by Tim Anderson

Created on: September 06, 2008

Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Reinvented Architecture

In Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Reinvented Architecture by Ross King, it is explained how Filippo Brunelleschi nearly single-handedly shaped the Renaissance era in Florence. His new inventions of machine used in the building of the dome of the Santa Maria del Fiore also were considered a blueprint to more advanced machines that would be used in the future to build even more buildings. Ross King's thesis was that Filippo Brunelleschi was a master of his field and should be credited for the design and the machinery used in many buildings today.

Ross King defiantly tries to build Brunelleschi up to be the great genius of design that he is. Mr. King doesn't just smother you with the inventions of Brunelleschi and how they were important, he also shows you the mistakes of Brunelleschi. Ross King explains how Brunelleschi's design of his Il Badalone ended terribly as the 100 tons of white marble it was holding was dumped into the river. However, King explains how after the Il Badalone incident Brunelleschi was able to over come it and regain his title as "capomaestro." This shows that King doesn't just sing the praised of Brunelleschi through the whole book but also shows him at the down side. King surely explains to the reader how architecturally impossible it was to build the dome. He also helped the reader to understand the way Brunelleschi worked through bad times like plagues and war. He builds Brunelleschi up to be pretty close to a miracle worker.

The most important evidence that Ross King uses to support his evidence is that time period in which the dome was built. Before Brunelleschi, now one successfully attempted to build a dome quite like the one he was trying to construct. The size of the dome was to be an unheard of 143 feet in diameter. Brunelleschi needed to not only figure out how to build the dome without centering but also how to get the heavy materials need to such great heights. Not only did Brunelleschi build the dome but he also designed machines to get the materials up to the top of the dome. For example, his ox-hoist was used in getting equipment up to the workers. The ox-hoist later lead to the invention of the machine used to hoist the lantern into place. These all eventually led to the creations of machines used around the world in the creation of all buildings of even greater heights.

Counterevidence against Brunelleschi was handled with great respect by Ross King.

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