Wednesday, October 15, 2014

The constructive system of *Il Duomo*

Giovanni Stradano, Processione in Piazza della Duomo (c. 1700), etching. [1]

Undoubtedly, the cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore (Cathedral of Florence) is a sublime example of architecture. 

Many attributes have been ascribed to the realization of this amazing structure and all of them are accurate. With the construction of il Duomo (1420  1436), Filippo Brunelleschi revolutionized architecture, renewed the identity of Florence and the Florentines, and added stimulus to the paradigm shifting towards modernity. Brunelleschi successfully completed a task using mind-boggling technology, erected a monument that, physically, dominated the city and its surrounding ratifying, in turn, the leadership of Florence and its citizens as a driving force in the development of knowledge and know-how, and illustrated the Humanist view that architecture represents, in general, the dignity of human kind, and, in particular, the ethos of a society. Buildings were (and, for that matter, are) perceived as “historical documents useful for evaluating the past and for transmitting the desired image of the present to the future.” 
(President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2013: http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/#/projects/architecture-in-the-culture-of-early-humanism-ethics-aesthetics-1.html  Consulted on October 15, 2014.)


 Masaccio, Portrait of Filippo Brunelleschi in the Brancacci Chapel  ( 1423 – 1428),   Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence. [2]

One of the most fascinating  and for many years mysterious  aspects of Brunelleschi’s duomo is the method(s) used for building his monumental cupola which has 42m of diameter, stands 87m tall, and weighs approximately 40 tons.                                                                                                   (Jean Catex (1990) trad. Juan A. Calatrava. Renacimiento Baroco y Clasicismo, historia de la arquitectura, 1420 – 1720. Madrid: ediciones Akal)

Filippo Brunelleschi, Cupola od Santa Maria del Fiore (1420   1436). Vew from Giotto's Campanile. [3]

As it is well known, the cupola was built without any buttresses or scaffolding, and, for many years, the question was: How did Brunelleschi do it?!
Massimo Ricci (Florence, 1946), architect, alumnus and professor of the Facoltà di Architettura dell’Università degli Studi di Firenze, has spent many years trying to solve the mystery.                     (Massimo Ricci – Curriculum, in http://www.filippodiserbrunellesco.org/home/index.php?c=UklDQ0k= Consulted on October 15, 2014)
The results of his arduous endeavor have been presented in a documentary produced by the National Geographic Society and Nova (WGBH Boston). The film explains, in detail, the complex means by which Ricci achieved his objective: that of the discovery of Filippo Brunelleschi’s intricate constructive system for Santa Maria del Fiore"s cupola. Certainly, Ricci fulfills his purpose and reveals the extraordinary achievement of the architect’s sophisticated mind.  

You can see the documentary Secrets of the Duomo at http://tvo.org/video/207403/secrets-duomo. Be advised that the documentary will be available on this site until November 8, 2014 only.
Images:
[1] Source: Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Piazza_del_Duomo1.jpg (Consulted on October 15, 2014) . Acording to the source: "This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights."
[2] Source: Elena Capretti, Brunelleschi, Giunti Editore, Firenze 2003 in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Masaccio,_cappella_brancacci,_san_pietro_in_cattedra._ritratto_di_filippo_brunelleschi.jpg (Consulted on October 15, 2014). Again, according to Wikipedia: “This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.”
[3] Photo by Saiko. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled GNU Free Documentation License.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

About Francesco del Cossa (c.1435 - 1477)


Francesco del Cossa, Aprile (c1470) Fresco, Palazzo Schifanoia, Ferrara, Italia. [1]

Summer is over and, after a seasonal break, it is time to return to my activities as a blogger, which I have missed tremendously.  I noticed people have been checking to see if there was something new; I thank you for your interest and patience and I hope you continue to visit *mcc about art, art history, etcetera*.


Today I would like to re-direct you to a fascinating Podcast: CBC’s Eleanor Wachtel, host of “Writers & Company, interviews Scottish writer Ali Smith to talk about Smith’s book How to Be Both. The latter has been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

Laura Miller reviews the book and here part of her description:
Depending on which version you pick up, this conversation comes either late in the book, or somewhere in the middle. The novel consists of two parts, both numbered One; half the copies will be printed with George's portion of the narrative first. I read a copy from the other half; mine begins with a disembodied spirit being wrenched up through the earth to find itself, invisible and inaudible, in a museum gallery, staring at the back of a boy looking at a painting. The painting is the work of the spirit itself, made back when it was Francesco del Cossa, an artist in 15th-century Ferrara. The "boy", as this reader found out about 150 pages later, is a girl named George living in present-day Cambridge.     
...                                                                                                                              (in The Guardian, Saturday 13 September 2014: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/13/how-to-be-both-ali-smith-review-novel [Consulted: October 5, 2014])
Naturally, what I found most captivating is Smith’s interest in frescoes, but I don’t want to spoil the podcast for you, so I will leave there.

Francesco del Cossa (c. 1435 – c. 1477) was born in Bologna but is considered an important representative of the 15th century Ferrarese School.

His frescoes in the Palazzo Schifanoia (1458 – 1478) are part of his most notable œuvre. The Duke of Ferrara commissioned del Cossa, Cosimo Tura and Ercole de’ Roberti  the decoration of this place meant to “to chase away boredom”.   Francesco del Cossa was leading master in the trio and, with his work, he proved he deserved the distinction. 

Francesco del Cossa, Aprile (detail) [1]

Returning to the Podcast, during her talk with Eleonor Wachtel, Ali Smith comes across as a bright, spontaneous and entertaining speaker. Wachtel is in top form as an interviewer, as usual.

You can download the Podcast at: http://www.cbc.ca/writersandcompany/podcasts/


[1] This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domainwork of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason: This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to Australia, the European Union and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_del_Cossa (Consulted: October 5, 2014.)