Duomo Florence 1420 - 1436
Designed by Filippo Brunelleschi the cupola of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo) in Florence is one of the greatest achievements of human imagination. As a student I studied it in grainy photos and it drew me like a magnet. An impossibly audacious idea executed so long ago.
The Duomo did not arise from a vacuum. Brunelleschi came from a tradition of excellence. In his youth he did the unheard of studying firsthand the then still standing great buildings of ancient Rome. Without guidebooks and explanations he observed, measured and reflected on these decaying monuments. Coming to understand the principals and insights of the greatest Roman engineers, who were themselves building upon the skills and understandings of the 10,000 years since humans had first started erecting complex stone structures.
The Duomo was the largest dome in the world and its 40,000 tons of masonry were lifted hundreds of feet into place using only an ingenious timber crane powered by a single oxen. The audacity and courage of this enormous structure erected 600 years ago without any of our modern capacities and tools makes me realise what a profoundly timid age we now live in. What might we achieve with the intellectual courage of our forebears?
The Duomo did not arise from a vacuum. Brunelleschi came from a tradition of excellence. In his youth he did the unheard of studying firsthand the then still standing great buildings of ancient Rome. Without guidebooks and explanations he observed, measured and reflected on these decaying monuments. Coming to understand the principals and insights of the greatest Roman engineers, who were themselves building upon the skills and understandings of the 10,000 years since humans had first started erecting complex stone structures.
The Duomo was the largest dome in the world and its 40,000 tons of masonry were lifted hundreds of feet into place using only an ingenious timber crane powered by a single oxen. The audacity and courage of this enormous structure erected 600 years ago without any of our modern capacities and tools makes me realise what a profoundly timid age we now live in. What might we achieve with the intellectual courage of our forebears?
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Duomo Florence 1420 - 1436
Designed by Filippo Brunelleschi the cupola of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo) in Florence is one of the greatest achievements of human imagination. As a student I studied it in grainy photos and it drew me like a magnet. An impossibly audacious idea executed so long ago.
The Duomo did not arise from a vacuum. Brunelleschi came from a tradition of excellence. In his youth he did the unheard of studying firsthand the then still standing great buildings of ancient Rome. Without guidebooks and explanations he observed, measured and reflected on these decaying monuments. Coming to understand the principals and insights of the greatest Roman engineers, who were themselves building upon the skills and understandings of the 10,000 years since humans had first started erecting complex stone structures.
The Duomo was the largest dome in the world and its 40,000 tons of masonry were lifted hundreds of feet into place using only an ingenious timber crane powered by a single oxen. The audacity and courage of this enormous structure erected 600 years ago without any of our modern capacities and tools makes me realise what a profoundly timid age we now live in. What might we achieve with the intellectual courage of our forebears?
The Duomo did not arise from a vacuum. Brunelleschi came from a tradition of excellence. In his youth he did the unheard of studying firsthand the then still standing great buildings of ancient Rome. Without guidebooks and explanations he observed, measured and reflected on these decaying monuments. Coming to understand the principals and insights of the greatest Roman engineers, who were themselves building upon the skills and understandings of the 10,000 years since humans had first started erecting complex stone structures.
The Duomo was the largest dome in the world and its 40,000 tons of masonry were lifted hundreds of feet into place using only an ingenious timber crane powered by a single oxen. The audacity and courage of this enormous structure erected 600 years ago without any of our modern capacities and tools makes me realise what a profoundly timid age we now live in. What might we achieve with the intellectual courage of our forebears?
Ref:
Florence
Date:
Location:
Photographer:
THOUGHT
Duomo Florence 1420 - 1436
Designed by Filippo Brunelleschi the cupola of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo) in Florence is one of the greatest achievements of human imagination. As a student I studied it in grainy photos and it drew me like a magnet. An impossibly audacious idea executed so long ago.
The Duomo did not arise from a vacuum. Brunelleschi came from a tradition of excellence. In his youth he did the unheard of studying firsthand the then still standing great buildings of ancient Rome. Without guidebooks and explanations he observed, measured and reflected on these decaying monuments. Coming to understand the principals and insights of the greatest Roman engineers, who were themselves building upon the skills and understandings of the 10,000 years since humans had first started erecting complex stone structures.
The Duomo was the largest dome in the world and its 40,000 tons of masonry were lifted hundreds of feet into place using only an ingenious timber crane powered by a single oxen. The audacity and courage of this enormous structure erected 600 years ago without any of our modern capacities and tools makes me realise what a profoundly timid age we now live in. What might we achieve with the intellectual courage of our forebears?
The Duomo did not arise from a vacuum. Brunelleschi came from a tradition of excellence. In his youth he did the unheard of studying firsthand the then still standing great buildings of ancient Rome. Without guidebooks and explanations he observed, measured and reflected on these decaying monuments. Coming to understand the principals and insights of the greatest Roman engineers, who were themselves building upon the skills and understandings of the 10,000 years since humans had first started erecting complex stone structures.
The Duomo was the largest dome in the world and its 40,000 tons of masonry were lifted hundreds of feet into place using only an ingenious timber crane powered by a single oxen. The audacity and courage of this enormous structure erected 600 years ago without any of our modern capacities and tools makes me realise what a profoundly timid age we now live in. What might we achieve with the intellectual courage of our forebears?
