In Brunelleschi’s Dome, Ross King discusses the life of the renowned Renaissance architect and creator of the dome that covers the Santa Maria del Fiore, Filippo Brunelleschi. Brunelleschi was a key figure during the Renaissance, where a well rounded education was promoted. This education made people well-versed in reading, writing, math, science, and other academic topics. This was also known as humanism, and it involved studying Greek and Latin sources, being less bound to tradition, and seeing things from a secular point of view. Brunelleschi shows his intelligence and creativity when he creates the dome but also engineers other machines to help in its production. Brunelleschi can be seen as one of the “giants” of Renaissance architecture.
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Because of the city’s prosperity, Florence experienced an enormous building boom in the 1300s (King, 2). In order to show off their wealth, Florence announced a competition to build the main dome for the Santa Maria del Fiore. Filippo Brunelleschi would be chosen for this project and went on to build a beautiful dome that represented the beauty of Florence. Because of the Renaissance, art was becoming more and more popular. Citizens were willing to pay money for art to reflect their status. Brunelleschi helped Florence show their status by building the dome. Brunelleschi reflected the era of the Renaissance in this way by displaying his power through buildings and paintings, which was a very popular theme at the …show more content…
During the Renaissance, the study of classical Greek and Roman works was spread throughout Europe. Scholars used the “correct” form of Latin and went back to classical works such as Virgil. When first designing the dome, Brunelleschi went to Rome to study architecture. At this time, the Pantheon was the largest dome ever built, and was nicknamed “House of the Devils” due to its construction. The Pantheon proved to Brunelleschi that this type of dome was possible to build, which then inspired him to build the Duomo(King, 30). By studying an example of what Brunelleschi was looking to build, it helped him to create a multitude of new ideas to finally build the Duomo. As well as looking back on the Pantheon to create the dome, Brunelleschi also did the same with linear perspective. Linear perspective is used in paintings and drawing today and it is when all parallel lines converge in a single vanishing point on the horizon line. In order to create this method, Brunelleschi borrowed from math, mainly geometry. Brunelleschi again used humanism to revolutionize architecture. He used his well rounded education and knowledge to be creative and make important discoveries in his work.This is another prime example of why Brunelleschi was a representative of the Renaissance era because of his humanist
Because of the city’s prosperity, Florence experienced an enormous building boom in the 1300s (King, 2). In order to show off their wealth, Florence announced a competition to build the main dome for the Santa Maria del Fiore. Filippo Brunelleschi would be chosen for this project and went on to build a beautiful dome that represented the beauty of Florence. Because of the Renaissance, art was becoming more and more popular. Citizens were willing to pay money for art to reflect their status. Brunelleschi helped Florence show their status by building the dome. Brunelleschi reflected the era of the Renaissance in this way by displaying his power through buildings and paintings, which was a very popular theme at the …show more content…
During the Renaissance, the study of classical Greek and Roman works was spread throughout Europe. Scholars used the “correct” form of Latin and went back to classical works such as Virgil. When first designing the dome, Brunelleschi went to Rome to study architecture. At this time, the Pantheon was the largest dome ever built, and was nicknamed “House of the Devils” due to its construction. The Pantheon proved to Brunelleschi that this type of dome was possible to build, which then inspired him to build the Duomo(King, 30). By studying an example of what Brunelleschi was looking to build, it helped him to create a multitude of new ideas to finally build the Duomo. As well as looking back on the Pantheon to create the dome, Brunelleschi also did the same with linear perspective. Linear perspective is used in paintings and drawing today and it is when all parallel lines converge in a single vanishing point on the horizon line. In order to create this method, Brunelleschi borrowed from math, mainly geometry. Brunelleschi again used humanism to revolutionize architecture. He used his well rounded education and knowledge to be creative and make important discoveries in his work.This is another prime example of why Brunelleschi was a representative of the Renaissance era because of his humanist