1418, when the superintendents of the project finally announced a bid for the project, Ghiberti was a strong contender, whom Brunelleschi hated very much. Unwise judges tried to get the two architects to work together, handing over the task of building the dome to the two men. Construction work began on August 7, 1420, and on August 1, 1436, the base of the skylight top tower was gradually completed. An engineering team led by Brunelleschi and Ghiberti was bound to be in trouble. Brunelleschi never forgot that the order for the bronze door of the baptistery was seized by Ghiberti, for which he wrote a set of abusive sonnets, which is his literary legacy to future generations . In the process of building the dome, Brunelleschi did not miss an opportunity to belittle his opponent. At critical moments, he even feigned illness, leaving Ghiberti to face those tough problems alone. Fortunately, Ghiberti was fired in 1425, leaving Brunelleschi with the task of completing the project.
Brunelleschi's novel design freed them from all rash plans. His creative solutions and the machinery he invented to carry out this project made him famous. The huge opening, its height from the ground, and the degree to which the building had been completed when Brunelleschi got the job, added to the difficulty of building the dome. The usual method of building a dome or vault at the time was to first build a wooden frame (called a temporary arch) that would support the masonry that was in place. Once the wedge-shaped vaulting stone is built into the center, the wooden temporary arch can be removed. Stones are held together firmly by gravity, while domes or vaults are held steady by constant downward thrust. However, the size of such a dome is obviously limited by the length and strength of the timber used for the temporary arch. The trees that made the temporary arch with the 42-meter opening could not be found anywhere. Even if such a tree can be found, in such a wide area, even if it does not bear the burden of outsourcing stone, the weight of the wood itself will overwhelm the temporary arch.
In 1418, the octagonal stone drum-shaped base supporting the dome was built. Its eight symmetrical walls of slender vertical walls are embedded with round windows that embody the design of the nave. If they were subjected to the side thrust of the dome above, they would collapse. These walls are only used to support the dome, they cannot follow any other thrust except vertical thrust. So a Gothic solution, like Notre Dame, with flying buttresses to support the outward thrust of the dome, seems impossible. Even if the building provided a place for the flying buttresses (which it didn't), they would have destroyed the exterior design of the cathedral. On the other hand, the weight of a solid concrete dome like the Pantheon would crush the thin walls of the octagonal drum that supported it. Thus, it is impossible to satisfy Brunelleschi's taste for Roman things.
The forces of the environment drove Brunelleschi back to the Gothic pointed dome. The octagonal drum base on which his dome rested had only eight strong corner pillars and the thin walls in between, and Brunelleschi had to build within these constraints. Since the usual makeshift arches would not work, he had to find another way to support the stone structure under construction. By designing a double dome, one inside and one outside, he reduced the weight of each layer while increasing the grandeur of the outer layers. He wanted to create a pointed dome supported by parts, with each wall of the octagonal building supported by main stone ribs at the corners. There will be two secondary arch ribs in each masonry section, and the horizontal arch will connect the primary and secondary arch ribs. By 1425 Brunelleschi had raised the dome to the point of strong inward curvature, at which point the lack of temporary arches challenged the wisdom of the people.
Now, he has to use the freedom he has obtained from the building committee to change the method of materials according to the needs of the project. To compensate for the lack of temporary arches, he built his dome with horizontal layers of brick on the pillars of the sections. Each layer is built on top of the next, so as to bear both its own weight and the ring attached to it. When Brunelleschi reached the dome's dangerous inner surface, he had to change the material. Since the stone he had been working with might have been too heavy for a structure without temporary arches, he followed the Romans by substituting bricks for stone, laying them in herringbone shapes as he had seen in Rome. As the project progressed, bricks were laid on the inner and outer domes; as the domes rose, the thickness of each section was reduced. The result is a grid system where the space between those layers expands until the space between the layers becomes 1.83 meters at the crown.
A dome that is both expedient and groundbreaking
Brunelleschi diligently studied ancient architecture in order to be inspired by it. When all 8 sections and those horizontal brick layers connecting them are in place, an open circular hole is left at the top, similar to the Pantheon. The hole in the dome of the Pantheon, a solid structure of artificial stone (concrete), leaves an opening in the sky. However, the ribs of Brunelleschi's dome tend to contract at the top, opening an annular opening. That place must be a heavy decorative "blocker" that presses down the ribs and forces them at the top. This explains the surprisingly large size of the existing skylight top tower. In 1436, things were imminent, so a competition was held for the "blocker" design, with a model of a practical skylight-roof tower with classical beauty, which Brunelleschi naturally won. His octagonal turret with high arched windows was connected by clever classical flying buttresses to the eight ribs of the dome and the corners of the skylight tower. On top of each graceful flying buttress, there is a classical arch (scroll-shaped support stone) in reverse spiral. This reference to Roman monuments eventually formed this Gothic dome. The Minaret is a wavy conical corner tower, on top of which stands a crucifix on a majestic orb. This crucifix is actually a sundial, designed by the multi-talented Florentine astronomer Toscanelli. It more clearly symbolizes the Renaissance as "ancient times sublimated by the Christian faith!" Brunelleschi did not use the triangular dome in the design of the dome, but created an octagonal wooden structure. The new dome on the double brick shell.
The dome of Florence Cathedral marks the beginning of the history of Italian Renaissance architecture. The cathedral was built as a monument to the republic after the guild seized power from the nobility at the end of the 13th century. In order to highlight the dome, a 12-meter-high drum base was built. Together with the lighting pavilion, the total height is 107 meters. It has become the center of the entire city outline. Even today, this height is a super high-rise building, enough to become a A city landmark. At the time, it was a dramatic advance in the history of architecture and marked the heroism of its creators during the Renaissance. The dome of Florence Cathedral is justly considered the first work of Italian Renaissance architecture, the first primrose of the New Age.
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