Draft
7.5TheRenaissance 139
31 Unfortunatly, theseimportant ndings,wereburiedin hisnotes,andengineersin the fteenth
andsixteenth centuriescontinued,as in theRomanera,to xdimensionsof structuralelements
by relyingonexperienceandjudgment.
7.5.2 Brunelleschi 1377-1446
32 Brunelleschiwas a Florentinearchitectandoneof theinitiatorsof theItalianRenaissance.
Hisrevival of classicalformsandhischampioningof anarchitecturebasedonmathematics,
proportion,andperspective make hima keyartistic gurein thetransitionfromtheMiddle
Agesto themodernera.
33 Hewas bornin Florencein 1377andreceived hisearlytrainingas an artisanin silver andgold.
In 1401he entered,andlost,thefamousdesigncompetitionforthebronzedoorsof theFlorence
Baptistery. Hethenturnedto architectureandin 1418received thecommissionto executethe
domeof theun nishedGothicCathedralof Florence,alsocalledtheDuomo. Thedome,Fig.
7.6a greatinnovationbothartisticallyandtechnically, consistsof two octagonalvaults,one
Figure7.6:Florence'sCathedralDome
insidetheother. Itsshape was dictatedby itsstructuralneedsoneof the rstexamplesof
architecturalfunctionalism. Brunelleschi madea designfeatureof thenecessaryeight ribs
of thevault,carryingthemover to theexteriorof thedome,wheretheyprovidetheframework
forthedome'sdecorative elements,which alsoincludearchitecturalreliefs,circularwindows,
anda beautifullyproportionedcupola. Thiswas the rsttimethata domecreatedthesame
stronge ectontheexterioras it didontheinterior.
34 Completelydi erent fromtheemotional,elaborateGothicmodethatstillprevailedin his
time, Brunelleschi's styleemphasizedmathematical rigor in itsuse of straight lines,
at