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 Buildings were (and, for that matter, are) perceived as “historical documents useful for evaluating the past and for transmitting the desired image of the present to the future.”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.