Today we are taking a hop over to Florence. We will take a little excursion – a school trip if you like – to the cathedral. We will take a spin around the Duomo and then take a peek inside. I would also like to share with you a brief video that I made from the top of the cupola when I was there last September. The Duomo! It is so beautiful. Every time I see it I am struck by its beauty. In front of the Duomo is the baptistry with the famous doors designed by Ghiberti. Once Michelangelo, in complete admiration of the panels constructed in bronze called them the “Gates of Paradise”. He considered them so lovely that he said they could easily have graced the doors to heaven!
Did you all know that the church is called formally Santa Maria del Fiore (Saint Mary of the Flowers) and it was built above another church dedicated to Santa Reparata? The Cathedral was begun in 1294 by Arnolfo di Cambio, who was also the architect of Santa Croce and the Palazzo Vecchio.
The cathedral was built in the Gothic style and the facade of the building displays multi colored marble panels of green, rose and white. After the death of Arnolofo in 1310 the building of the cathedral was finished by Giotto with the assistance of Andrea Pisano. Giotto also designed and built the the bell tower next to the Duomo. Around 1380 the nave of the cathedral was finished, but that which remained to be built was the cupola. The Duomo was so big and so magnificent, but for year an enormous hole remained above the main altar, allowing rain and sun to enter the central part of the church. No one had the least idea how to build a cupola so big above the existing walls, without have it fall to the earth. For medieval men, it seemed an impossible task. To create a dome to span the immense distance over the church required technology that didn’t exist…or so they thought!
But, Filippo, a hot-tempered goldsmith had found a way. In an act of ingenuity that defied all understanding of physical law of the time, had cleverly solved the problem without elaborate and expensive scaffolding. The biggest source of inspiration, he had found in Rome. Standing before the Pantheon, the largest unreinforced dome in history, he gleaned the secrets from his Roman predecessors and found the solution for topping off Florence’s church. Thus, Brunelleschi’s work was a true symbol of the power of an artist’s creative vision and ingenuity, amalgamated with learnings of the past.
Inside the Duomo you can see the intricate inlays of marble in the floor, a picture of Dante and you can also look up into the massive dome to see Vasari’s frescos that seem to disappear into the heavens. But the most amazing thing to do is to climb to the top of the Duomo to have a wonderful view of the city from the top. There is no elevator to go to the top. Instead the only means to reach the pinnacle is to climb four-hundred and seventy three steps that spiral upwards, into the sky through two concrete shells of the dome. Around and around you go passing very close to Vasari’s fresco of “The Last Judgement” that shows sinners being roasted alive and whipped by the devil’s minions, while the devote are welcomed into paradise.
Climbing to the top of the Duomo is really an incredible experience not to be missed. Well done Signor Brunelleschi for having found the solution to building the grand dome! One last thing, did you know that in the crypt located under the Duomo Brunelleschi is laid to rest. He sleeps there for all of eternity, always looking up into the dome that he built brick by brick.
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